Chapters or Novella?

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

My muse left a vision in my brain that's excellent but too long for a short story, less than 12000 words. The tentative title is GREAT WHITE HUNTER. The story: America's economy and government collapse, China, India, and Saudi Arabia partition and administer the zones, like the Allies ran Germany after WW2. They license bounty hunters to manage criminals in their respective zones until human nature infects the system and bounty hunters stalk political and commercial competitors of the elites.

I'm leaning toward 'chapters' then compiling all into a novella.

 

[oggbashan]

You can write a novella in chapters and either post the chapters one by one, or several chapters as a 'part', or wait until you have written the whole thing and post it with internal chapters...

 

[AMoveableBeast]

As far as Lit is concerned, I think chapters are wiser because they attract readers successively and don't intimidate with length.

Having said that, I, personally, favor the novella format. I like to experience a work as a whole--just a cleaner experience, I think. But I also marathon TV shows. I don't like the disjointed weekly samplings.

Regardless, a good story will be a good story whether you write it on a bathroom wall or stencil it onto gold bars, and a bad one won't be saved by exceptional formatting.

 

[sr71plt]

For Lit., 12,000 words is barely four Lit. pages. Not considered long at all. Best done at one go.

 

[49greg]

As far as Lit is concerned, I think chapters are wiser because they attract readers successively and don't intimidate with length.

Having said that, I, personally, favor the novella format. I like to experience a work as a whole--just a cleaner experience, I think. But I also marathon TV shows. I don't like the disjointed weekly samplings.

Regardless, a good story will be a good story whether you write it on a bathroom wall or stencil it onto gold bars, and a bad one won't be saved by exceptional formatting.

I agree that this story sounds more like an all in one novella, but for lit readers the chapters would be more attractive.

Best way for me, as a reader, would be for all the chapters to be posted at the same time, or in close succession. Then those that want to read all at once will be able to.

Great story line. It might even be prophetic. As more and more of our manufacturing is sent overseas we are well on our way to meeting one criteria of the definition of a colony - a place that exports raw materials and imports the goods made from them by the 'mother' country.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

For Lit., 12,000 words is barely four Lit. pages. Not considered long at all. Best done at one go.

That's what I said, duh.