AcolyteThe first draft that wrote comes to about 10200 words of what I could think about my story. It falls short of being called a novel. Plus there's a 15 year time frame between the 2 main events at the beginning and the end of the story and where my 2 main characters begins at childhood and ends as young adults.
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Novella or not
- Thread starter jxb911
- Start date
Insolent Lad
Maester
I'd call that a novelette, rather than a novella. Novella territory generally starts around the 15,000 to 20,000 word range. Plenty of good novelettes out there. A lot of Robert E Howard's best stuff falls into that category.
Demesnedenoir
Myth Weaver
Long short story, heh heh. Sometimes I would call that a chapter 
Long short story, heh heh. Sometimes I would call that a chapter
I have a few chapters in 'Empire' that are like that. Mostly 'Rebecca' chapters.
Ned Marcus
Maester
Well, if you're going for a Nebula or Hugo Award, then these are the word counts they use:
Novel 40,000 words or over
Novella 17,500 to 39,999 words
Novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words
Short story under 7,500 words
Make what you will of that
Novel 40,000 words or over
Novella 17,500 to 39,999 words
Novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words
Short story under 7,500 words
Make what you will of that
Demesnedenoir
Myth Weaver
I’m a big-book snob, 40k is just getting started ::insert evil laugh here:: I’ll accept the SFWA’s definition, but 40k has to be large print to break 200 pages, but it helps explain how people shoot out piles of short novels when one of my books is like 5-6 “novels”. Which brings up what a bargain Epics are in these digital times, heh heh.
Insolent Lad
Maester
I was dismayed when my latest grew to almost 80,000 words. I'm used to turning out stuff more in the 60,000 range.
Demesnedenoir
Myth Weaver
I could see that for a single character, although I’m expecting my next book to be 100-120k and almost exclusively single POV. But, so much depends on the story. If I ever get around to novelizing my western, thriller, and vampire comedy screenplays, they’d be in the 60-80k range, I’d guess. I’ve done a shorter book, but it was actually a book in between the core books.
I started out intending my series to be made up exclusively of novellas. I managed to keep it under 40k with the first three. Then the fourth is just over that.
Hit the mark for books five and six, but went up to 60k with book seven. Eight and nine are both around 40k, and the second draft of book ten ended at over 90k - oops.
Novellas are fun, and the format works well for what I'm doing, which is one character, one plot, and one location per book. There's an overarching story that ties the books together, and since most of the introductory stuff happens in the early books, I can go deeper with the latter ones.
Hit the mark for books five and six, but went up to 60k with book seven. Eight and nine are both around 40k, and the second draft of book ten ended at over 90k - oops.
Novellas are fun, and the format works well for what I'm doing, which is one character, one plot, and one location per book. There's an overarching story that ties the books together, and since most of the introductory stuff happens in the early books, I can go deeper with the latter ones.
Prince of Spires
Auror
40k+ counts as a novel? I guess I've accidentally writen a second novel then. I counted it as a novella. Go me!
As for the original question, I agree that it feels to short for a novella.
As for the original question, I agree that it feels to short for a novella.
Another definition I've seen of a novella, and that I like even if it's vague, is that it's a book that's long enough you can read it in an evening instead of watching a movie.
In my case, being a pretty slow reader, that'd be a very long movie, but I still like the idea that it conveys.
In my case, being a pretty slow reader, that'd be a very long movie, but I still like the idea that it conveys.
Insolent Lad
Maester
My 200,000 plus word 'epic' was actually written as eleven novellas and novelettes, each sort of stand-alone but continuing one story. I don't know if I could make myself sit down and just write something that long as one continuous narrative.
'Labyrinth' was intended to be a 10-15,000 word novelette. First draft broke 40,000 words. Tried to pare it down, instead it grew to 60,000+ words, and became book one of a trilogy (if I ever get around to book three)
'Empire' was originally envisioned as a series of novellas in the 35-40,000 word range, and indeed, the rough drafts of the first three books all checked in at that mark. Rewrites pushed them up to 60,000 words. The rough draft of book four checked in at 45,000 words, but it grew as well. Each of those four books is 'single location' but 'multiple POV characters,' for whatever that's worth. Rewrite of book six checked in at 91,500, though it'll likely grow some once various minor plot holes are plugged.
'Empire' was originally envisioned as a series of novellas in the 35-40,000 word range, and indeed, the rough drafts of the first three books all checked in at that mark. Rewrites pushed them up to 60,000 words. The rough draft of book four checked in at 45,000 words, but it grew as well. Each of those four books is 'single location' but 'multiple POV characters,' for whatever that's worth. Rewrite of book six checked in at 91,500, though it'll likely grow some once various minor plot holes are plugged.