How many words?

[Antfarmer77]

What's the difference, word-wise, is there between a novel and a novella? What is considered the mininum word count for a novel ( if there is indeed one)?

 

[ibhard]

A novella is 20,000-40,000 words. A novel is 60,000 (sci-fi/mysetry/romance) and up for other non-fiction and fiction.

 

[3113]

What's the difference, word-wise, is there between a novel and a novella? What is considered the mininum word count for a novel ( if there is indeed one)?

Sticky issue but GENERALLY speaking:

Short story = anything under about 100 pages
Novella = anything 100-200 pages
Novel = 250 pages give or take (that is, it can still be packaged and published as a novel if it's under 250 but somewhere in that 200-250 range).

Now this is, as I say, a very sticky issue as you'll find some old and classic "novels" that sometimes are under 200 pages. But that's a your general range. Word wise that means around, oh 50,000 words for 200 pages give or take.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Sticky issue but GENERALLY speaking:

Short story = anything under about 100 pages
Novella = anything 100-200 pages
Novel = 250 pages give or take (that is, it can still be packaged and published as a novel if it's under 250 but somewhere in that 200-250 range).

Now this is, as I say, a very sticky issue as you'll find some old and classic "novels" that sometimes are under 200 pages. But that's a your general range. Word wise that means around, oh 50,000 words for 200 pages give or take.

What size would those pages be? 8.5 x 11 or smaller - hardcover book size or paperback book size?

 

[Guest]

What's the difference, word-wise, is there between a novel and a novella? What is considered the mininum word count for a novel ( if there is indeed one)?

IB and 3113 both bring up good standards. The problem is that, since the whole novel thing was invented about 300 years ago (yeah, it's actually sorta recent) we've changed how we read, and thus how we judge novel length. Now we have genres and published with word count limits to promote sales and whole lots of terribly bothersome and annoying rules.

I hit my favorite source of information, Wikipedia, and found the following.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novella

novella is a narrative work of prose fiction somewhat longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. A common length is about 50 to 100 pages, or around 20,000 to 40,000 words. The extra length is generally used for more character development than is possible in a short story, but without the much greater character and plot development of a novel. Novellas often are characterized by satire or moral teaching.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel

A nouvelle (from French nouvelle Italian "novella", "new") is an extended fictional narrative in prose. Until the eighteenth century, the word referred specifically to short fictions of love and intrigue as opposed to romances, which were epic-length works about love and adventure. Since its appearance, the novel has become one of the major literary genres, and today it is the object of discussions demanding artistic merit, a specific literary style and a deeper meaning than a true story of the same content could claim to have.


My personal rule is -- short story is a one hour read or less, a novella is at least two to three hours, and a novel is something for which I need a good bookmark, a long night, or a plane right

 

[oggbashan]

General use, or Literotica use?

Do you want the definition for Literotica?

My version is that a Novel or Novella is that if the author says it is. Usually posted in several chunks, chapters, parts, each part can be as long or short as the author wants it to be if it is part of a longer work.

If, on Lit, it is to be posted in one piece, then anything over about 10,000 words is probably better considered for the Novel/Novella category.

For real use:
The difference between a Novel and Novella varies by country. The US has different rules from the UK. Novellas are not really known in the UK. A 'novel' would start at about 150,000 to 200,000 words up to 450,000 to 500,000 depending on genre. Detective and Romance can be shorter than Science Fiction/Fantasy.

Og

 

[3113]

What size would those pages be? 8.5 x 11 or smaller - hardcover book size or paperback book size?

Typed. Double-spaced, 8.5 X 11 pages. The ones you might print out and mail to an editor if you wanted them to consider publishing it.

50,000 words is 200 of those pages. And that is the demarcation, give-or-take for novella vs. novel.

If we're talking single-space Lit pages...I get about 20 typed-doubled-spaced pages per 1 Lit page. I think most folk would feel that if a lit story goes on for more than two parts, say, it has three or four chapters (each chapter having 3-4 lit pages) then it's a "novella." If it goes longer than that, then it's a novel.

A 3-4 page Lit short story runs about 10,000 words.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Typed. Double-spaced, 8.5 X 11 pages. The ones you might print out and mail to an editor if you wanted them to consider publishing it.

50,000 words is 200 of those pages. And that is the demarcation, give-or-take for novella vs. novel.

If we're talking single-space Lit pages...I get about 20 typed-doubled-spaced pages per 1 Lit page. I think most folk would feel that if a lit story goes on for more than two parts, say, it has three or four chapters (each chapter having 3-4 lit pages) then it's a "novella." If it goes longer than that, then it's a novel.

A 3-4 page Lit short story runs about 10,000 words.

Thanks!

And thanks to Mal for the links.