How Microfiction Can Help You Get Back to Your Novel

One of the hardest parts of writing a novel isn't coming up with the idea or finishing the first draft. It's often in the murky middle where you can’t see your way out. You open your manuscript, stare at the page, and suddenly everything feels overwhelming. The plot isn't working. Your main character feels flat. You start questioning the entire project.

If that sounds familiar, I'd like to offer a strategy I often recommend: write microfiction that exists within the world of your novel.

This isn’t giving up on your novel. It’s taking a tiny detour that will eventually lead you back on track.

Why microfiction works

A subset of flash fiction, microfiction is typically under 300 words. I especially love the challenge of writing a complete story in just 50 words.

There's something deeply satisfying about finishing a piece in a single sitting and being able to say, "I wrote a story today."

That feeling matters.

Writing a novel is a long game. It often takes years to plan, draft, revise, and polish a manuscript. Along the way, it's easy to lose sight of the joy that drew you to writing in the first place. Microfiction offers a quick creative win. It reminds you that you can still create something from nothing.

Even more importantly, it removes the pressure to "work on the novel."

When writers feel stuck, they often believe the answer is to spend more time outlining, rereading, color-coding scenes, or trying to solve every plot problem before writing another word. Those activities certainly have their place, but they can also become a form of productive procrastination. Before long, you're thinking about your novel far more than you're actually writing.

Microfiction breaks that cycle.

Instead of asking yourself to solve the entire manuscript, you're simply telling one small story.

What happened when I tried it

While working on the second draft of my own novel, I found myself stuck in exactly this place.

I had finished the first draft and knew substantial revisions were needed, but I couldn't seem to begin. I spent weeks storyboarding, outlining, and turning plot questions over in my mind. The more I analyzed the manuscript, the less certain I became. I started questioning plot points, wondering who my true main character was, and worrying that the entire novel wasn't working.

Rather than letting that frustration spiral into, Why am I writing this book? Who even cares? This is trash! I decided to try something different.

I began writing microfiction set in my novel's world.

I never worried whether those tiny stories would make it into the manuscript. Most never did. They explored character backstories, forgotten memories, conversations that happened years before the novel began, and moments readers will never see.

Ironically, writing stories that weren't part of the novel helped me solve problems within the novel itself.

As I wrote, I discovered answers to plot questions I had been wrestling with for weeks. More importantly, I rediscovered my characters' voices and remembered why I wanted to tell their story in the first place.

I realized I had been missing the simple pleasure of writing something new.

That's my favorite part of writing, and I suspect many writers feel the same way. Creating something from nothing is what drew us here. While outlining, rereading, and storyboarding are valuable tools, they shouldn't replace the creative act itself.

Sometimes the fastest way back to your novel is to take a “micro” break from your novel.

Unexpected Bonus

If you write microfiction you’re really happy with and submit it to a literary magazine, you might just get published! These small publications feel huge, and they help you build your list of bylines. When it comes time to write your author bio in that future query letter to agents, it’s a nice touch to be able to say you’re a published author.

Try it yourself

The next time your manuscript feels distant or overwhelming, set it aside and try this instead.

Choose one of your characters and write a complete story in fewer than 300 words.

Write about:

• a childhood memory

• an argument that happened years before the novel begins

• an ordinary day that reveals something important about who they are

• a moment no reader will ever see

Don't worry about whether it belongs in your manuscript.

Don't revise it.

Don't overthink it.

Simply spend time with your characters again.

You may be surprised by what you discover.

Sometimes the smallest stories are exactly what you need to find your way back to the biggest one.