When a Short Grows Up

I love random writing prompts for jogging me out of "I don't know what to do" mode.After my last novel Life is Awesome came out, I was hoping to write a palate cleanser short story while I readied myself for the next big project. I've tried taking breaks when I don't have a big project going on and I just end up anxious and miserable, so for me writing shorts is the way to go.I generated the following prompts:-utopia-helpless sinner-generous glutton...and boom, story hit me.So I wrote the piece, sent it to my early readers, chatted with them about it, got ready to share it with my readership... and then realized it wasn't done.In speculative fiction, worldbuilding is a crucial part of the story, even if it's just a 100-word flash fic. The worldbuilding in my utopia was pretty extensive. I don't think that aspect alone is enough to justify extending a story from a short to a longer piece. I personally LOVE reading short stories that offer a taste of a world, the tip of the iceberg, and leave me with a single shining image or concept to ponder. But something nagged at me in this case, that I needed to show the characters doing more stuff. I needed to show certain aspects of the worldbuilding rather than alluding to them.So it's back to the drawing board with my sinner and my glutton, and that's fine. As long as I have the gumption to work on something, I'm happy, whether it's a flash fic or a series.