What is the Difference Between a Novel and a Story?
73According to Dictionary.com, the word 'novel' as applied to fiction means, "a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes," but defines the word, "story" as, "a fictitious tale, shorter and less elaborate than a novel." The definition of 'novel' is the first definition at Dictionary.com, the definition of 'story' is the second definition, but better explains the primary difference: length.
Widely quoted literary agent, Nathan Bransford. says that many agents automatically reject novels greater than 150,000 words. In my own interactions with publishers and agents (years ago, when I still had delusions of grandeur) I was told that a true novel should have a minimum of 50,000 words. Therefore I deduce that the proper submission length for a first novel should be no less than 50,000 words and no greater than 150,000 words, whereas a story could be any length at all. For example, when my daughter would request a third bedtime story, I would tell her,
"Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, they lived happily ever after, the end."
Actually, to be a real story I think it would have to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. This seems to only have a beginning and an end.
We see, therefore, that 'story' is the larger term that encompasses all fiction, including narrative poetry and, yes, novels. However, many novels contain more than one if not several separate stories, for example, plot, various sub-plots, incidental anecdotes and such that add richness and complexity to the work. In usage, 'story' usually means a tale about one individual, thing, or event. A novel can encompass many characters and events.
Short stories are a modern form of story, typically ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 words. Short stories are revered for their economy of words and their maximization of word usage. If you are going to get from point A to point B in 1,500 words and still deliver a powerful message, every word choice is going to be crucial.
As a writer, you demand a certain commitment from a reader embarking on reading your 100,000-word work of fiction. If you do your job creating proper suspension of disbelief in the first place, the commitment of the reader may make the reader more tolerant of some of the risks you may take while trying to maintain the continuity of the dream you have created for them. In a short story, the reader has less to lose if they put it down, so as a writer you may have to work harder to maintain their allegiance.
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That's great, Shreekrishna! Thank you!
Cool, Tom!
Can I keep my comment down to 25,000 words and still be a novel-ette? Kinda like the old "harlequin romances" books. Not much on plot, but cute covers.. Well done, I learnt a thing or three!
Thanks, Ms. Sin Devine.
Hi Candie. I should actually have mentioned that works in that range (20,000 - 50,000 words) are often called a novella. Three novellas are often combined to make a saleable book.
Think I'll stick with the hubs, I think I would never be able to count all those words, lol only joking, good info Tom.
Ya it really sounds like a lot o' words, don't it? LOL
Thank you Hawkesdream
Very nice info! Well put. Great short story. You didn't lose me even though I had little to lose by quitting half way. You held me in there. Nice form. Excellent characters (I like quirky dictionary readers as main characters). Definite anthology material here. Thumbs up.
I wish you were my agent, Frieda!
Well Said Tom. I am working on a Noval at the moment and exceeded 150k by leaps and bounds. Fortunately, I have read this post and received like advice from a published author at a workshop I recently attended. I am now creating a multi-part with the first as my complete noval with a Big OL' fish hook at the end of it. )
That's excellent. I love that excitement one feels as the project takes shape and gains momentum. Please keep us all posted! HubPages is a great place to preview an excerpt...
The word novel is intimidating to me. Now "short story," I can handle. " Poem," even better.
"Hub" is also good, Patricia :0)
Thanks for the story tom. I had to put it down in the middle to comment. May come back to it one day. (just kidding) :)
Actually my test readers used my first two novels for sleep aids. I still can' t decide if it was a compliment or an insult!
I don't think I'll ever reach 1,500 words leave alone 150,000!
All you need, Feline, is a couple of characters you really like and you'll find plenty to write about. They won't leave you alone!
My own novel length works have run on the thin side: 50,000 to 75,000 words. The novel I'm working on now seems to be shaping up more toward the 100K mark.
Damn, I was thinking of writing a novel. Now I'm having second thoughts. Where am I going to get the 50, 000 ENGLISH words?
LOL
Where everyone else gets them of course, darling. The dictionary.
LOL. Tom, I think and I'm planning to go back to school and get a formal study of writing a book. I wasn't lucky enough to get that on the 1st college degree. Mom, insist on the science of computers. I've always wanted Mass Communications.
It is frustrating sometimes when you have lots of ideas and you cannot express it coz your mind goes topsy turvy thinking about word usage. LOL
But what if the story goes on and on even after the novel finishes? LOL I'm just messing with you Tom! Thanks for delineating the lines that separate. Now I'm off to my first novel, er, story! :D
Aha Chris, you are? Hehe...didn't know I was lurking around like a nemesis did you?
Cris, I just have the collection of what you're trying to tell,Tom.
One For The Money
Two For The Show
Three To Get Deadly
Four To Score
--------- and then
Lean Mean Thirteen.
You better start now.
Interesting question - and a really useful answer. I wish you well in your novel writing. I tried it and could not cope with all the narrative and descriptions. However, many editors and agents told me that I can write great dialogue and so I switched to screenplay writing - which I love. Still not sold any yet - almost sold one last year for 10,000 euros, but it fell through at the last minute.
Only you Tom could think of something as deep as this. I would love to be a fly inside your mind.Can I?
That's true Sheena, but word usage is a skill you will acquire, so don't worry.
Cris, then you've got Harry Potter.
How exciting, Iphigenia! Please treat us to some of your stuff sometime.
BP, it sounds intimate, but vaguely unsanitary. Although it would be nice to know what is going on inside me mind!
Interesting Hub with good basic information. One way to be prolific is to do what Isaac Asimov did...he said he kept his butt to the chair 10 hours a day and typed his stories and novels of science fiction with the two finger method.
Wow.
I think it was Robert Parker I heard say that he types one page every day, no more, no less, and NEVER edits.
Thank you Deltachord
A novel requires way too much commitment to my way of thinking, yet some people seem able to churn them out. I think writing short stories would suit my butterfly brain better on the whole! Thanks for making the distinction Tom, and good luck with your current novel.
I'd love to read your short stories, Amanda! Thank you
Ok so i am guessing that if i do a novel i got to do more then 50k but i got to do less then 150k.Right
Yes, that's about right, although the upper limit is more flexible than the lower, so they tell me.
Just out of curiosity, has Dictionary.com been updated lately? Or better yet, how current is the information given by Dictionary.com?
Oh, probably never
Great hub and discussion of this much debated issue. Poe said that a short story was something that could be read in one sitting, while a novel was not. I can't remember if it was E.M. Forester or not who originally placed the cutoff at 50,000 words. It seems like everyone agrees that a short story is short and a novel is long and elaborate, but the cutoff line seems to be a little arbitrary. 1,500 to 5,000 words does seem like a good range for the typical short story. Thank you for this.
thank you sir keep up the good work
Thank you!
good work..keep it up
shreekrishna 3 years ago
thanks tom ,
i learned a new thing from this.
wish you to your success.