When writing a first draft of a novel, most writers tend to either write long (use more words than necessary) or write short (use too few words). You likely know which one you are. If you’re the type of writer who writes short, you’ll notice that when you’re revising your stories, you’re typically adding more words that you are deleting. Or maybe you intended to write a full length novel and somehow it only came out to be 25,000 words. If you tend to write short, this article is for you.

But if you’re the other type of writer, the type who plans to write an 80,000 word novel and it somehow turns out to be 120,000 words, then this article won’t offer helpful advice for you. Instead, you might benefit from Jill Williamson’s post, “How I Cut 33k Words From My Epic Fantasy Novel.”

My first piece of advice for those who write short is do NOT look for ways to “add filler.” I teach at a writing workshop most summers where I take 1:1 appointments with young writers. Just about every year I’m asked, “My book is too short. How do I add filler?”

DO NOT DO THAT. Yes, it will make your book longer, but it will also make your book worse. Nobody wants to read “filler.” They want to read a story where every scene feels necessary. Here are some thoughts on how to make a book longer in a way that enhances the story you want to tell rather than distracting from it with pointlessly added scenes.

Identify what you typically leave out.

Writers who write short often have entire categories of a story that they forget to include in their initial draft. For me, it’s description. I often don’t describe things in my first drafts, or I forget to show a character processing information.

Maggie Stiefvater compares writing a story to trying to hold onto a large bouquet of balloons. It’s impossible to hold them all at once and a balloon or two might float away. This is normal, but knowing what balloons you typically release can help you to get better at including those elements in your initial draft, or if nothing else, to know what you’ll need to pay attention to in revisions.

Build in more complications.

When I read through the stories I wrote as a new writer, I can see now how easy I made my main character’s life. If my character went into a confrontation with a friend thinking the fight was going to be about Issue A then the fight was about Issue A. I didn’t complicate her world by the fight actually being about Issue B or by the friend refusing to talk to her at all.

I’ve gotten much better at this over the years. Now if my character thinks she’s going somewhere to obtain a clue, she gets nothing. Or she gets a clue that leads her in a different direction altogether.

Asking, “What else can go wrong for my main character?” can be a really useful tool. You can make an actual list and pull from it when you need more complications.

Another helpful exercise is using the “Yes, but,” or, “No, and,” method when you’re building your scenes. Using my example from above, here’s what that would look like:

When my main character arrives, she thinks she and her friend are going to argue about Issue A. Do they argue about Issue A? Yes, but they also argue about Issue B. Or no, and she refuses to speak to the main character.

Using this method can keep your story feeling logical, but prevent it from feeling too linear or obvious.

Consider the story from the POV of other characters.

Something else that caused my early novels to be too short is that I only thought about my main character. My supporting cast had no dreams or goals of their own, they just popped onto the scene to support my MC in whatever she was doing.

When I became better at fleshing out my whole cast of characters, especially my antagonists, my stories naturally grew longer.

Add a subplot.

Another way to lengthen a novel is to add more story. You can give the main character a sick mother, a confusing love interest, financial worries, etc.

Subplots work best when they either tie into the theme of the story or end up contributing to the main plot in an unexpected way. For example, maybe your main character is taking a pottery class as part of the subplot, and when she’s using a specific tool, she realizes something that helps her solve the murder, which is the main plot.

Subplots can definitely feel “tacked on” or like story filler, but not if you go to the effort to tie the subplot into the main plot or the theme.

If you tend to write short first drafts, have you tried any of these methods? Or have you tried a different method that you would like to share?

Stephanie Morrill writes books about girls who are on an adventure to discover their unique place in the world. She is the author of several contemporary young adult series, as well as two historical young adult novels, The Lost Girl of Astor Street and Within These Lines. Within These Lines was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, as well as a YALSA 2020 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. Since 2010, Stephanie has been encouraging the next generation of writers at her website, GoTeenWriters.com, which has been on the Writer’s Digest Best Websites for Writers list since 2017. She lives in the Kansas City area, where she loves plotting big and small adventures to enjoy with her husband and three children. You can connect with Stephanie and learn more about her books at StephanieMorrill.com, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.