Writing Excuses

19.17: Novellas- the Goldilocks of Publishing

Apr 28, 2024

Exploring the unique world of novellas, balancing between short stories and novels. Delving into the rise of novellas in publishing, their impact on authors' careers. Discussing novella adaptation and writer support, adding or removing essential elements for conversion

28:29

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Quick takeaways

Novellas offer a platform for innovative storytelling and diverse voices not bound by traditional novel lengths.

Novellas blend short story immersion with novel pacing, providing a concise yet immersive emotional journey for readers.

Deep dives

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02:00

Exploring Novellas: Experimentation and Form

01:59

Navigating the Complexities of Novella Publishing

03:11

Introduction

2min

Exploring the Unique World of Novellas

11min

Navigating Writer's Anxiety with Therapy and Job Matching Tips

5min

Exploring the Rise of Novellas in Publishing

13min

Exploring novella adaptation and writer support

3min

How do you find the right size for your story? And speaking of size, what do novellas do differently than both short stories and novels? What even is the difference between a novel and a novella? How many characters do they usually have? How many subplots? How do you know if your story should take the form of a novella or a novel? We dive into all these questions (and…you guessed it… more!) in our conversation.

A note on the structure of Season 19: in between our close reading series (six episodes where we dive into an element of craft through a close reading of a specific text), we’ll be doing two wild card episodes! These episodes are random topics that our hosts have been wanting to tell you about, we just didn’t know where they fit. So we MADE a place for them to fit!

Thing of the Week:

Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall (a collaborative, storytelling-based RPG)

Homework:

Take a short story that you either love or have written and write a list of things that could be added to expand it to novella length. Now do the same for a novel, but make it a list of things that might need to be cut.

A Reminder!

That starting May 12th, we'll be focusing on Worldbuilding and reading A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. If you’re going to buy this book, we have this bookshop link available for you to do so! (If not, go support your local library!) https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19

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Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar, Mary Robinette Kowal, and DongWon Song. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

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