One of the questions I’ve been pondering as I’ve worked on my next short story/novella/whatever it turns out to be is, well, what it’s going to turn out to be. Is there actually enough story here for it to unexpectedly sneak its way to novel status, or will it just settle in as a longer short story?

You might say, just write and see how it turns out. And that seems to make some sense. Does it really matter how long it’s going to be when you start writing it? On the surface, maybe not. But th...