You know you wonder about it, sometimes it even keeps you up at night, doesn't it? Are you inadequate, over-compensating or are you one of the rare anomalies who might just have too much of a (hopefully) good thing?
You know how it goes, how thick is just too thick? How long is just right and how long is 'ouch!'? How short is 'blah' and how short is a nice tease?
You do realize what we are talking about here, don't you? Length, thickness, it all boils down to the same thing---
WORD COUNT!!
Hehe, you should see your FACE! ;)
Anyway, now that we have a handle on things, let's move along.
What is the perfect length anyway? Is there such a thing? Do you abhore short stories, regurgitate at the thought of novellas or choke on the thought of an 800-page novel? What is just right to some will no doubt be uncomfortable for others, and vice versa.
Hermione's idea of light reading might make some weak at the knees, for instance.
Writer's Digest
has this to say about standard lengths of Adult Commerial & Literary Novels.
In short:
80,000 – 89,999: Totally cool
90,000 – 99,999: Generally safe
70,000 – 79,999: Might be too short; probably all right
100,000 – 109,999: Might be too long; probably all right
Below 70,000: Too short
110,000 or above Too long
Where do you fall on this scale? Is it all good, you know the old adage, it's not the size of the ship, but the motion of the ocean?
Personally, I fall firmly on the side of it's the skill, not the length. With a few exceptions, of course.
In novels, it truly does make no difference to me as long as the story is served. Short & Shorter is a good blog on the subject, she defines the standard lengths of stories outside of novels:
Short Story = 3,500-7,500 words
Novelette = 7,500-17,000 words
Novella = 17,000-40,000 words
I will also add 2 other forms,
Super Short = 1,500-3,500 words
Flash fiction = under 1,500 words
In these forms, things get a little dicey for certain genres.
Horror lends itself beautifully to all these forms, romance, not so much.
Literary also works well with all forms, as do sci-fi, UF and fantasy.
Are there exceptions to these rules? Yah, sure. But you show me a writer who can do a good flash fiction romantic suspense and I'll eat it. Stephen King can get away with movies being made of his short stories —Larissa Ione, not so much.
I write primarily paranormal romance for publishing at the moment. It is important that I understand what works for my genre. I think novellas can be done in romance, particularly PNR or fantasy-based romance, but you have to be careful. Readers are properly wary of the shorter forms in romance. It is difficult, at best, to flesh out a meaningful relationship arc in less than 100 pages.
My novella, Phoenix Rising accomplishes this because the 2 MCs are former lovers, brought back together by violent murder. This allows me to take a short cut on the whole 'met and fall in love' bit. Miles and Kelsey have already met, already fallen in love 10 years before the novella even starts. The story has more to do with betrayal and trust and how broken people and relationships can be made whole. I think it works, but like I said, it's tricky. Phoenix Rising doesn't nearly match my standard-length novel, Smoke in Moonlight in sales or freebie days, and I have come to the conclusion, word count is probably most to blame for that.
Where do you fall on the whole length thing? Or do you gobble up anything and everything?
It's worth thinking about, whether you are a reader or a writer, because what people like and buy drives the market. In the end, size DOES matter.
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