DEARSIMON

Your questions answered by a publishing expert.

- SIMON VAN BOOY

DEAR SIMON

With so many ideas for stories, how do you determine whether they would make a great short story, novella, or novel? Is there a process to use in advance or does it become evident while writing?

—Susan in Maine

Dear Susan,

Any book begins its life as exploratory writing. You and a blank page. You must write to find out what you want to write about. Remember, in order to write prose well, it’s essential you write about something in which you are emotionally invested. Only after you have established this emotional connection to what you're doing, and you are perhaps 10, 20, 30 pages deep, should you step back and ask which vehicle is best suited to carrying this particular story.

Now let’s consider that writing and