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Flash-Fiction Vs Short Story Vs Novella Vs Novel – Which is Your Corner?
Have you ever thought that: shall I go for a short hook or long punch?
I can’t say as it ever crossed my mind when I started writing what shall I write: long or short novels?
Hell no, I crashed headlong into an epic WWII romance. The novel itself was wholly inspired by image of US bomber in an old magazine, which if I remember correctly went by the title of Pictorial Review. The bomber was badly damaged, two engine propellers not working, and the aircraft clearly coming in to land at a bit of a tilt. The write-up claimed a miraculous landing, though members of the crew were badly injured and dead among their number. In the foreground was a young woman near the perimeter fence, on horseback and watching the plight of the stricken aircraft. That image inspired me and I wrote my first romance, though I had penned scripts for pantomimes and school plays!
I can’t think why I never sent this particular novel to a publisher. I guess I thought I was too young for a publisher to take me seriously at 25 yrs of age. Funnily enough I dragged out its hand-written tattered remnants a couple of weeks back in order to whip a snippet from it for a themed Challenge. Wow! It drew forth such a good response I think I’ll revise it and see if “it” can get a bite from a publisher sometime. If interested in reading a snippet from my first ever novel, it’s here under the heading Romantic Friday Writers Challenge No. 11. here.
Found this pic but it's not the original one.
Oops. I digress. Anyhoo, getting back to the long and short of it: I love writing big blousy novels with sumptuous settings and lavishly dressed heroes and heroines. It can be either a contemporary or historical romance, sometimes a romantic thriller. But, quite recently I was asked to co-host a group blog with a difference, and this blog involves writing Flash-Fiction or that of posting a snippet from a novel to fit a themed challenge. So, I experimented with Flash-Fiction, which entails conveying a cameo/story within 400 words. From this participation I realised it was teaching me to cut to the bone and make every word count: Romantic Friday Writers
I then embarked on a novella, because again it forces one to cut the waffle, tighten the girth, and smooth down a complete story within 16,000/30,000 words. I did it purely as an experiment, the historical novella now on Kindle at Amazon. Why? Because I saw no point in submitting a novella to a publisher, and it’s a good way of testing the novella market. The returns on a novella are minimal at best, so why give third-party interest a score on few pennies more than I? As it happens, it’s doing well without publisher backup.
But, getting back to the long and short: I recently gained success with a novel that is 60,000 words approx and due out of Whiskey Creek Press July 2012. It’s a glitzy glamorous novel with horsy backdrop.
To top that, I’ve had a request from a British publisher for a full on my 97,000 + word historical novel. To say I’m thrilled and scared all in one go is an understatement. I just love big landscape novels, delicious swashbuckling heroes and charming if difficult young misses and mistresses and all set against authentic backdrop and alongside real-life people from era depicted.
Novella
details and book trailer http://francinehowarth.blogspot.com
BTW: sorry about the waffle in this post! ;)
BTW: sorry about the waffle in this post! ;)
Wow...I love that a picture inspired you to write an entire novel. And, yes, dust that puppy off, fix it up, and get it out there!
ReplyDeleteI tend to write 'medium-sized' stories. In order for a book to be considered full length (And more importantly go to print) at The Wild Rose Press (my publisher) it needs to be over 65,000 words. I usually fall just short of this in telling my tales, and need to go back and add content. (This is my writing plan for the week...I have about 2,000 words to go on my WIP.)
I did experiment with a novella this past winter. Since I didn't have a full-length mss ready to submit, and I wanted to have a release this year, I tried the shorter length. It was fun. The results of my efforts, "A Christmas to Remember", will be available November 2 at TWRP. (True, it won't be in paperback, but at least there will be something new out there this year with my name on it!)
Great post, Francine. You should throw caution to the winds and go for it. I think first story ideas are good ones that need a seasoned hand at the keyboard.
ReplyDeleteMy first novel attempt was 120,000 words. I'm still in love with the hero, and want to tackle it again. I've trained my 'reading ear' to excise words like 'that,' and mapping out a plot helps me not write into dead ends.
I'm not sure what my word count will be for my timetravel, but 65,000 should not be a problem.
Shorter stories are harder, I think. My hat's off to those who write good novellas.
Hi Debra,
ReplyDeleteMost of my novels have evolved from images, as in portrait/picture in a gallery, even a billboard image! I don't know how it happens, but a particular picture will stir the imagination - who is it, what might they be thinking?
Basically, the conscious mind logs the image and thoughts associated to, then the subconscious plays devil's advocate and produces overnight dream sequence of that person's life: I have their story in movie format, and can either put it into words or not. ;)
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Hi Ana,
ReplyDeleteI probably will have a go at reviving No 1, sometime.
