A Novel Idea

I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase ‘that sounds like a novel idea’. It’s a way of agreeing with someone or telling them you think they have a good idea. I’ve used it and heard it used before, but today I will be speaking about this saying out of context.

My editor recently posted something to Facebook that’s stuck with me. I’m paraphrasing here, but she basically said that you shouldn’t focus on writing a full novel every time- short stories and novellas are a great way to become established and get your name out there. And that was something I needed to hear.

When I plan a story, I like to plan for 50,000 words. Every. Time. There are projects sitting on my computer that I’ve put away because I couldn’t stretch the story. That’s not fair to myself or my writing. Basically, if I can’t force myself to write at least 2,000 words per chapter, I don’t write it.

It is wonderful to have that sense of accomplishment that comes with writing 50k. It comes with its own writer’s high that can be a bit addicting. But, we as writers have to realize that not every story needs that many words to be told. Novellas are extremely underrated. I read them all the time, so why is it a problem to write them?

The takeaway is that not every idea is a ‘novel idea’. It may just be a ‘novella idea’. And that’s fine! J