Hi all! Welcome to my first post about the author journey and how to improve your craft naturally using what I call The Step Up Method.
This post covers my journey as a writer and how I leveled up from short stories to a full novel. I’ll talk about the publishing side of things in a different article.
Step 1: Short Stories and Flash Fiction
When I started writing, the idea of a full novel felt impossible. I had so many ideas and no clue where to begin.
So I started small.
I wrote a short story I couldn’t get out of my head and posted it to Reddit. I got a single comment:
“Wow, this is great!”
That was it. Simple. Small. But it made me feel powerful—like maybe I could actually write.
A novel still felt out of reach, so I kept writing more short stories and flash pieces. They were bite-sized, doable, and each one helped me practice characters, pacing, and endings without the pressure of 80,000 words hanging over my head.
Eventually, I decided to self-publish a collection of those stories on Amazon. From there, I talked with friends and family, read the (small but very helpful) Amazon reviews, and paid attention to three things:
- Which stories other people connected with
- Which stories felt like they had more room to grow
- Which stories I genuinely enjoyed writing the most
That combination helped me figure out what to expand and what to leave as-is.
Step 2: The Novella
I picked June Day first because it was my favorite story—and generally other people’s favorite too.
I gave myself a modest goal: around 30,000 words. That’s a solid novella length. But I didn’t treat it like a hard requirement. It was just a number in the back of my mind:
If I hit it, awesome.
If not, no big deal.
A novella felt smaller and more achievable than a full-length novel. When I finished and published it, I felt on top of the world. I had a complete, self-contained story in a book that I crafted from start to finish.
It was glorious.
Step 3: The Novel
Next, I stepped up again.
This time, I took another short story—The Infinite Man—and decided to expand it into a full novel. I didn’t copy-paste the original story as a first chapter the way I did with June Day, but it still gave me the groundwork and core concept for what I wanted to build.
Once again, it felt impossible at first.
But by then I had already written flash fiction, short stories, and a novella. I’d leveled up in stages. So I treated the novel as just one more step. I kept writing, one scene at a time, and ended up with over 40,000 words.
Could it have been longer? Sure. But I didn’t want to pad it out just to hit a number. Keeping the focus on the core of the story was an artistic choice—and it still counts as a novel.
The Step Up Method (Conclusion)
So what’s the core idea here?
Step up your writing. Start small.
Flash fiction and short stories are an amazing sandbox. You can:
- Test ideas quickly
- Get feedback without a huge time investment
- Learn which concepts actually resonate
- Practice finishing things
Not every story is worth expanding. Not every idea wants to be a novel. But most ideas can become a strong short story if you execute them well.
If you’re just starting out—or if novels feel overwhelming—try this:
- Write flash fiction and short stories.
- Expand your favorite one into a novella.
- Take the next big idea and step up to a novel.
Don’t stress about word counts. Don’t obsess over “perfect.” Just keep growing, one small step at a time.
Keep writing, friends. 💚✍️
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