Editing Novella (section)

==Characteristics==
A novella generally features fewer [[Conflict (narrative)|conflicts]] than a [[novel]], yet more complex conflicts than a [[short story]]. The conflicts also have more time to develop than in short stories. Novellas may or may not be divided into chapters (good examples of those with chapters are ''[[Animal Farm]]'' by [[George Orwell]] and ''[[The War of the Worlds]]'' by [[H. G. Wells]]), and white space is often used to divide the sections, something less common in short stories. Novellas may be intended to be read at a single sitting, like short stories, and thus produce a unitary effect on the reader.<ref name="bf1">{{Cite book|last=Kercheval|first=Jesse Lee|title=Building Fiction|publisher=Story Press|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|year=1997|chapter=Short shorts, novellas, novel-in-stories|isbn=1-884910-28-9|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/buildingfictionh0000kerc}}</ref> According to [[Warren Cariou]], "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.<ref>''Encyclopedia of literature in Canada''. Edited by William H. New. University of Toronto, 2000. Page 835.</ref>

===Versus novel===
{{See also|Novel|Word count}}

The term ''novel'', borrowed from the Italian ''novella'', originally meant "any of a number of tales or stories making up a larger work; a short narrative of this type, a fable", and was then many times used in the plural,<ref>[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/128757 Entry "novel, n."] In: ''OED Online.'' March 2019. Oxford University Press. Accessed 3 April 2019.</ref> reflecting the usage as in ''[[The Decameron]]'' and its followers. Usage of the more italianate ''novella'' in English seems to be a bit younger.<ref>[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/128772 Entry "novella, n."] In: ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2019. Accessed 3 April 2019.</ref> The differentiation of the two terms seems to have occurred only in the 19th century, following the new fashion of the novella in German literature. In 1834, [[John Lothrop Motley]] could still speak of "Tieck's novels (which last are a set of exquisite little tales, novels in the original meaning of the word)".<ref>Letter of 2 June 1834, in: John Lothrop Motley (1889). ''Correspondence''. I. iii. 35.</ref> But when the term ''novella'' was used it was already clear that a rather short and witty form was intended: "The brief Novella has ever been a prodigious favorite with the nation…since the days of Boccaccio."<ref>''North American review'' '''25''' (1827), p. 186.</ref> In 1902, [[William Dean Howells]] wrote: "Few modern fictions of the novel's dimensions…have the beauty of form many a novella embodies."<ref>William Dean Howells (1902). ''Literature and life''. New York, p. 116.</ref>

Sometimes, as with other genres, the genre name is mentioned in the title of a single work (compare the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' or [[Goethe]]'s ''[[Das Märchen]]''). Austrian writer [[Stefan Zweig]]'s ''Die Schachnovelle'' (1942) (literally, "The Chess Novella", but translated in 1944 as ''[[The Royal Game]]'') is an example of a title naming its genre. This might be suggestive of the genre's historicization.{{cn|date=November 2022}}

Commonly, longer novellas are referred to as novels; Robert Louis Stevenson's ''[[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]'' (1886)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Strange-Case-of-Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde |title=Britannica |access-date=12 September 2021 |archive-date=30 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830082007/https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Strange-Case-of-Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde |url-status=live }}</ref> and Joseph Conrad's ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'' (1899)<ref>[http://global.britannica.com/topic/Heart-of-Darkness Heart of Darkness Novella by Conrad] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409081242/https://global.britannica.com/topic/Heart-of-Darkness |date=9 April 2017}} – ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 2 August 2015</ref> are sometimes called novels, as are many [[science fiction]] works such as H. G. Wells' ''The War of the Worlds'' (1897) and Philip Francis Nowlan's ''[[Armageddon 2419 A.D.]]'' (1928). Less often, longer works are referred to as novellas. The subjectivity of the parameters of the novella genre is indicative of its shifting and diverse nature as an art form.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} In her 2010 ''[[Open Letters Monthly]]'' series, "A Year With Short Novels", Ingrid Norton criticizes the tendency to make clear demarcations based purely on a book's length, saying that "any distinctions that begin with an objective and external quality like size are bound to be misleading."<ref>"[http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/the-sweetness-of-short-novels/ The Sweetness of Short Novels] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204170715/http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/the-sweetness-of-short-novels/ |date=4 December 2010 }}" by [http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/author/norton/ Ingrid Norton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108185550/http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/author/norton/ |date=8 January 2011 }}, Open Letters Monthly February 2010</ref>

[[Stephen King]], in his introduction to ''[[Different Seasons]]'', a 1982 collection of four novellas, notes the difficulties of selling a novella in the commercial publishing world, since it does not fit the typical length requirements of either magazine or book publishers.<ref>{{cite book|last=King|first=Stephen|title=Different Seasons|publisher=Viking Adult|year=1982|isbn=978-0-670-27266-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/differentseasonskin00king}}</ref>  Despite these problems, however, the novella's length provides unique advantages; in the introduction to a novella anthology titled ''Sailing to Byzantium'', [[Robert Silverberg]] writes:

