When Does A Story Become A Novella?

[dr_mabeuse]

When does a story become a Novella? Obviously, it's more than a matter of length (as in so many things in life).

I've seen a lot of stories published here which have quite a few chapters and enough development to qualify as novellas, and I wonder if there's any special reason why the authors chose to publish them as stories instead. Was it simply because they were written chapter by chapter? Is the novella section visited less frequently than the story sections? Or is the novella form just too much of a weird bastard child?


---dr.M.

 

[Star of Penumbra]

Yes.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

Depends on the authors perception of what they're writing.

 

[TheEarl]

Sometimes a story just grows. And grows. And grows. So it's submitted as a story, because that was the author's original intent.

The Earl

 

[green_rook]

Though this isn't precisely what was asked, when it comes to judging stories in catergories based on their length, this is the breakdown that's typcially used:

Vignette/flash - less than 500 words (1-2p)
Short-Short - 500-2000 (2-9p)
Short Story - 2000-5000 (9-22p)
Novelette - 5000-14000 (22-61p)
Novella - 15000-40000 (66-175)
Novel - 40000+ (175+)

Many -- perhaps most -- don't recognise the novelette and have the short story extent to 14,000 words.

Then, of course, we get into the problem of what serperates a novella from a short novel beyond the word count? Surely there must be something. Ultimately the divisions seem meaningless.

 

[Chicklet]

green rook, thanks, I've always wondered = )

Chicklet

 

[JUDO]

When the story is actually worth consideration for publication. Til then, it doesn't matter how long (or short) it is.


- Judo