Mechanics Forum

Story creep is when you start a short story, but as you develop/work on it, it grows and grows, usually expanding beyond the initial story goal(s). I've already seen this in my work on "Invalid Item"  (the work is not posted here on WDC, since even the rough work from NaNo is 25k words and un-edited is pointless to post casually).

The problem I've run into that short stories submissions for a writing group helped with, is staying focused on one topic/focus for a story. Short stories and novelettes are easy to see how/where the line is. But novels have thus far wildly eluded me. But I'll have to get back to you once I finish a novel or six, lol.

I'm glad the advice "one thought per sentence; one topic per paragraph" is helping you too. It is a constant WIP for me still seven years later, but... Worth while ideal to continually strive for