The Short and the Long

More of my novels fall into the sixty to seventy thousand word range than any other. That is my personal sweet spot, I suppose. I am well aware publishers (these days) prefer a bit more length than that. I am also aware that many classic novels fall into that same range — or shorter. Some even slip into what some define as novella length.

I do not consider any of my stories to be novellas, at least as published. ‘Donzalo’s Destiny’ is, admittedly, divided into novella-length parts that are somewhat self-standing, though making up an overall story. My shortest novel otherwise is around forty-three thousand words; definitely above the novella cut-off.

Though a novella is, essentially, just a short novel — unlike a novelette, which could be considered a long short story. The border between the two is nebulous; by word count, somewhere around the fifteen to twenty thousand point. Depending just on numbers, however, is a mistake. The two feel different. The novella will be more complex in plot and character.

I just finished a story of some seventeen thousand and four hundred words. I consider it a novelette. There are two fairly straightforward plot elements intertwined and little more. Yes, I threw in some brief words toward a subplot romance but they are not at all essential to the narrative. Nor is any character other than the narrator really explored in any depth.

Kipling’s ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ is one of the great novelettes, at a little over fourteen thousand words. Again, essentially two plots — or one plot, as seen by two main characters. The conflict between their views of things pretty much makes the story. Everyone else who appears is not explored beyond their contribution to that story; we don’t know much of who they are, otherwise. Not even the guide, really, who is the strongest character beyond the two leads. His subplot is definitely subordinate to theirs. He could be discarded without changing the overall plot.

What am I likely to do with my own newly-minted novelette? Haven’t the slightest idea. It is set in the universe of my Jack Mack science fiction novels (written under the Oliver Davis Pike pen name), perhaps five or six years after the events in the one most recently published. I could just offer it as a stand-alone freebie. I could write another — or two — and put them together to create a longer book. Maybe both.

Either way, I should probably get to writing on something else.

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Incidentally, the movie of ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ is one of the few that truly does credit to its source material. Definitely recommended (and I’m generally not much of movie fan at all).

Also (not so incidentally), I put together a PDF ebook of Kipling’s novelette than can be downloaded for free at Arachis Press (arachispress.com). Or one can obtain a free epub from Project Gutenberg.