How to Teach Narrative Writing A StepbyStep Approach

Think of it this way: The who, what, where, when, how and why of a story (which every well-crafted story should aim to convey) can be handled in a short article, a long feature or a book.. One question I get from most of my student is, "How long should my story be?" Or, "How do you know when to stop, when your story is done?" And those are great questions. Let's take a look at some different variables that can help you to figure out how long your story should be, and if there is enough meat on the bone to go longer.

How long should your story be? This resource includes the most standard word counts for each type of story length, from microfiction to novels!. After finishing your stories, how many times do you find yourself wondering if it's too long? Perhaps you instead wonder if it might be too short? This is something that bothers a lot of writers and keeps on raising many a doubt. Technically speaking, and in order to be practical, a story should not have more than 30,000 words (or it would most likely be a novel), and in fact, a really long.