I don't know whether I've written a good novella re the general public. I know fellow bloggers have gone wild over it on "freebie reads", and although it's selling well reviews are thin on the ground at Amazon. But, according to a marketing book guru reviews by friends/family and fellow/bloggers are easy to spot and rarely a good marketing tool!!!
He claims, few readers in general bother to go back to Amazon to post a review. He also said books with too many glowing reviews are suspect!!! Book buyers he claims return to Amazon to purchase more books, but might in passing mention they liked a previous book by named author and that's why they've purchased a second. Ha ha a lesson there methinks for writers to be wary of, in touting for reviews from buddies for first book. ;)
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Having read your snippet from your first work, I'd say go for it as well. I don't have a particular preference for book length. I just know when I read something and I think the author should have gone into more detail with setting or emotions or thoughts, or sometimes (rarely) plot. For myself, since I can't plot worth anything(as I've said ad nauseum), I just write until I get to the end. Then I go through several times and see what else I can add. Because I have a journalism background, I tend to be spare in my words (although there are times when I get wordy. My first book was 92,000 words; my next is approximately 65,000. My WIP right now is only 42,000 at its first draft; obviously I need to go back and add, add, add!
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm late to the party - have been out all day.
ReplyDeleteLove your idea for a story resulting from a very evocative picture, Francine. I can't recall ever being inspired by a picture - or at least not to write a story based on it!
Re length, I think I've written all lengths except for novella. I've had short stories published that ranged from 1,500 to about 5,000 words; my early novels for M&B were about 55,000, and my more recent ones tend to be between 70 and 80,000.
I'm less happy with flash-fiction, although I have managed to pare some excerpts down to 400 words so that they can stand on their own. I'm even less happy with the six sentence excercise, mainly because I tend to use shortish sentences. So I confess I've 'cheated' slighly for 6 Sunday Sunday by joining sentences together with various conjunctions, again to make a snippet that can stand on its own.
My WIP currently stands at just over 79,000, having completely (eventually!) the penultimate chapter. The first draft will go over 80,000, and at the moment I'm not sure whether the revision/editing etc will increase or decrease that total.
Will conclude with a minor gripe of mine. On FB and Twitter, some authors frequently 'boast' about writing 2,000 words in an hour (or similar) and my inner reaction is always "Quantity or quality?" But maybe I'm just jealous, especially when I've frequently struggled for a couple of hours or more over about 50 words (or less)!
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI can write flash-fiction off the cuff and poetry, but can't plot a novel for a toffee. I once tried, and it felt like I was back at school labouring over some boring composition supposedly inspired by the English master's provision of ideas!
So I stick to images and the subconscious devil within. ;)
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Hi Paula,
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of getting into Flash-Fiction but only for fun. As for the Six Sentence Sunday idea, I gave it one shot and ducked out on the basis I couldn't see the point. Most of the Six Sentences - out of context - made little sense and afforded no favours to the author. I can see why you joined sentences! ;)
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I meant to say, re word count.
ReplyDeleteI can remember being at a writer conference once and the guest speaker from Orion Books (can't remember the CEO's name)advised everyone to crank up novels by an extra 10,000 words because a good editor will likely cut your manuscript by at least 8,000. I can still picture him grinning as he said it.
6 Sentence Sunday is a good exercise in making a meaningful snippet that can stand alone - and I know of one person who decided to buy my book on the basis of one snippet!
ReplyDeleteBut agree with you about some of the others where they've made no effort to create a meaningful snippet. I've read a lot of soft-porn snippets (and in some cases, what I would call hard porn), plus snippets about vampire, werewolves, even were-jaguars(!) which simply aren't my scene and do absolutely nothing for me. I think it would be better if 6SS could be divided into categories.
Ha-ha, don't expect any editor at WCP to cut 8,000 words, at least not in my experience. In fact, neither M&B or Robert Hale did that either. The only time it happened was when a couple of my books were 'condensed' into those 'My Weekly' or Woman's Weekly small booklet stories. I screamed in anguish at what they cut from mine!
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteRe erotic content SSS: oh dear, some of it was awful. I couldn't be arsed to read after a while! One can do explicit and make it sexy, even fun sexy, a tad risque from time to time (historical novels). Some of the stuff I did read had no style/voice, and came across as commentary of watching porn! ;)
Agree about some (most) of the erotic content which tends to be masturbatory writing at its absolute worst.
ReplyDeleteExplict and sexy don't have to be gross, which is what some of the 6 sentences were.
And all the 6's about vampires and other weirdos just make me shake my head in disbelief that anyone wants to read that kind of thing.
But each to his own, I suppose!
Hi Paula,
ReplyDeleteHa ha, now I don't mind a good vampire novel. I loved all of Ann Rice', though do remember being scared to death whilst watching a Dracula film starring Peter Cushing. Talk about ready to hide behind the sofa, I very nearly pee'd myself with fright! ;)
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