I am my own worst enemy.

It takes a special level of wisdom to know oneself, and also to know when a project doesn’t have enough plot to be a full novel.

This is something I struggle with very often. I find myself reluctant to work on certain projects when I’m feeling insecure about their plot lengths (come on baby, size don’t matter!).

Recently I’ve had a breakthrough in regard to my gothic horror project, Kaja. I have a really strong character, vivid setting, and eerie plot. I’ve said before that the entire thing came to me all at once in the shower.

And I’ve pored over it for hours since, desperately trying to come up with enough plot movements to feel like it’ll reach 60,000 words (standard minimum novel length). When I failed to do so, I stalled. I got out 7,000 (actually good, IMO) words and then froze. I was dismayed because I really love this story and everything that’s in store for my character, but I just convinced myself I didn’t have enough to make it a novel.

Cue the other day, when Saige was asking for short book recommendations.

And I realized I had so many novella recommendations for her. How could I have forgotten the underrated, short and sweet, perfect palette cleanser that is the novella??

Not everybody only reads short stories, and not everybody only reads 800+ page fantasy epics. Some people want something short enough to binge in a weekend that will still engage them with a full, satisfying story arc.

Not only are novellas a perfectly acceptable medium, but they seem to be on the rise.

For years, industry standard for a novel has been 60,000 words minimum. But I’m noticing an uptick in novella publications, especially from my favorite publisher, Tor/Macmillan.

Not to mention, it’s usually pretty easy to tell when a writer is trying to stretch out a book beyond its natural size (every book is beautiful!). In my last post, I talked about how Mia Ballard’s Shy Girl featured a functionless and ending-dulling short story at the end, which I am still convinced was only tacked on there to extend word count. Another example can be found (in Saige and many others’ opinions) in Onyx Storm.

It’s been explained to me (I haven’t read it) that the Fourth Wing series was originally intended to be a trilogy, but during the writing of book three, it was decided to stretch it out to five books. Many theorize that this is because Yarros saw her success and wanted to prolong it with more releases. No matter her intent, Onyx Storm is commonly criticized for its drawn-out and lifeless plot. To summarize Saige’s multiple paragraphs provided when I asked: Onyx Storm feels like it ends in the same place as the previous book, and none of the events seem to advance the overall plot. There’s also unnecessary drama added to the relationship, likely only for the sake of spicing things up.

All this to say, readers can usually tell if you’re trying to extend something past its conceivable length. And this brings me to my revelation: if what I have for Kaja in terms of plot is strong writing but falls short of the 60,000 word mark, it is one hundred percent okay and acceptable to make it a novella. I would much rather write the story that’s here in my head, make it good and polish it up tight, let it go at the pace that feels natural for the narrative, and have it end up being a novella than try to fill it with blubber and fluff just so it can be technically considered a novel.

You know the fun thing about novellas, too. They’re a great way to retain your growing reader base between larger publications. It’s why bands put out EPs between full length albums- they’re shorter but cohesive statements that can keep a waiting audience satiated until your next big project.

So, for the first time since August, I’m going to give Kaja some love. I feel so much better, so much less stressed to open that document now that I’ve accepted that the story is going to be however long it needs to be, and it’s going to be publishable no matter where its length falls.

I mean, unless it’s bad. We’ll find out, I guess.

After adjusting my word count goal to a healthy 30,000 and spending several sessions focused on her, Kaja is now over her 55% mark. Yay for her!

I can’t wait to finish this story and see what I can do with it.

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Monthly Writing Goals Update

February: 25,469 / 20,000 words

March: 4,750 / 20,000 words

At the tail end of February, Saige and I started on a really exciting co-writing project that I am frothing at the mouth to talk about. Without getting too much into it, it’s something really cool and unique that I think we’re both having a good time working on. I also picked up Harriers very briefly, as I’ve been in a serious western mood after watching Bone Tomahawk. Have you seen it? Holy shit. Go watch it. Unless you’re sensitive to gore.

At the beginning of March, those 4750 words were split pretty evenly in the middle between that secret co-writing project and Romantasy, which I had stalled at the 55% mark for a month or so because I was distracted by so many other things. But I finally wrote the scene I had been excited to write, and now all I’ve got to do is follow the outline and see how the second half develops!

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