Novellas - Your novel becomes a novella. Are you a failure?

Joliedupre · Mar 14, 2012

I set out to write the first of four novels for a series. My goal was to submit a 50,000 words or more document to my publisher. What they got is a 27,500 word document. It qualifies for eBook only, which I don't have a problem with since most of my previous royalties have come from my eBook sales rather than my print sales. (Today eBooks are on the rise due to Kindle's etc.) I also know that novellas sell, because I've seen them sell for other authors. (Kimberly Spencer's The Shimmer Trilogy, for example.)

I'm proud of the novella, and I believe that I've made every word count, but am I a failure for not reaching my novel length goal?

All comments are welcome.

HoneyBadger · Mar 14, 2012

No, you're not a failure.

Ed Panther · Mar 14, 2012

No. If you made every word count then I don't think that could ever be considered a failure.

TheaBlowsKisses · Mar 14, 2012

Not at all. Some of my friends freak out over word count (and I'm afraid some fall into the quantity vs. quality trap). I've always said "the story will be as long as it wants to be". Sometimes, there's no use in trying to flesh out a shorter work just to make it hit some magical number, and I think it's usually obvious when someone tries to add in a lot of unnecessary words.

Domino Derval · Mar 14, 2012

I'd say it's less of a "failure" and more of a "sin." Say ten Our Fathers, my child.

Joliedupre · Mar 14, 2012

I appreciate all of the answers so far.

@Domino - You're joking, but it's true. The novella is often seen as the black sheep of the writing world. From Listverse - "The novella is the stepchild of literary genres. It’s too long for a short story and too short for a novel."

Mharvey · Mar 14, 2012

Joliedupre said:
I set out to write the first of four novels for a series. My goal was to submit a 50,000 words or more document to my publisher. What they got is a 27,500 word document. It qualifies for eBook only, which I don't have a problem with since most of my previous royalties have come from my eBook sales rather than my print sales. (Today eBooks are on the rise due to Kindle's etc.) I also know that novellas sell, because I've seen them sell for other authors. (Kimberly Spencer's The Shimmer Trilogy, for example.)

I'm proud of the novella, and I believe that I've made every word count, but am I a failure for not reaching my novel length goal?

All comments are welcome.

Why would you say that? Novellas are not failed novels... they are novels you can, in theory, read in one sitting. What's wrong with that?

Pikabuddy · Mar 14, 2012

Definitely not!

If you've got a compelling story to tell, it doesn't matter how long it is!

Joliedupre · Mar 14, 2012

I really appreciate all of the comments and the honesty. You know how paranoid and neurotic authors are. LOL I'm no different. We always worry about everything.

Laure de Sade · Mar 14, 2012

I love novellas. They don't take long to read and often pack far more of a poetic punch than much longer books. It's a shame that they occupy such an ambiguous place in the publishing world.

lolchemist · Mar 14, 2012

No you're not a failure!

I mean *technically* you could be a "failure" if your ultimate goal was to just write a 50k story regardless of content (like Nanowrimo) but you could only manage to puke out 27.5k instead. But it sounds like you didn't write 27.5k worth of puke, it sounds like you wrote a 27.5k word great story worth publishing. So why should that be considered a failure?

Just sit your butt back down and try again for the 50k story. it will come to you!

Joliedupre · Mar 14, 2012

@lolchemist - Yeah, I figure eventually I'll write a full-length. Just not right now.

dangerousbill · Mar 14, 2012

Wait a minute! If you're the real Jolie Du Pre, you've published a ton of books and anthologies, and you'd already know the answer to a question like this! You'd already know how to add subplots, recruit additional characters, extend the main plot, etc.

And you'd certainly have a solid feel for whether you're a failure or not.

Joliedupre · Mar 14, 2012

@Dangerous Bill - Yes, you're right. But even after over 10 years of published writing, it's like I've been having a mini-nervous breakdown the last few days. (Maybe I should drink and take drugs. LOL!)

But I'm feeling better about everything, and I appreciate all the comments.

James D. Macdonald · Mar 14, 2012

Some ideas are short-story length ideas.
Some ideas are novella-length ideas.
Some ideas are novel-length ideas.

The Old Man and the Sea, Of Mice and Men, and Heart of Darkness are well-known novellas.

Joliedupre · Mar 14, 2012

And my favorite is Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Buffysquirrel · Mar 14, 2012

No, you are not a failure. Even if the story failed, which it doesn't sound like it did, you would not be a failure. In fact, let's take that word 'failure' out the back and shoot it.

We'll all feel better.

bearilou · Mar 15, 2012

You got to The End?

Nope, not a failure!

Plot Device · Mar 15, 2012

Novellas often lend themselves more readilly to being made into movies because of their brevity. As long as you can glean a legitimate three-act structure from the story, and as long as there is a reasonable amount of action involved, they tend to translate into screenplays very nicely, and almost never need to amputate huge swaths of the main storyline or any of the side characters. *cough* Lord of the Rings *cough* Tom Bombadil *cough* Radagast the Brown *cough* the scouring of the Shire *cough*

Stephen King is notorious for movellas. And Hollywood totally loves making anything by him into a film. And this is doubly so after the amazing cinematic accomplishment of his very brief The Shawshenk Redemption.

Novellas are brief enough so that when the screenplay is finally written, there still remains enough wiggle room for the director to roll up his sleaves and start getting all creative with pauses and fades and moments of silence. Directors prefer shorter sreenplays which allow them to exercise their discretion on when to linger a little longer on certain moments, or inject a montage, or do whatever. They don't like screenplays so damend packed that they have to start cutting before they've even shot a single foot of film.

::ETA::

And don't forget the jaw-dropping success of Brokeback Mountain.

Undercover · Mar 15, 2012

Like someone else said, you finished, right? AND you got a publisher for it too right? AND you're going to make money now right? AND you can add another onto your writing credits, right?

I don't think you should have to worry. I'd rather write a novella and have it published and sell then write a full-length novel and have no one ever read it. You can always look at it that way too.

RichardGarfinkle · Mar 15, 2012

Absolutely not. Each story seem to have an inherent correct length depending on how you're telling it. If it works, it's right.

Publishing novellas can be hard, but that's an artifact of the current state of the industry, not of novellas themselves.

Joliedupre · Mar 15, 2012

I've enjoyed reading the various responses. Thanks!

Also, @Plot Device, very interesting info on screenplays. Thanks! http://absolutewrite.com/forums/member.php?u=14597

Phaeal · Mar 15, 2012

The great thing about e-publishing is that length is far less an issue. I'm seeing a lot of novelette and novella length stories in this area.

A story fails on length only if it reads too short or too long. If that's not the case, no problem. Well, apart from the constraints of publisher expectations.

allenparker · Mar 15, 2012

The only thing I would consider failure is your failure to see the novella in the light it should be. I often start a novel that becomes a novella. I have written stories that start out with 60k and once I trim the fat, lean the masses, add graphic details and build a strong character, it becomes a 30k novella. Some stories are better as a novella than a novel.

But that failure is extremely excusable. We all have those tiny blind spots.

veinglory · Mar 15, 2012

You failed to write a novel. How important that is is between you and your ego. Potentially not at all.

Novellas - Your novel becomes a novella. Are you a failure?

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