Writing Forum

I Googled "novella" and "length" and I found tables of word counts, and quotes, like this: separating out novels from novellas, even from the esoteric and still shorter "novelette"—as though prose works were dog show contestants, needing to be entered into proper categories. But when it comes to writing, any distinctions that begin with an objective and external quality like size are bound to be misleading.

Warren Cariou wrote: The novella is generally not as formally experimental as the long story and the novel can be, and it usually lacks the subplots, the multiple points of view, and the generic adaptability that are common in the novel. It is most often concerned with personal and emotional development rather than with the larger social sphere. The novella generally retains something of the unity of impression that is a hallmark of the short story, but it also contains more highly developed characterization and more luxuriant description.

Stephen King has called the novella "an ill-defined and disreputable literary banana republic."

I feel I'm on fairly good ground here. Banana republic. . .

LSO