{{bquote|[The novella] is one of the richest and most rewarding of literary forms...it allows for more extended development of theme and character than does the short story, without making the elaborate structural demands of the full-length book.  Thus it provides an intense, detailed exploration of its subject, providing to some degree both the concentrated focus of the short story and the broad scope of the novel.<ref>{{cite book|author=Silverberg, Robert|title=Sailing to Byzantium|url=https://archive.org/details/sailingtobyzanti00silv|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher= ibooks, inc.|date= 2000|isbn= 0-7861-9905-9}}</ref>}}

In his essay, "Briefly, the case for the novella", Canadian author George Fetherling (who wrote the novella ''Tales of Two Cities'') said that to reduce the novella to nothing more than a short novel is like "insisting that a [[pony]] is a baby horse".<ref>{{cite news|author=Fetherling, George |url=http://www.sevenoaksmag.com/commentary/94_comm1.html |title=Briefly, the case for the novella |work=Seven Oaks Magazine |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912031610/http://www.sevenoaksmag.com/commentary/94_comm1.html |archive-date=12 September 2012 }}</ref>

The sometimes blurry definition between a novel and a novella can create controversy, as was the case with British writer [[Ian McEwan]]'s ''[[On Chesil Beach]]'' (2007). The author described it as a novella, but the panel for the [[Man Booker Prize]] in 2007 qualified the book as a "short novel".<ref>{{cite news|title=Ian McEwan claims the novella is better than the novel|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9608935/Ian-McEwan-claims-the-novella-is-better-than-the-novel.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9608935/Ian-McEwan-claims-the-novella-is-better-than-the-novel.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=27 September 2015|work=The Telegraph|agency=Telegraph Media Group Limited|issue=HOME»CULTURE»BOOKS»BOOK NEWS|publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited|date=15 October 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Thus, this "novella" was shortlisted for an award for best original novel. A similar case is found with a much older work of fiction: ''[[The Call of the Wild]]'' (1903) by [[Jack London]]. This book, by modern standards, is short enough and straightforward enough to qualify as a novella. However, historically, it has been regarded as a novel.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

===<span class="anchor" id="Novelette"></span> Versus novelette===
Dictionaries define ''novelette'' similarly to ''novella'', sometimes identically,<ref>''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]'' (4th ed.): [https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=novella "novella (2)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403231359/https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=novella |date=3 April 2019 }}, [https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=novelette "novelette"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403231354/https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=novelette |date=3 April 2019 }};
''[[Merriam-Webster]]'': [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/novelette novelette] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121015611/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/novelette |date=21 January 2013 }}.</ref> sometimes with a disparaging sense of being trivial or sentimental.<ref>''[[Collins Dictionary]]'': [http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/novella "novella (2)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407095445/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/novella |date=7 April 2013 }}, [http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/novelette "novelette (2)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407095151/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/novelette |date=7 April 2013 }}; ''[[Macmillan Dictionary]]'' (US ed.): [http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/novella "novella"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107175243/http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/novella |date=7 January 2014 }}, [http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/novelette "novelette"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107175348/http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/novelette |date=7 January 2014 }}; ''[[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]]'' (UK ed.): [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/novella "novella"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910123731/http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/novella |date=10 September 2012 }}, [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/novella "novelette"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910123731/http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/novella |date=10 September 2012 }}; ''[[Concise Oxford English Dictionary]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20140107174454/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/novella?view=uk "novella"], [https://web.archive.org/web/20140107174732/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/novelette?view=uk "novelette"]; ''[[Webster's New World Dictionary]]'': [http://websters.yourdictionary.com/novella "novella"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122134257/http://websters.yourdictionary.com/novella |date=22 January 2013 }}, [http://websters.yourdictionary.com/novelette "novelette"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211515/http://websters.yourdictionary.com/novelette |date=4 March 2016 }}.</ref> Some [[literary award]]s have a longer "novella" and a shorter "novelette" category, with a distinction based on [[word count]]. Among awards, a range between 17,500 and 40,000 words is commonly used for the novella category, whereas 7,500–17,500 is commonly used for novelettes.<ref name="nebularules"/><ref name="wsfs"/><ref name="sjarules"/>  According to ''The Writer'', a novelette is approximately between 7,000 and 20,000 words in length, anything shorter being considered a short story.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Jack|date=October 26, 2018|title=The novella: Stepping stone to success or waste of time?|url=https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/novella/|access-date=2020-10-15|website=The Writer|language=en-US|quote=A novella typically starts at about 20,000 words and tops out at 50,000, which is the minimum length for a short novel. There’s no mathematical exactness about this word range, but generally speaking, when a work falls a few thousand below 20,000 words, it’s a novelette, and when it falls under 7,000 words, it’s a short story. When it’s 50,000 and climbing, it’s a short novel, until it hits about 80,000 words, and then it’s a standard novel.|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028200128/https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/novella/|url-status=live}}</ref>