A novella ...

arainsb123 · Jan 23, 2007

... is what I have on my hands. 19,067 words, and the story -- at least of this character -- is done. The events he's set in motion are going to have some enormous effects, but his story is done; he's dead.

So why not just break to a part two? Because I've told the entire story so far in a chapterless first person, and for the past half a year writing in the third person has been a dead end for me. I don't want yet another thirty or forty thousand word burnout. My aim here was to write the whole thing from a single viewpoint.

I suppose I'll either break into a new first person narrator, label it as such, and struggle to slip into a whole new voice, or rough it out with third person. But this story, and this character, mean a lot to me. I had hoped to linger with both for at least a full novel, but the story is over when it's over and so I'll continue anew.

Gary · Jan 23, 2007

At 29,000 words, I thought my story was complete. After letting it age for a few weeks and reading it again, I realized it wasn't. It's now 63,000 words and finally complete. However, that's my story...yours may be entirely different.

skelly · Jan 23, 2007

I feel your pain, arain. My YA came it at 30,000. Conventional wisdom says I need to be around 50,000. I'm just under halfway through the rewrite and I have added a total of about 750 words. I'm cutting damn near as much as I'm adding. The story is getting better, there's that, and I'm fleshing out the subplots, but even with a few juicy (and now relevant) scenes thrown in I don't see this thing going much past 40k. My chaps average around 3500 words. To hit 50k I'd have to add almost six new chapters. I just can't see that happening.

IrishScribbler · Jan 23, 2007

I have the opposite situation. I started writing my WIP with the aim of writing a novella (I didn't think I had the patience to tackle a full-length novel), and it's become a much bigger story! It's still under novel length, but I've begun rereading and editing, and there's so much more that needs to be fleshed out that it can't possibly be a novella!

scribbler1382 · Jan 23, 2007

There's always more story. Understand, this is different from bloated story. Adding more wordage without expanding on the plot, characterization or adding sub-plots is NOT a good idea and is known as padding. But, he said waving his finger in the air, don't be so sure you're done just because you typed THE END.

I had a 20,000 word novella that I was sure was done and unexpandable. A friend was looking it over and after reading a scene where two main characters were arguing, she said "whoa, his daughter is hiding in the bedroom, isn't she." She wasn't and this had never even occurred to me. But when I thought about it, streams of story spun off from the root of my story in my mind. I'm now at just under 50,000 words and this sucker is going to be submitted as a novel before Easter! (I mean it!)

I think the moral here is "stay open". Remember what King says "the book is boss". Don't force your story into a mold just because that's what YOU want it to be. Let 'er breath. You might be surprised.

PeeDee · Jan 23, 2007

scribbler1382 said:
I think the moral here is "stay open". Remember what King says "the book is boss". Don't force your story into a mold just because that's what YOU want it to be. Let 'er breath. You might be surprised.

*cough cough is anal retentive* ACTUALLY, STephen King was quoting his agent, who was in turn quoting sci-fi author Alfred Bester, who used to say "The Book is the boss."

*stumbles off*

scribbler1382 · Jan 23, 2007

PeeDee said:
*cough cough is anal retentive* ACTUALLY, STephen King was quoting his agent, who was in turn quoting sci-fi author Alfred Bester, who used to say "The Book is the boss."

*stumbles off*

Just said King said it, never said he came up with it. Besides, I think every writing "saying" can be harkened back to Serling or Highsmith or MacDonald...but people like contemporary name dropping much better.

PeeDee · Jan 23, 2007

scribbler1382 said:
Just said King said it, never said he came up with it. Besides, I think every writing "saying" can be harkened back to Serling or Highsmith or MacDonald...but people like contemporary name dropping much better.

Yeah, I know, that's why I was being anal retentive and not just correcting you.

Carry on!

thepainpasses · Jan 23, 2007

So...as I understand it, your story isn't over, just that character's part of it.

I wouldn't be too concerned at changing POVs, whatever the tense may be. Take, for example, Gregory Maguire's Wicked (which is one of my favorite books, so I must mention it). He uses several "books" within his novel, changes POVS between them (even, on occasion, in the middle of them), the way he labels chapters (sometimes chapterless, with numbers, with names), and it all flows fairly effortlessly. It's still easy to understand.

