What is a novella?
It’s basically the 800m dash of the fiction world.
I ran track and field in high school, and if you’re a runner you either consider yourself a sprinter or a long-distance runner. The 800m falls in between these two categories. You sprint the whole thing, but it’s a long sprint, if that makes any sense. It’s one of the events I ran, and I didn’t hate it.
A novella also falls in the in between. It’s too short to be considered a novel, but it’s too long to be considered short fiction. The pacing is fast and to the point, like a short story but the characters and ideas are more fleshed out, like a novel. But you’re reading this because you want something more quantifiable rather than qualitative to define a novella.
And the main thing is that a novella is limited:
In word count (17,500-49,999 words)
In setting (Usually one setting location)
In characters (1-5 characters)
In ideas (1 idea explored)
Novellas have been likened to movies, because they can be read in a one to two hour sitting, due to the limited word count (depending on how fast you read). My novella, THE ONE, takes about an hour and a half to read, and definitely falls under the limiting factors of a novella as it: is 20,000 words; takes place entirely in Jess’ house; has Jess, Michael, Gladys, and the Narrator as characters; and is focused primarily on the concept of soulmates and whether they exist or not.
As a reader, this is a great length for me in my current stage of life. Building a career in writing, helping my husband with his ministry, and raising two small children means that I don’t have as much free time as I used to. So if I start a book I can’t finish, it might not get finished. Novellas can be read in one nap time (if both kids sleep at the same time!) or one evening, so I don’t have to worry about loosing the plot line when I only have time to read 100-200 pages.
As a writer, what’s the point of writing a novella? Wouldn’t it be better to keep adding to it until you can call it a novel and then get it published?
Not necessarily. But I get it. I really, really, really wanted THE ONE to be a novel. But I revised it until it was done, and in it’s finished state it was a novella.
At first, I thought it was just because I was a poet. Maybe I was only capable of writing short pieces. Honestly, that’s not a bad thing. In today’s world, I hear a lot about shrinking attention spans and bite-sized content. So novellas are timely pieces for an author to have in their portfolio.
Novellas also make great practice pieces. Writing, just like any art takes practice. And while many of us fantasize about writing the next great novel, most writers don’t get there on their first try. Writing a collection of novellas that increasingly push the limits until you have a novel might be a great way to get that practice in. That’s my plan. My next work is also a novella, and I’m shooting for around 30,000 words. I know what it takes to get there, for me, and so I’m building my outline around that goal. It’s Called Vodka, Darling will be a little more complex than THE ONE, and feels a little less intimidating to tackle now then it did when I first had the idea for it in high school. It follows Ettie as she moves to Bordeaux for the art scene and deals with grief, loss, and mental health issues.
After that, I plan on writing The Sound That Means Me and my goal is 40,000-50,000 words. Just on the verge of being a novel. In it, a Ukrainian orphan adopted into an American family struggles with the fact that no one says their name correctly, until one day someone does and it feels like being home.
From there, the jump to novel will hopefully be even less intimidating and I plan on writing The Armchair Philosopher’s Guide to Life as my first novel novel. My goal with this piece is 60,000 to 90,000 words, and it follows a couple from a one night stand through a loss that makes them question the very foundation of their upcoming marriage. It’s a big, heavy topic, and that’s going to need some time and space in terms of setting, characters, and word count to tackle.
I see THE ONE as very similar to my micro-chapbook, Aesthetic Blindness. I dipped my toes in the water, I tested this whole writing-as-a-career thing out and found out that yes, absolutely, this is what I want to do with my life.