What Is The Difference Between A Short Story, A Novella, And A Novel. (11/13/22)

[Marc]

What do you see as the differences between short stories, novellas, and novels? Do they differ by more than just page count? Are there distinctions that matter to you? Is there a length you associate with each label?

[Bretnie]

Having just finished Samanta Schweblin's new collection of short stories, Seven Empty Houses, this is a great question. The longest story in the book was 100 pages, but it still felt like a short story.

Her first book, Fever Dream, was under 200 pages and has been called a novella but it read like a novel to me.

I don't know what makes the distinction to me, but I'm interested to hear what others think!

I guess for me a short story doesn't have character development, but I've never thought about novellas vs novels...

[Hugh]

How long is a piece of string?

[LindaJ^]

Exactly Mark. When does a mound become a hill or a pond a lake? Or short hair long hair? Someone's long story is someone else's novella and another person's short novel. I've seen a character developed in 10 pages and one not developed 200. Page limit is arbitrary. Like pornography, we each "know" them when we see them!

[Whitney]

I know there's an "official" word count for each designation, but I think of them roughly this way:

Short story: tends to explore a central idea, and the atmosphere is usually fairly static.

Novella: tends to explore a single story line. Like a roller coaster, it can have its change in mood and ups and downs, but usually runs on a central track.

Novel: explores multiple story lines and ideas, free to meander and explore themes from many perspectives.

I say roughly, because there are all sorts of exceptions, of course.

[Marc]

LindaJ^ wrote: "Exactly Mark. When does a mound become a hill or a pond a lake? Or short hair long hair? Someone's long story is someone else's novella and another person's short novel. I've seen a character devel..."
Well, that's why we ask how each person defines it (if, indeed they do!).

It's quite often I have trouble answering these questions, as well.

I have no idea when I decide a short story becomes a novella. In my head, roughly, I think of it this way:
- Short story: <50 pgs
- Novella: 50 to 150 pgs
- Novel: >150 pgs

It's not quite that exact and there's too much overlap to define them beyond length for me personally. I do actually find the terms useful in that I think of short stories as being different from novellas and novels (I guess I think of novellas as really short books). I'm much more likely to read something someone suggests if it's a short story or novella just because I know it won't be that big of a time commitment (i.e., it's easier to squeeze in among on-going reads).

Generally, I think the publishing industry defines them by word count. The shorter any writing is the less room there is for digression and exposition, and the more weight each word/sentence must carry.

Of possible interest...
The Difference Between Short Stories, Novellas, & Novels
https://penandthepad.com/make-good-an...

[Hugh]

Pages are a very blunt measure, because so much depends on font size and the number of blank spaces and pages. I would put the novella/novel split closer to 100 pages than 150, but a word count makes more sense (though it is not easy to measure in a paper book). For me, Treacle Walker was more of a novella than Small Things Like These, whatever the page count says.

[Marc]

I'm always surprised GR doesn't have word count stats hidden somewhere, but probably most publishers don't provide that info... ?