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Terminology and guidelines on story length

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What do you do if an editor asks you to cut your story to Drabble length?

A Drabble is a story of exactly 100 words, so this scenario is unlikely unless the publication you’re dealing with specialises in this type of work.

Internet and electronic publications are less constricted by story length than print publications are, so you will often find their guidelines for length are fairly broad. Some may specify only the minimum or maximum word count.

Terminology for short stories

Many contests are for shorter stories rather than novel or novella-length works. The term “Flash Fiction” applies generally to stories of around 1000 words, but is often applied to anything between 200 and 2000 words. Lately in many cases, the term Flash Fiction has incorporated the “Short-short story” (500-2000 words) guideline and this term may begin to fall away.

A “Short Story” is usually considered to be between 1000 and 7500 words. In years past “Novellette” took the 7500 to 15000 word slot and a “Novella” was between 15000 and 40000 words. However, many publications will specify guidelines for “short stories up to 15000”, and the term “novelette” may be falling away also.

Guidelines for longer works

Novellas were quite popular in the first half of the twentieth century and writers didn’t risk an agent or publisher’s wrath by producing a book of only 40000 words. Later, as publishers organised special rates with printers for standard length books, works falling outside the standard were less likely to be accepted until they’d been rewritten to suit the specifications (or if the success of the author meant the investment was worth the extra printing costs).

Now, though, the publishing industry is slowly changing again, with the advancement of Print on Demand technology. It is possible that book length will be less important than it has been as books are printed as the orders come in, rather than being a risky investment in thousands of copies that may or may not sell.

The standard length for commercial fiction and genre novels is 100000 words. Literary fiction has more leeway and can range from 60000 words to 150000 words, and Fantasy has also broken out of the standard by allowing epic tomes of 200000 words for just one book in a series. It stands to reason that to aim for the 100000 word mark when you start writing or when you’re editing your novel, will give agents and publishers one less thing to count against you when considering your submission.

Even if you’re writing fantasy, work on the principle of being able to produce more words when the publisher asks for them, rather than enthusiastically presenting everything up front. While it is rare to see a standalone fantasy novel of 100000 words, publishers take on less risk if the author is prepared to be flexible about the rest of the books in a series. If the first book is a failure and the others can stand as separate and different books, something can still be salvaged. If the first is a success, the others can more safely be presented as a continuing series.

This article also features on BellaOnline.

For more help with fiction guidelines and other aspects of writing, try:

Fiction : The Art and Craft of Writing and Getting Published by Michael Seidman

Fiction Writing Demystified : Techniques That Will Make You a More Successful Writer by Thomas B. Sawyer

From Pitch to Publication : Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Novel Published by Carole Blake