I have often had this same difficulty. There are three things to consider:

• Is this truly a novel-length idea? Would it be better as a short story, or a novella? Or is it just an unusually short novel? Although this might be the "right" answer, it's worth noting that novellas are very hard to place, and that both publishers and the reading public tend to prefer novels of at least 60,000 words.
• Are you really a novelist? There are a lot of different kinds of writing. Maybe you'd be personally better suited to write this as a movie, a play or a game (all of which tend to be significantly shorter in terms of word count than novels).
• Is your writing immersive? This is the big difficulty for me personally --my writing tends to be elliptical and to the point. Most good and successful novelists really luxuriate in their words, especially in things like descriptive prose. This helps the reader see through their eyes, or their mindset. Remember, nothing is there for the reader except what is on the page. A bare outline of the story might be immersive to you, the writer, because your imagination can fill in the gaps. But you haven't done your job by the reader.

You should NEVER use filler to pad out a book. The readers will always know. Either there's something important missing or there isn't.

I have often had this same difficulty. There are three things to consider:

• Is this truly a novel-length idea? Would it be better as a short story, or a novella? Or is it just an unusually short novel? Although this might be the "right" answer, it's worth noting that novellas are very hard to place, and that both publishers and the reading public tend to prefer novels of at least 60,000 words. (At least for adult novels. Middle grade novels can be quite a bit shorter.)
• Are you really a novelist? There are a lot of different kinds of writing. Maybe you'd be personally better suited to write this as a movie, a play or a game (all of which tend to be significantly shorter in terms of word count than novels).
• Is your writing immersive? This is the big difficulty for me personally --my writing tends to be elliptical and to the point. Most good and successful novelists really luxuriate in their words, especially in things like descriptive prose. This helps the reader see through their eyes, or their mindset. Remember, nothing is there for the reader except what is on the page. A bare outline of the story might be immersive to you, the writer, because your imagination can fill in the gaps. But you haven't done your job by the reader.

You should NEVER use filler to pad out a book. The readers will always know. Either there's something important missing or there isn't.

I have often had this same difficulty. There are three things to consider:

• Is this truly a novel-length idea? Would it be better as a short story, or a novella? Or is it just an unusually short novel? Although this might be the "right" answer, it's worth noting that novellas are very hard to place, and that both publishers and the reading public tend to prefer novels of at least 60,000 words.
• Are you really a novelist? There are a lot of different kinds of writing. Maybe your plotline would be better suited as a movie, a play or a game.
• Is your writing immersive? This is the big difficulty for me personally --my writing tends to be elliptical and to the point. Most good and successful novelists really luxuriate in their words, especially in things like descriptive prose. This helps the reader see through their eyes, or their mindset. Remember, nothing is there for the reader except what is on the page. A bare outline of the story might be immersive to you, the writer, because your imagination can fill in the gaps. But you haven't done your job by the reader.

You should NEVER use filler to pad out a book. The readers will always know. Either there's something important missing or there isn't.

I have often had this same difficulty. There are three things to consider:

• Is this truly a novel-length idea? Would it be better as a short story, or a novella? Or is it just an unusually short novel? Although this might be the "right" answer, it's worth noting that novellas are very hard to place, and that both publishers and the reading public tend to prefer novels of at least 60,000 words.
• Are you really a novelist? There are a lot of different kinds of writing. Maybe you'd be personally better suited to write this as a movie, a play or a game (all of which tend to be significantly shorter in terms of word count than novels).
• Is your writing immersive? This is the big difficulty for me personally --my writing tends to be elliptical and to the point. Most good and successful novelists really luxuriate in their words, especially in things like descriptive prose. This helps the reader see through their eyes, or their mindset. Remember, nothing is there for the reader except what is on the page. A bare outline of the story might be immersive to you, the writer, because your imagination can fill in the gaps. But you haven't done your job by the reader.

You should NEVER use filler to pad out a book. The readers will always know. Either there's something important missing or there isn't.