Imagine that you’ve come up with a great idea for a story. You haven’t seen it published anywhere else, and you’re sure that people would read it. Only question is: should you write it as a short story, a novella or a novel?
“What’s the difference?” you might ask.
Word counts is the short and easy answer. Depending on the length of your story, it may fall into one of several story categories:
* Novel–70,000 to 100,000 words (although some novels have been less than 70,000 words and others have exceeded the upper limit, depending on genre.)
* Novella–17,500 words to 40,000 words
* Novelette–7,500 words to 17,500 words
* Short story–Less than 7,500 words
With short stories, there’s an economy of words and action. Since you don’t have a lot of space, descriptions, backstory and exposition are limited, and there are no subplots. Full-length novels allow more time and space for exposition and backstory, setting and character development. Short stories are like a weekend getaway while novels are a month-long retreat at a luxury spa. Novellas, which fall in between, are more like your typical one-week vacation.
To learn more about these differences, check out this helpful resource from Reedsy about word counts for different genres.
How do you know where your story idea fits? Should it be a short story, a novella or a novel?.
To answer this question, I recommend fleshing out your story idea as much as you can. Jot down scene ideas, characters, plot points using post-it notes or index cards. The more details you have about your story will determine what type of format you’ll need.
Once you’ve plotted your scenes and made your character list, consider these questions:
1. What is the main problem the characters are trying to resolve? Is it a complex problem with layers of complications? Or is it fairly simple and straightforward?
2. Are there any subplots? A full-length novel might have one or two subplots while a short story and novella won’t have any.
3. How many characters are featured in your story? If there are a few characters, it’ll most likely be a short story. Longer sagas like historical fiction or science fiction/fantasy will likely have a cast of several dozen, while a short story will be limited to a handful of people. Romance novels are roughly a dozen or less.
4. Are you writing this story in multiple POVs? More likely, it’ll fall into the novel category. You won’t see multiple POVs in a short story. You might find one other POV in a novella.
5. What is your story’s genre? Historical fiction and fantasy tend to run longer, around 100,000 words. Romance novels tend to be between 70,000 to 90,000 words. Understanding your genre will help you determine whether your story should be a novel, novella or short story.
If after answering these questions, you’re still not sure what format your story should take, try this exercise. Write the story first as a short story with one point of view, a few essential characters and limited backstory. Keep to the necessary action. Then set it aside for a few weeks. Come back to it later with a fresh eye or have a friend or writing colleague review it with you. Decide what works and what doesn’t.
If the story seems complete as is, then it probably works best as a short story. But if you feel there’s more to the story than what you wrote, rewrite your story, this time as a novella (up to 40,000 words). This time add the elements you think are missing, whether that’s world building, setting or characters. Maybe present a second point of view.
When you’re finished, review it again. Does the story work better? If in doubt, ask a couple of beta readers to review the manuscript and give you feedback. If, based on their feedback, you still want to expand the story, perhaps add a subplot, then you can rewrite it as a full-length novel.
The point is to start small and work your way up, testing out your story idea at each phase to see which format works best.
Here’s another exercise to try: Visit your local bookstore or library, or browse your own collection. Note the size and length of certain genres. Some genres simply work better as shorter pieces. Historical fiction and fantasy tend to be longer while romance works well as a novella. .
Throughout this creative process, trust your instinct. More often than not, your gut will tell you what format will work best for your story idea. When you close your eyes and visualize what the story looks like, sometimes you just know what format your story should be.
Deciding what format your story should be isn’t as difficult as you might think. The magic comes when you begin to see your story come to life on the page.
The Regal Writer 