Tuesday, January 4, 2011

New Words: novella and novelette

Reading all the time gives you not only the pleasure of always being connected and finding new and interesting things, but also could create a certain confusion. 
For today, I have the two new entries on my list of question and difficult answers:
Novella and Novelette.

Novella — 17,500–39,999 words. Here is a list of them, and here a British variant. A very good company, isn't it? 
Warren Cariou, in Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada (ed. by William H. New, University of Toronto, 2000, p. 835) gives the following description:
"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".

Novelette — 7,500–17,499 words, is not enjoying too much articles and references. It is used also as for a short piece of lyrical music, especially for the piano. 

My big question now is what I am supposed to write? A novel, a novelette, a short story, a novella? For sure, an article...
Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments:

Post a Comment