Keep it Short.

Writing a novella.

Before I wrote my novella, Hitman's Honey, to use as a magnet book, I thought the only difference between a novel and a novella was the length. Wrong again! If I had a dollar for every time I was wrong, I'd be sitting by my pool in South Beach, drinking tequila and watching the pool boy clean it for the second time today. I'm so bad! Typically, a novella has fewer characters, fewer changes in settings, and requires a central conflict or question that’s complex and interesting enough to keep the story going but resolvable with fewer pages. For instance—will Kay complete her substack article before the oven timer goes off, letting her know her chicken wrapped in bacon is ready? Hopefully so.

If you’ve never written a novella, here are some thoughts:

• Read some. Even if you have, refresh your memory. High School was so long ago (at least for me.) Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, The Turn of the Screw, Daisy Miller, A Christmas Story and The Yellow Wallpaper (love that one) are just a few. As you read. Notice what’s on the page and what’s not. Notice the pacing and that most don’t have sub-plots or, if they do, one or two.

• Have a plan. Now is not the time to fly by the seat of your pants. A novella should be somewhere between 17,500 and 45,000 words. Everyone writes differently, but planning helps you with the proper word count. Of course, you could always turn the work into a short story (if too low) or a novel (if too high,) so what the hell, do whatever it is you do.

• They often compare novellas to films, and that’s because the time required to read them is the running time of a movie. If you can pace it like a movie, so much the better.

• Be able to explain the plot in one or two sentences. If you can’t, it’s too complex for a novella, and you should write a novel.

• When you sit down, pretend you’re outlining a novel, and you’ll probably end up writing a novella.

• Create conflict in the first two pages. If you do, you’ll create an exciting novella.

• Minimize the number of characters, the settings, and time span of your story.

• Take the time to revise and revise again. With something this short, it’s got to be good, right?

Despite their smaller size, novellas can do all the heavy lifting a novel can without the larger scale. More storytelling comes into play because you aren't giving the reader as much story world. You're leaving out the extra details about settings, for instance. The main characters, goals, and motivation will drive the story instead.

I love the potential of this literary form so much that I just started working on another one. Novellas are great for testing a genre’s potential and building an audience for a future novel or series. This is also one way to finish a novel you’ve been struggling with.

Please comment if you’ve written a novella and have some advice to share.

Have a wonderful week!