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  Author Lacey Wolfe

Novellas - love 'em or hate 'em?

1/3/2012

15 Comments

 
Today I wanted to write a little about novellas. As a reader you either love them or hate them. They aren't quite a short story and they aren't quite full-length. They range from 15k-45k in length. They are typically to the point. You don't have tons of filler story. You get the story between the heroine and hero.

When I wrote Amber's Muse, it was a shorter novella at 15k. I just wrote their story. The reader met Amber and Jax at that moment, saw her ask him to be her sex guinea pig, and then got to read about how they fall in love. There was no background story (okay there was a little since she disliked him in the beginning). I didn't write about Amber's past or childhood and same with Jax. For some readers, they want that. That's why I think their is a love/hate relationship to novellas. 

I personally love them. I enjoy being able to sit down and read something in an afternoon. I have a busy schedule with taking care of kids and finding time to write.  And to be honest, many times as a reader in longer books I will become a skimmer. I like my books to keep the story going. And while it is nice to know a character in more depth sometimes I don't always find it necessary. If the characters keep it interesting and continue heating up the pages in their personalities, I don't feel as though I'm missing anything. I think you can learn a lot about them just from their thoughts and dialect.

Currently I am just a novella writer. I like knowing I don't have to get the book to a certain word count. I can let me characters have their story and do their thing. And if it ends at 20k, so be it. Hopefully I've filled those pages with heat and action that will leave me reader satisfied after they spent their afternoon or evening reading it.

So tell me. Do you love a novella or hate it?
15 Comments
MichelleKCanada @AnotherLookBook link
1/3/2012 07:35:16 am

I only really like novellas when there is an existing series and the novella is a short story about one of the side characters I already know. I like a story with deep character development as I always want to get invested. I just cant do that with novellas.

Happy New Year!

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Vanessa Wu link
1/3/2012 08:26:40 am

I prefer novellas because I like to read a very wide range of things. I dislike being bogged down in an epic story and I especially dislike trilogies. When something is short I am already half-way towards liking it before I've read a word.

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DAVe link
1/3/2012 03:40:14 pm

Novellas are the bomb.

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Sharita Lira link
1/3/2012 03:52:16 pm

Im a novella writer as well. I've decided I wanted to write longer works but only if the story really warrants it. I'll continue to do both but I've had the crit on a couple of books that the story wasnt long enough. So, i'm trying to make sure I do a better job of that. Now as a reader, I agree, I love shorter works. I dont have the time to read a 300 page novel all the time. I have done it but when Im writing my own, its hard to keep reading esp. of I myself have a deadline.

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Lacey Wolfe
1/4/2012 12:31:40 am

I agree with some of the crits. I'm aiming to get my novellas a bit longer too . :)

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dave smith link
1/3/2012 04:38:41 pm

Novellas are great. Now try to imagine distilling your writing down to 1-3 paragraphs. This is the length of blog posts.

Liked your note on prostition during grt. depression. -d

Reply
Julie Duck link
1/3/2012 04:55:23 pm

I am almost done writing my first novella - by accident. My first three books were big - 67, 88 and 85 K, respectively. With my WIP, it always felt like a tight, short story but the words went over anything that could be called that. It's fun to get right to the heart of the story and relationship dynamics. With self-publishing in particular, I think the novella will see a surge in popularity (for us busy folk!).

Great post!

- Julie

Reply
Lacey Wolfe
1/4/2012 12:36:12 am

I think novellas are so popular too because people want to read, yet they are so busy. So novellas are perfect.

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Misa Buckley link
1/3/2012 11:27:58 pm

For years I tried to be the Great Novel Writer and failed. Then last year I caught a submission call for end-of-world romances. One of my failed WIPs just happened to fit the bill, except it was set on another world.

To submit it, it needed to be rewritten for Earth and to fit the word count - less than 30,000 words. I did it. I finished a story. And while it was rejected from that sub call, the next publisher I sent it to accepted.

So yeah; novellas are <i>fabulous</i>.

Reply
Miho Li link
1/4/2012 03:29:36 am

I love how, in spite of whatever stress we were feeling during the occasion, family events can usually be remembered fondly simply b/c the family was together :)

Happy new year!

mihoxli at gmail dot com

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desi reilly
1/4/2012 09:28:05 am

thanks for the hop and i love the hop and the gifts
desi the blonde @ msn.com

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Miho Li link
1/4/2012 04:28:18 pm

I'm a total novella writer :) I love getting to the heart of the relationship/plot without all these subplots and other stuff going on around it.

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Jeanette Grey link
1/4/2012 07:20:07 pm

LOVE them. Love to read them, love to write them. So exciting to concentrate on just one story line and a couple of core characters. Their increasing popularity is one of the very best things about the rise of epublishing, imo.

Reply
Taryn Elliott link
1/5/2012 10:28:13 am

As an author just getting into novellas, I am enjoying them. I tend to be a bit of a windbag, but learning to write tighter and cleaner really helps for the long works as well.

As a reader, I love both.

Great topic!

Reply
Kari link
2/26/2012 04:00:51 am

I have a love hate relationship with novellas. I love them when I want a quick read. But, I hate them because I always want more of the story. LOL. I can't win.

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