The Box, an Introduction
The Box is a short story I wrote in 2020. It inspired my second novel, Can You Be.
In this introduction, I share how I went from short story to novel.
Pineapple Fountain at the Waterfront Park, Charleston, SC
Read below or watch/listen to the video at the bottom of the page:
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share “The Box,” which was the short story I wrote originally that inspired my second novel, Can You Be.
It started as a short story because I didn't think I had enough substance to make it into something bigger. I like writing short stories. They are short snapshots of a person's life or a person's circumstances.
However, when I presented this short story to an editor she suggested I had enough material to take a deeper dive and extend it into a novel. I did. I wrote the short story in October 2020, and the novel came out in August 2023.
It took time before I was able to convert the story into a novel because I didn't dedicate the time to it. I went on a trip to the Baltics, and that’s when it all came together in my head. The protagonist in “The Box” doesn’t travel, but in the novel, she goes to The Baltics and it's quite a transformative experience for her; it’s a pivotal moment. I had this clarity while I was there, and I realized I had enough material to convert the short story into a novel.
I'm going to share the original short story. I’ll do it in these posts, but you can also watch or listen along on my YouTube channel at the link below.
Keep in mind that it is the unedited version I presented to the editor who came back to me with a lot of feedback, questions, suggestions for areas to expand, and pointers on where to improve. For instance, one of the criticisms the editor made was about Naina, the protagonist, who is the same character as in Can You Be—I kept the same characters in both the short story and the novel (the major changes are the length and the title). Naina in the short story version, “The Box,” is meeker than in Can You Be. The editor said it's hard for people to get drawn into a story where the main character is not a strong personality. Even though they have weaknesses, they need to persevere and have redeeming qualities. The protagonist, Naina, in “The Box” is looking to be rescued. In Can You Be, I adapted her so that she felt she could rescue herself and didn't need anyone. That was a big shift.
Keep that in mind as I share “The Box.”
Watch or listen along below: