Novel, novella, short story?

[chrisbishop]

A recent topic within this forum stopped me to ponder about what was exactly that defines those different types of stories. I knew it was about word count or about the number of pages written, so I made a little search online, to see if I can come up with something.

I actually did.

Novel: a work of 40,000 words or more
Novella: a work of at least 17,500 words but under 40,000 words
Novelette: a work of at least 7,500 words but under 17,500 words
Short story: a work of under 7,500 words

A 12-pt font double-spaced type-written page is approximately 300 words, which makes a Novel (approximately) 133+ pages, a Novella 60-130 pages, a Novelette 25-60, and a Short Story less than 25.

Those definitions are from the SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America). Now, it might be that not everyone will agree with the exact numbers, but at least it gives us an idea!

[Marion]

I've written nine 'novels' - at least in the technical numerical sense of the word... No wonder I'm feeling tired these days
Seriously though, I don't think 'size' has anything to do with it, really. There are some amazingly good 'short' stories on the site - several of them inspired by the Halloween Challenge, as it happens - and I don't think anyone should worry about how long their story is.
As I have often been reminded, it is quality and not quantity that counts.

[Sage]

I'm still a short story writer then; though apparently have written some novelettes and two novellas. So maybe I'm building up to a novel.

I quite agree with 'quality over quantity'.

[Mary]

I've heard the limit for a short story as 10,000 words or less; even that brings me into the "novelette" range...

[Marion]

I found this on ‘Uncle Orson’s writing class… (Edited by me) http://www.hatrack.com/writingclass/lessons/2000-08-02-1.shtml

A book feels like a normal novel somewhere around 100,000 words and is hard to publish at less than 75,000. This means that if you find your… story is… stacking up at about 60,000 words, you need to go back and re-pace it -- you're consuming plot way too fast. (No, you don't need to add more plot. But you might want to beef up a side-story, adding chapters that follow other characters on related adventures.)
However, there is a weird story-dilation effect that I've noticed. At about 25,000 words, I start thinking this novel will never end -- I'm barely started and I've got all these pages! That feeling persists up to 50,000 words. But then, along about 75,000 words, I start getting a real anxiety that I'm suddenly moving so quickly that this novel won't get even to 90,000. Then, at about 100,000 words, I realize that I'm not done yet so I have nothing to worry about. And at 108,000 or 112,000, I'm done. Sometimes, of course, it doesn't happen that way… but generally speaking, at the pace I tend to use, and with the sense I have developed of how much story makes a book, my novels hover between 100,000 and 110,000 words. But that's me -- it's what I'm comfortable with. If you find that to tell the story in a way that feels comfortable and natural to you, you tend to clock 180,000 or 250,000 words, then that's the way it is -- that's the length you'll submit to the publisher. If the story is good, they won't balk at that length. Too many thick books have sold too well for a publisher to say something dumb like "thick fantasy series novels don't sell."
I guess what it boils down to is: Until you've written some novels, you don't know what it feels like to write novels, so you can't make decisions about length. Nor can you trust your feelings along the way, since at times it will feel as if the book will never end and other times as if you'll never be able to stretch it out long enough to make a book out of it. And length does not really depend on the plotting. It depends on the pacing.

So I think we have still have a way to go!

[Carrie]

That's an excellent article, Marion. I went and read the original too. )

[Parker Gabriel]

There is an easy way to solve the problem of whether you're writing a novel--write distinct chapters one at a time, and if you're posting to a forum like this one, post the chapters one at a time. That was how some of the better novels in the Fan Fiction section got to the lengths they reached.

[Carrie]

There is an easy way to solve the problem of whether you're writing a novel--write distinct chapters one at a time

Well, if you are the plot queen like Chris B, writing chapters one at a time and posting them certainly works brilliantly.
For me, it's a no-no. (However, I have only written one novel-length story on this site, so I am no expert. )
But what I found was that things would occur to me, either sub-plots, or scenes between the characters, when I was well into the story, and if I'd posted chapters early, the story wouldn't have been nearly as complex or layered as it turned out to be. Often, the process of putting words on paper (or typing on the screen ) suggests ideas or dialogue that didnt occur to me when the plot was just in my head. An idea for Chapter One might only occur to me at Chapter Ten, for example.

No two writers 'write' alike - the creative process is differerent for everyone, but it's all equally valid. You just have to find out what style is right for you - to produce the best story that you are capable of writing.

[Sage]

Oh I totally agree

I can see the having the story divided into chapters at the planning stage would help. So you could pace yourself and know where it was going. Then add in scenes/details as you go.

But for the most part I write fragments of scenes as they occure to me, then go back through later and fill in the gaps. If I waited to get it in chronological order I might forget them when the time came.

[Marion]

I wish I could do that - write the 'inspired' scenes first, I mean.
If I do that I can never summon the enthusiasm to go back and write the hard-working, plot-laden chapters and scenes! I will never post anything that isn't finished either. I learnt my lesson with 'Synchronicity' - where, although I had the story 90% wrapped up before the first part was posted, I STILL wanted to go back and tweak sections after they'd gone live! I even begged Chris to post the last 2 sections at the same time, to relieve me of the temptation
It still bugs me to this day, and I can't stand the story as a consequence.
But then, I never have a detailed synposis to write to - it seems to me if I have worked out the whole story and written a chapter by chapter synopsis - what's the point of going back and writing it all again?
I like to make it up as I write it and then I have to write the 'mundane' parts as well - or I will never find out what's going to happen next

[Skybase Girl]

As a fledgling writer, I am still learning what works for me and what doesn't. As a rule, planning it out as much as humanly possible seems to be best for me. It may feel as if you're losing some spontaneity, but there's less chance of ending up having literally lost the plot ! ( Which I may have done by allowing a not-yet finished piece to meander along of it's own accord - hopefully it may be rescued in due course ! )

My foray into the Christmas challenge is ( whisper it) going well, and I'm actually finding it easier to write with pen and paper, at this stage anyway. The old ways are sometimes the best ! I may not. of course, be taking this view in a few weeks time. At the moment, because I know what I want to say, there are not so many crossings-out to make writing by hand impractical. The plan is to rewrite and edit when I come to type it up.

This, of course will only work if it is sufficiently short to be a mere short story as opposed to a novel, novella or novelette !

[Serena Lewis]

I hope I can write something for the Christmas Challenge. It'll be shortish, they always are (I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing), and I have one or two ideas. One is such an old idea though, I'm gonna have to scrap it. Things had better work out, I simply have to write something!

xx

[Sage]

There's nothing wrong with short fics, I've had no complaints.
Sometimes old ideas can be best, having had time to develop. Just depends what suits you at the time.
I'll look forward to seeing your contribution.

[Marion]

Some of the most effective stories on the site are short ones.
I hope you manage to get it written to your own satisfaction. With luck we'll see 2 NCS Christmas stories then!

[Serena Lewis]

I just hope it gets written. I absolutely have to write it, there is no alternative, at all.
If it doesn't get written (I'm hoping it'll 'write itself' once I start it properly), I don't know what I'll do...

xx