What is a Novella? - Writers Forum

Glfralin · 09-25-2006, 11:06 PM

Is there a rule as to how many words or chapters make a novella as opposed to a short story? Some of the stories I am working on may work better as a novella, because they are more than 2000- 5000 words.

linimis · 09-25-2006, 11:22 PM

Based on what I found at wikipedia, a novella is a story usually between 20,000words and 40,000words.

Here is the link

Mike C · 09-26-2006, 01:46 AM

20-40k is about right. There are many places that take short stories up to 10-15k words.

Selorian · 09-26-2006, 06:30 AM

A somewhat helpful piece covering lengths of the different types of works can be found here in Writing 101.

mammamaia · 09-26-2006, 12:08 PM

here's a handy rule of thumb from "The Scriptorium E-Zine for Writers":

Quote:

The following terms are the most frequently used in describing prose works, and the word count numbers represent generally accepted norms. Remember that most fiction markets set their own particular word count requirements, and they may deviate from these generalizations. Always check the particular requirements of the market to which you are submitting.
Novel: Generally any work of prose fiction over 45,000 words, ranging to about 150,000 words.
Novella/Novelette: Short novel averaging 7,000 - 40,000 words. These terms are often used somewhat interchangeably, although novellas tend to be longer, and novelettes shorter.
Short Story: Prose fiction of about 2,000 - 7,500 words.
Short Short: Prose fiction under 2,000 words.
Flash Fiction: (also known as sudden fiction or micro fiction) Prose fiction under 1000, 500, or even 99 words, depending on the market or guidelines.

you should know that there is practically no market for novellas by unknown writers... they're too short to be books on their own and too long for all but a rare few indie niche mags [sci-fi/fantasy & new age are the most possible]...

a known writer might get one included in a short story collection, or have 2-3 make up a book, but paying publishers generally won't take a chance on writers no one has heard of...

so, if you want to maximize your chances of selling your work, it would be best to either shorten them to short story size, or keep writing till you have a full-fledged novel...

btw, the above applies to adult market only... if you write for kids and/or YA, it could be a different ball game...

hugs, maia

Glfralin · 09-27-2006, 12:28 AM

Thank you so much everybody. This is going to help me make some decisions on how to enhance my work. Some will naturally remain short and submitted to magazines. But I do have some that will necessarily be longer. Hopefully, I can get recognized because I would like to have a market for my writing, but the idea of finishing a project well is going to be a great reward too.