Thread: Short stories inside a long one? Bad idea?

I am writing my first novel, and in the middle, the main character travels to a new location in each chapter. Each location presents a new problem to solve but things get wrapped up by chapter's end.

In a writing book I read the author says to cut chapters like this in half at a critical point to create "cliffhangers" - unfinished business. This way the reader will want to start the next chapter to find out how things turn out.

I can see possible pitfalls with both methods.
A. Having the end of one short story/mission/trip and the beginning of another in a single chapter could create a stilted pace or uneven flow.
B. Resolving or wrapping up the sub-plot at the end of the chapter could create a good stopping place for the reader. Not necessarily a good thing.

These are sub-plots which develop the characters and lead them towards a final story goal. Since the overall story goal has not been accomplished and there is still uncertainty hanging in the air, maybe these short stories in the middle of the long one are okay? What do you think? I know you haven't read my work. I am just looking for general opinions on writing technique here. Thanks for any suggestions!

I personally think that having short stories for each chapter can work, but only if you have an over arching plot that continues throughout the novel. As we both know in most novels there is the main plot and many sub plots. By going on what you have said, each chapter is going to contain a sub plot that ends on completion of the chapter. I think that if you make sure to keep the main plot in mind when writing these and ensure that they are linked, it will work greatly. However, if you just decide to do a bunch of self contained sub plots without a strong main plot, you will end up with a series of short stories instead of a novel.

Hope that helped.

I don't see any reason why that is a bad idea outright. I mean if the parts equal the sum of the whole and it is engaging, then it sounds like you have as good a plan as anybody else for your book. Go for it.

I have a similar project on the go. A collection of short stories about the same characters but with each story linked to the other and gaining in momentum as the go. Culminating in something. I am also flirting with the idea of using different POV for each story but it will take some serious thinking.

I reckon it can be done but must be carefully done. It must have been done before.

Originally Posted by nath881

I personally think that having short stories for each chapter can work, but only if you have an over arching plot that continues throughout the novel. I think that if you make sure to keep the main plot in mind when writing these and ensure that they are linked, it will work greatly. However, if you just decide to do a bunch of self contained sub plots without a strong main plot, you will end up with a series of short stories instead of a novel.

Thanks for the tip! Yes, the sub plots need to support the main plot, don't they?

What I am trying to do is show some character arc. The main character follows a mentor through different situations, learning by observation and by doing. All the things he learns from these experiences he will need to call on when he faces the big challenges at the end of the story. And all the while there is a threat or danger from the main plot hanging over him, so the reader will be reminded of that from time to time. Can't lose sight of the main plot and the conflict it provides.

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Robdemanc

I have a similar project on the go. A collection of short stories about the same characters but with each story linked to the other and gaining in momentum as the go. Culminating in something. I am also flirting with the idea of using different POV for each story but it will take some serious thinking.

I reckon it can be done but must be carefully done. It must have been done before.

Have you read George R.R. Martin's "Fire and Ice" series? They just made an HBO mini-series from the first book "Game of Thrones". He switches character's every chapter and has several individual stories going at the same time. But their paths all cross at some point, or their actions affect what happens to the other characters.

I plan to use some alternate POV chapters in my book, but sparingly. I am only doing it to show what is going on in the main character's homeland while he is gone for five years. It is a historical novel, and what happens while he is gone is very relevant to what happens to him when he returns.

Good luck on your project! Sounds like a good challenge.

In the last Harry Potter book (The Deathly Hollows) there is a short-story inside the novel. I liked the idea of a character telling a story.

Originally Posted by egriffith

Have you read George R.R. Martin's "Fire and Ice" series? They just made an HBO mini-series from the first book "Game of Thrones". He switches character's every chapter and has several individual stories going at the same time. But their paths all cross at some point, or their actions affect what happens to the other characters.

I plan to use some alternate POV chapters in my book, but sparingly. I am only doing it to show what is going on in the main character's homeland while he is gone for five years. It is a historical novel, and what happens while he is gone is very relevant to what happens to him when he returns.

Good luck on your project! Sounds like a good challenge.

No I haven't heard of that book, sounds interesting. It sounds like your POV strategy will work well. For me it is about 5 different people who are involved in the same thing but I want to explore how each is affected. It is a challenge because I started it 8 years ago and its been very slow going.

Originally Posted by egriffith

In a writing book I read the author says to cut chapters like this in half at a critical point to create "cliffhangers" - unfinished business.

Yes and no. Yes, cliffhangers are important, but they don't need to be in the middle of a subplot to exist. A cliffhanger can exist at the beginning of an arc, since it's all unfulfilled expectation. It can also exist at the end of an arc, where the conclusion of events leaves things in an uncertain state. In my story, all of the chapters are self-contained (one reader remarked it reminded him of watching a TV show because of how neatly each began and concluded), yet a third of them have explicitly suspenseful endings. No one has complained about the pacing so far, and no one has shown any desire to stop midway through. If enough happens in each chapter, the reader will be hooked, regardless of whether or not you purposefully set them up for it.

Good writing should carry itself. Cliffhangers are a bid for the readers' attention - something that should arguably be unnecessary if you're doing your job as an author.

Patrick Rothfuss' books (The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear) use the story-within-a-story idea quite heavily. The main story is told by the main character relating it in an Inn several years later, while within that there are quite often short stories and fairy tales which are told. I quite like it as a technique, and it can work to draw your reader in.

I'll admit that when a writer goes off on a tangent instead of resolving a cliff-hanger I can get quite upset at them, but if the reader's upset because they want to read more and find out what happens, you're doing well.

All novels really are nothing more than a sequence of events, stories within the story if you will, that move towards a resolution. Sometimes those stories resolve themselves before the novel ends and sometimes they do not. Often they only partially resolve even by the end of the story. Still others never get taken care of. Not everything can be wrapped up in a nice little package with a bow.

It really is only a matter of how you divide the story up. It must be logical. If breaking the novel into short stories works then it works. No need to fret over it. It has been done before and will be done again.

The only thing I see as a potential pitfall with your approach is getting into a rut of predictability where the reader is able to guess how a chapter ends based on what has already happened and thus get bored. Predictability is a killer. Avoid becoming predictable though an you should be fine.

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

Good writing should carry itself. Cliffhangers are a bid for the readers' attention - something that should arguably be unnecessary if you're doing your job as an author.

I completely agree, and I even suspect that too many abrupt endings of one chapter to be finished in the next, or later, chapter could hurt more than help. I have two major cliffhangers positioned at the transitions between the three parts of the novel. But the very next chapter picks up right away. I agree that good writing should carry the story and keep readers interested.

Originally Posted by Mathias Cavanaugh

The only thing I see as a potential pitfall with your approach is getting into a rut of predictability where the reader is able to guess how a chapter ends based on what has already happened and thus get bored. Predictability is a killer. Avoid becoming predictable though an you should be fine.

Good advice. Is "good guys always win" predictable? What if something unexpected happens to foil the hero at whatever he is attempting (best case, a new complication, worse case, he almost dies), but he still manages to come out on top? How many times can you make that happen, before it's predictable?

1001 Arabian Nights (the tales of Sherehezade) is the classic "stories within a story".

Michael Scott's Tales of the Bard books go a step further and weave both the tales and the telling into the main story.