I did something like that. Each short story functions as a chapter as well. First two stories introduced a character and the plot got off in the 3rd short story. The bigger story is weighted towards the character I introduced first.
To my surprise the 5th and last story grew to novella length and features both POV characters. The A, B, A, B and A/B structure felt like it works and I might use it again.
"both a short story collection AND a novel."
I did something like that. Each short story functions as a chapter as well. First two stories introduced a character and the plot got off in the 3rd short story. The bigger story is weighted towards the character I introduced first.
To my surprise the 5th and last story grew to novella length and features both POV characters. The A, B, A, B and A/B structure felt like it works and I might use it again.
Sounds right to me. My friend's story/collection/novel ended up the same way, with the last story running much longer than the others.