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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46956
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46956
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

A short story has limited space, you have to limit yourself to a few characters and one conflict. A novel is not like that. In a novel you can have plots and subplots, a multitude of characters, you can tell a story that is complex and multifaceted. That's the great strength of a novel.

In your story, you seek to contrast the fall of one character with the rise of another. That can work beautifully as a sort of mirror image. There are interesting things you can say with this basic structure. Those things you won't be able to say if you tear the mirror image apart.

When people say there is "too much going on" in a novel, as often as not what they mean is what's going on is underdeveloped, elements are not given enough breathing space, the novel just keeps jumping from one element to the next and the next. The answer is to develop each element. Cutting some might or might not be involved.

How much can you explore in one single novel? Consider _The Lord of the Ring_: there is Frodo's journey, and Sam's, and Merry's and Pippin's and Aragorn's - all end very different people from how they started, each is given space to grow. All in a world that Tolkien had to introduce, in a political situation that needed to be explained.

Or consider _Les Misérables_: there's Jean Valjean, and Javert, and Fantine, and Marius, and the list goes on. None of those characters are underdeveloped, each undergoes a journey, and it all ties into one strong story - one big structure that is meaningful exactly because it contains all those elements.

If you want a modern example, look at Ken Liu's _The Grace of Kings_: characters become friends and then turn on each other, other characters walk on the stage, transform and then walk off it, an empire collapses, goes through a civil war, until a new king rises. None of this is "too much".

You have a story with multiple elements that tie into one overarching structure. That's great. Now all you need to do is give every element the space it needs, so no part of the story feels rushed.

Original score: 14