Once Again, a Consideration of Novellas by Susan Van Kirk

 

Verena Rose recently interviewed me on her podcast, The Hystery Chronicles, and we ended up talking about eBooks and novellas. Back in 2011, I wrote a novella about the detective from my Endurance series, TJ Sweeney. It was called The Locket: From the Casebook of TJ Sweeney. It’s been fifteen years since I wrote that novella. Now, I’m planning to write two more about TJ’s cases. Then, I’ll put them together into one book. So, it’s time to refresh my memory, and maybe yours, about how writing novellas is so different than writing novels.

 In my own Endurance novella, Detective TJ Sweeney is the main character, but Grace Kimball, my Endurance series protagonist, makes a cameo appearance. I believe she’ll do that again in stories two and three. It’s fun to see her in a different light since TJ is now the main character. Because the protagonist is TJ instead of Grace, I end up with more of a police procedural than a cozy mystery when I write about my detective.

 

The most obvious difference when it comes to novellas is the length. My novels range from 71,000 words to 82,000 words. In page numbers, that’s 239 pages to 270 pages. The length of a novella is 20,000-40,000 words or 80-160 pages. The Locket weighed in at 82 pages. This change calls for several differences in how I approach writing the shorter work.

 

First, I still need a strong hook to bring the reader into the plot quickly. While a novel has a main plot and multiple subplots, a novella must have fewer, if any, subplots. There isn’t time for multiple subplots that have nothing to do with the case she’s solving. To me, the novella plot seems more straight-forward. The author doesn’t have the luxury of stringing the story through weeks, months or years. No miniseries here covering multiple generations. A novella usually covers anywhere from days to a few weeks. Often, a novella has white space rather than chapters between scenes because it must be very streamlined where one event leads quickly into another.

 

Second, you rarely see multiple points of view in a novella. One main character tells the story, and any supporting characters had better have a darn good reason to be in the plot. The main character will be well-rounded, but other characters will have less description than you’d see in a novel.

 

Third, the conflict must be easily recognizable early and continue as the main focus of the novella. The writer doesn’t have the luxury of adding pages of setting descriptions, or side conflicts to interrupt the main focus. The length of the novella usually depends on the intricacy of the complications.

 

Finally, revision. Unlike the luxurious, rambling pace of a novel, a novella must be streamlined. The verbs must be strong, and the writer must cut out any unnecessary words. I go through many more revisions with a novella because its length rules the day.

 

So far, I have a couple of clever ideas for the other two novellas that will go with The Locket to create one book. Like any writing project, it leaves me with some questions to ponder. What order will I use for the three stories? Will they show TJ at various stages of her detective career? Should I name the book of three stories From the Casebook of TJ Sweeney and then name each story with an object from the case like The Locket from the story I’ve already published? Lots to think about, and I’m relishing this new project.

 

Do you enjoy reading shorter works of fiction that you can read in one sitting or a couple days?