Short story collection to novel

'I think a writer's natural style will dictate the form they write in. Some writers can easily bang out a doorstopper - I prefer short, dense and intense, which is why I was drawn to short fiction in the first place. Writing a short story means creating a tiny universe for you, your characters, and your readers all to live in for a brief time. It's an intense experience for all involved!

Trying to stretch that same process over the length of a novel doesn't really work - you need peaks and valleys, conflict and resolution, to make the story feel satisfying to the reader. I cheated slightly, in that my novel is written in 18 sections, but there is still the need for that same overarching structure. I just made it more difficult for myself by trying to build it from 18 different materials. I can't say I recommend this approach for your first ever novel, but I think it worked out in the end.'

Emily Armstrong, author of short story collection How to Gut a Fish and just-published debut novel Falling Animals, in Bookbrunch