I wrote a short story for a competition (1500 word count. I will link it at the end of this post... if your curious about it.) I have never read a mystery novel before, but the idea for the short story was a mystery/suspense feel. A 1500 word limit sucked and after reading the finished draft I knew it sucked. My father-in-law told me it would be good as a novel, and a friend told me it would work as a short story, for good writing practice, because it sounded like every other mystery/suspense book out there, and wouldn't get published. So what do yawl think about it, if you don't mind reading it, would it do better as a short story or a novel? Like I said before, I have never read a mystery before, but I am willing to try something new. https://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=16711
First off. let me say that was a pretty sleazy and transparent end run around the rule against thread bumping, on a long dead thread. The difference between a short story and a novel is not simply length. For a novel, you need deeper characterization, typically with more characters, and more intricate plotting (more subplots). You could expand the story you have into a better paced. longer short story, but I honestly don't see much potential there for a novel.
Here's a link to a recent discussion over short stories vs. novels and their differences, that way you might be able to make you own mind up as to which path is the best to take. https://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=18075&highlight=short Ultimately, it's not the idea that makes the tale, it's you so with sufficient plot intrigue and character development, and lack of reliance on padding, any idea has the potential to make it as a novel. It just depends how you write it.