Perhaps take your (what will be) novel and divide it into two "books," one of your original character's story and the second from whoever has the most story to tell beyond that? By labeling them as seperate books (which would obviously be put together into one novel), the reader would be more willing to accept the POV change and refocus after the nearly 20k they've already read because they're being told flat out that they're being moved somwhere else.

arainsb123 · Jan 23, 2007

I read Wicked and loved it. (Hated Son of a Witch, but that's for another time ...)

Before coming back to this thread I'd been letting the story stew, and assuring myself that just because I write something doesn't mean it has to go into the story; that it's okay to experiment with all sorts of potential continuations of the story before settling on any one.

Maybe I'll read the thing and see where I let --

As I was typing this, the solution occurred to me.

:-D

(This is why I (heart) Absolute Write.)

mooncars · Jan 23, 2007

I started out to write a novel. Finished at 31,111 words. Trimmed back to 14,000 with more cutting to do. Either I'm gonna have an epiphany and just watch this thing explode and blossom, or it'll be whacked down to a mere single haiku.

I feel your pain,
Rick

heatheringemar · Jan 26, 2007

I've got a similar problem. Only, I can't seem to get over the 20,000 word point without hating what I've written and feeling like it needs to be turned into something short.

*sigh*

I think we're all doooooomed, lol.

Summonere · Jan 26, 2007

Why not go to part two and tell someone else's story in first person, a story that connects to the first one and expands it?

If the story would work that way, I don't see any reason not to try it.

Philip K. Dick did something quite similar, only in third person. First half of the book had a different central character than the last half. It was a good story.

I'm reading a novel right now that uses multiple first person viewpoints and third person ones all jumbled up together in different timelines, too.

heatheringemar · Jan 27, 2007

William Faulkner does that in a lot of his novels, most notably, The Sound and the Fury. Each part is the same story, only told from a different character's POV.

Now, I didn't like the book at all, but the technique was quite fascinating.

Summonere · Jan 27, 2007

Did that in The Sound and Fury? Strange. I read it, and have absolutely no memory of it whatsoever. Kind of like most of my life.

heatheringemar · Jan 27, 2007

Summonere said:
Did that in The Sound and Fury? Strange. I read it, and have absolutely no memory of it whatsoever. Kind of like most of my life.

Yep. If I remember correctly, the part breakdown is:

Benjy
Quentin (boy)
The eldest boy, what's his name? Really arrogant guy.... Jason Compson!
Their black servant lady... Delia?

Provrb1810meggy · Feb 15, 2007

skelly said:
I feel your pain, arain. My YA came it at 30,000. Conventional wisdom says I need to be around 50,000. I'm just under halfway through the rewrite and I have added a total of about 750 words. I'm cutting damn near as much as I'm adding. The story is getting better, there's that, and I'm fleshing out the subplots, but even with a few juicy (and now relevant) scenes thrown in I don't see this thing going much past 40k. My chaps average around 3500 words. To hit 50k I'd have to add almost six new chapters. I just can't see that happening.

I don't think you have to worry as much as if this were an adult novel. YA novels generally are much shorter. 40K, I think, will be enough to garner some interest. I have a 40K novel on submission, and I've already received a few requests. Nobody has mentioned the length yet.

Robyn · Feb 15, 2007

I run into this alot. Everytime I start to write a shorter novella it never happens. Scottish Whispers was suppose to be around 25-30k ended up at 55k with the lead in for another book if not more. My current WIP was going to be about 30k not going to happen.. already well into 40k and going strong. Try as I might shorter works never pan out for me as the story takes on a life of its own when i begin to type.

A novella ...

arainsb123

Learning!

Gary

skelly

Kickin it old school, posers beware

IrishScribbler

scribbler1382

Write For You, Edit For The Reader

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

scribbler1382

Write For You, Edit For The Reader

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

thepainpasses

arainsb123

Learning!

mooncars

heatheringemar

lurking behind that corner..

Summonere

heatheringemar

lurking behind that corner..

Summonere

heatheringemar

lurking behind that corner..

Provrb1810meggy

Robyn