What do you consider a novel?

[Leif Notae]

After some discussions (and other words that might fit into the category), I figured it was time to throw this out there. I am not shy with my stance on many things, so I will admit I believe the novel is dying. However, I wanted to see what you think of what qualifies as a "novel."

Now, I am aware of the statistics of wording a "novel", but not the context. My personal writing is not conducive to novels, since I write more stripped down 3 act scenarios that are more geared to novellas and novelettes.

From the dictionary: "A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters."

What makes a novel a novel in your opinion (aside from the word count)? Though, if the word count is enough, I'd love to hear why.

 

[MadMadys]

For me, a lot of it is length. That length, though, serves the story. Shorter stories, novellas and whatever else, that contain a single plot line with a smaller cast of characters. You can have layer themes and a very compelling story in a tight space. A novel is a much larger thing. In my mind, it's multiple plots, several character arcs, different tiers of characters, and basically a lot of layers.

When I set out to tell a story, I never really plan on the length or try to keep it to any standard. I just go with how everything comes out of my head. My first story finished about (and I'm using word count here simply to demonstrate a contrast) 320K words first draft while another story I'm writing I can't see going over 30K. They're entirely different animals for me. On the novel, I worry about entire scenes, chapters, and things on a larger scale. For the shorter one, I fuss over individual words. I'm sure when I get closer to done with the big one, I'll pull out a microscope and grumble over word choice but it is still a bigger overall experience. And yes, before people nitpick, I have concern for the scenes in the short story as well.

So for me, a novel is a world whereas the others are glimpses into a world. Sometimes all you need is a glimpse so, as I mentioned earlier, neither is any better or worse than the others.

 

[ThinkerX]

A story will be as long as it needs to be.

It will also be as 'indepth' as it needs to be.

 

[Graylorne]

I think that dictionary description is sufficent, combined with word count to say whether it's a novel, novella or novellette.

What MadMadys mentions, is a good novel.
But even the most dull, awkward and uninspired novel on the internet, with hardly any plot, flat characters, undescribed surroundings and waver thin layers, but with 90k. words, is still a novel.

 

[BWFoster78]

A story should be as long as it needs to be.

The terms short story, novelette, novella, and novel are artifical constructs that we've created to categorize stories. These categorizations, which to me have nothing to do with the quality of the story, are based on length. If your story is over 40k or 50k (depending on which source you use for your definition) words, it's a novel.

 

[Anders Ämting]

What makes a novel a novel in your opinion

A longer work of prose fiction with a developing plot and character arcs. Short stories, by comparisson, focus on a specific event, usually with pre-developed characters. It's a matter of narrative structure, basically.

That said, literature professor Staffan Björck has stated that he did not believe one can clearly define what a novel is, since the definition would be so broad that it would become meaningless.

Also, fun fact: The Swedish word novell means "short story" whereas "novel" is roman. I don't think we have a word for novellas or novelettes since there's no standardized lenght for short stories.

 

[Graylorne]

A longer work of prose fiction with a developing plot and character arcs. Short stories, by comparisson, focus on a specific event, usually with pre-developed characters. It's a matter of narrative structure, basically.

That said, literature professor Staffan Björck has stated that he did not believe one can clearly define what a novel is, since the definition would be so broad that it would become meaningless.

That's why I prefer the technical definition, with wordcount.

Also, fun fact: The Swedish word novell means "short story" whereas "novel" is roman. I don't think we have a word for novellas or novelettes since there's no standardized lenght for short stories.

We Dutch speak of roman, too. We imported novella and novellete, but a short story is a kort verhaal.

 

[Sheilawisz]

Trying to define what a novel is can be tricky, so I prefer to go with the word count: For me, a novel is a work of prose fiction that is longer than fifty thousand words, no matter how many characters or how deep and complex it is.

I do not believe that the novel is dying, I think that it will never die...

Short stories, tales and flash fiction are growing in popularity and they have a value of their own that is different to the value of longer works, but the novel is part of the world of literature and there will always be writers of novels, publishers seeking them and also people wanting to read that style of work.

It takes a different set of skills to write short stories than the skills that are needed to write novels, but both literary genres are to be appreciated...

 

[Steerpike]

I think the prevailing view is that it is simply a matter of word count. I know there are academic theories concerning the short story, novella, and novel that bring to bear many considerations apart from word count that go into the theory of these forms. For academic purposes, it can certainly be interesting. For practical purposes, in terms of selling your work, I think you'll find the word count is the distinguishing factor.