Book length

Lucyrichmond · Post by **Lucyrichmond** » 13 Feb 2014, 09:25

E-publishing enables a book length of about 50,000 words for a mystery as in the Golden Age of detective stories (between the wars). I think they work better at this length rather than the doorstop-length required these days. What do you think? (It also means you can publish short stories and novellas!)

sighingsoftly · Post by **sighingsoftly** » 15 Feb 2014, 03:51

here's probably a stupid question, but at what point does it switch from a novel to a novella? does it have to do with word count? like 50,000 is a novel, but under 50,000 words is considered a novella? also, the line between short story and novella? Occasionally I like a nice short read. Especially when I'm just looking for something to pass the time in transit, or during the holidays. But as a writer, I've never tried writing a novella seriously. If it didn't reach the at least 50,000 mark, it got left behind. well, I now have a full box of such left behinds, and I'm wondering what to do with them all. lol

Lucyrichmond · Post by **Lucyrichmond** » 15 Feb 2014, 04:17

Combine two and make a novel? Raymond Chandler did it.

deanfromaustralia · Post by **deanfromaustralia** » 23 Feb 2014, 19:21

This is just a personal opinion but I don't think you can achieve an engaging narrative in 50k words. It barely allows for any meaningful character development and would end up being just pure plot. I think readers demand more from their books.

sighingsoftly · Post by **sighingsoftly** » 24 Feb 2014, 01:34

deanfromaustralia wrote:This is just a personal opinion but I don't think you can achieve an engaging narrative in 50k words. It barely allows for any meaningful character development and would end up being just pure plot. I think readers demand more from their books.

But, do you not think that some books, especially action or sci-fi are sometimes better plot driven than character drive? Obviously there'd have to be SOME character development, but too ,much and the book would be too long wouldn't it?

Lucyrichmond · Post by **Lucyrichmond** » 24 Feb 2014, 02:50

I know everybody talks about "character development", but what do you mean by it exactly?

sighingsoftly · Post by **sighingsoftly** » 24 Feb 2014, 08:03

Lucyrichmond wrote:I know everybody talks about "character development", but what do you mean by it exactly?

I always took character development as getting to know the characters, what drives them, their motivation, what kind of person they are, things they like, what their life is/was/will be like... like making friends. Learning all about them. And then watching them learn and grow as characters, how they change and evolve by the end of the book/story. Well, that's what I THINK it is... my characters don't change a lot, mostly cause they tend to die off. kk

Lucyrichmond · Post by **Lucyrichmond** » 24 Feb 2014, 11:27

Thanks! Characters may also become more conservative. Their consciences may wither. They may become less empathetic. They may lose their youthful enthusiasm. Instead of falling romantically in love they may exploit a string of mistresses. But then perhaps nobody would read the book.

Jen319164 · Post by **Jen319164** » 22 Mar 2014, 10:58

I feel like all the books that i would truly enjoy would not be of short lengths because there has to be plot development action and details but that is just me

ConorEngelb · Post by **ConorEngelb** » 09 Apr 2014, 12:37

deanfromaustralia wrote:This is just a personal opinion but I don't think you can achieve an engaging narrative in 50k words. It barely allows for any meaningful character development and would end up being just pure plot. I think readers demand more from their books.

I would argue that it is certainly possible to achieve an engaging narrative and meaningful character development in a shorter work; looking specifically at Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. I find it contains both - the story moves along at a good pace and is exciting, and the characters develop over the course of the narrative, sometimes quite substantially. So yeah.

luvmybooks619 · Post by **luvmybooks619** » 09 Apr 2014, 12:52

If you like the Romance Genre, then you would have shorter stories to read if you read and of the Harlequin Romance books. I, personally, lean toward reading the larger plot driven and descriptive novels, but some time you just want to have that shorter book to read!

WriterBLAlley · Post by **WriterBLAlley** » 11 Apr 2014, 11:15

I believe a book should be the length needed to effectively tell the story, regardless of how long it is. No filler, and no uncomfortable jumps. Some can be told in 40 to 50k, while others needed 200k to convey the author's intent.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 12 Apr 2014, 23:09

50k length these days is considered a bit short. If you're an established author you can certainly get it published but new authors might not be so lucky.

Depends on the genre, but most westerns or mystery novels are about 70k-80k, fantasy are longer, about 100k for some reason. Mainstream novels can be from 80k to 120k. This is just a general rule of thumb and there is no real set boundary. But new writers will generally find a more receptive agent or publisher if the novel is between 65k to 85k.

As for novelette vs novel, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the minimum word count for a novel being 40k but that sounds kinda low.