Me, Write a Novella? What a Novel Idea!

In 2015 I was part of a collection of short stories that Guideposts put out. I’d seen the previous year’s books, a set of two collections, contemporary and historical stories beautifully packaged with hardcovers. I was so impressed, I sent my proposal in the following year when Guideposts gave the call. And to my surprise --  and fear -- they bought my idea! Now, I only had to write it.

What was I thinking?! I can’t keep a 100,000-word book below 120,000. I had to have been crazy. A moment of insanity I’ll call it. But I took on the challenge and learned it is much harder to write a short story than a full-length novel. That did teach me to stay clear of anything shorter than a full-length book.

So how did I end up in a novella collection?

Life happened and I realized I needed to reevaluate my writing. My debut, Sword of Forgiveness released in 2015. As book 1 in my Winds of Change medieval series, it sold well beyond my expectations. I had this grand plan to release one of my 19th-century books while I was writing the sequel to Sword of Forgiveness. I wanted to keep my readers engaged, but I hadn’t started the medieval sequel yet. So, as it happens with most people, life threw me a curve -- my husband was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. That was a huge bump in the road! After getting a second opinion, we realized we had to move to Houston, Texas for almost a half of a year to be near MD Anderson Cancer Center. It was my husband’s only hope of beating it—a clinical trial.

Okay, I could work with that. I had no responsibility except my husband while we were there. My 19th-century novel released and about four months later, my husband started his chemo. I planned to sit in the hospital and write until I could type “The End” on my medieval. I had hopes that it would be finished by the time we returned to South Carolina and all the pressures of normal life.
 
The plan was perfect. What I discovered was I had no -- and I mean zero -- creativity while I watched Joe go through one of the hardest chemo regimens out there. When he finished his cancer treatments, we returned to our home and tried to pick up where we’d left off. I started working on my sequel to Sword of Forgiveness, encouraged by emails and IM’s asking when the sequel was coming out.
 
I couldn’t write any faster than I was because I was keeping grandkids, cleaning house, cooking, church responsibilities—you know, we all have them. But God had a plan. It wasn’t on my radar but it was on His. An opportunity came open for me to write in a novella collection. A novella? Yikes! Hadn’t I already decided that shorter stories weren’t my forte? But when one is quiet and listens, you often will hear the Lord whispering in your spirit. My heart told me this was my answer. I quickly emailed the publisher and asked if I could use a character from my book. The answer came back yes. So I dove in head first and took the spot.
 
What I learned is I CAN write shorter stories—in much less time than a full-length story. And I learned that being in novella collections has many perks. To start with, as I said above, it takes a fraction of the time. With 20,000 being the word count -- okay for me it was more like 28,000 -- I was able to put out that novella in about a fifth of the time. Things have to move along quickly in a novella, so the story flows fast. There is no time to wonder what your hero or heroine might do next because they don’t have nearly as long to do it!
 

So in writing "Sword of the Matchmaker" for the Summer Lov’N collection, I was able to satisfy my medieval readers with a shorter novel while I continued to work on the sequel. They had a chance to reconnect with all the characters they’d fallen in love with, and it gave me a chance to give one of my characters a story. Thomas needed his own story and my readers were glad to see the man finally marry. It bought me time while keeping my readers engaged with the series, allowing me the opportunity to finish the sequel before people lost interest.
 
So what if you don’t have or want to write a novella that is connected to one of your books? How can writing a novella help? A shorter story means its faster to write, and has a quicker turnaround time than a full-length novel, allowing you to get something in front of your reader’s eyes in between longer projects.
 

Another perk to a novella is you are sharing this collection with four or five other authors -- authors who may have written other books and have a following. If a reader buys a collection, chances are they are going to read the others in the set, making an opportunity for you to pick up new readers.
 
And, of course, other authors mean more promotion. Almost every author does some promoting of their books. If four other authors are sending out emails, newsletters, tweeting, FB, and Pinterest, then they are reaching their fan base, which most likely will expand your own readership.

It’s pretty much a known fact that the more books you have up for sale for the general population of readers, the better your chances of gaining readers—and increasing your income.

So what about you? Do you find it hard writing shorter pieces of work? Have you ever written a novella? Can you think of any other ways that writing these shorter pieces work to our advantage?

GIVEAWAY:
Debbie is giving away a copy of "Sword of the Matchmaker" (if you have purchased the book you can choose another of Debbie's books). Leave a comment or answer one of the questions, and you're in the draw! And check out the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this blog!

"SWORD OF THE MATCHMAKER" NOVELLA:
Penelope Beatty made up her mind long ago she would live and die a Scottish warrior, not a wife. But when nearly all her clan is killed and she is betrayed, she loathes doing the unthinkable -- seeking the help of an Englishman who owed her father his life.


 
Thomas Godfrey never married, but when a Scottish warrior lass shows up needing his aid, he finds her both annoying and irresistible. The last thing he wants is to marry a woman who fights alongside him. If he was going to marry—which he isn’t—it would be to a soft, submissive woman. But when the Lady Brithwin meets the Scottish lass, she’s sure she’s found the perfect match for Thomas and nothing is going to stop her from seeing a summer wedding.   

Purchase link for "Sword of the Matchmaker" HERE!
 

SWORD OF FORGIVENESS NOVEL:
After the death of her cruel father, Brithwin is determined never again to live under the harsh rule of any man. Independent and resourceful, she longs to be left alone to manage her father’s estate. But she soon discovers a woman has few choices when the king decrees she is to marry Royce, the Lord of Rosencraig. As if the unwelcome marriage isn’t enough, her new husband accuses her of murdering his family, and she is faced with a challenge of either proving her innocence or facing possible execution.


Royce of Hawkwood returns home after setting down a rebellion to find his family brutally murdered. When all fingers point to his betrothed and attempts are made on his life, Royce must wade through murky waters to uncover the truth. Yet Brithwin’s wise and kind nature begins to break down the walls of his heart, and he soon finds himself in a race to discover who is behind the evil plot before Brithwin is the next victim.   

Purchase link for Sword of Forgiveness HERE!

BIO:
Debbie Lynne Costello has enjoyed writing stories since she was eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina. She has worked in many capacities in her church and is currently the Children's Director. Debbie Lynne has shown and raised Shetland Sheepdogs for eighteen years and still enjoys litters now and then. In their spare time, she and her husband take pleasure in camping and riding their Arabian and Tennessee Walking horses.

MEDIA LINKS:

Web page
www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com
www.HHHistory.com 
Facebook
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Pinterest
Goodreads
Google+
Amazon

RAFFLECOPTER 

Don’t forget to enter in the rafflecopter, too! There will be lots of ways to earn points. Debbie will be giving away choice of a Kindle Fire with "Sword of the Matchmaker" loaded on it or $50 Amazon gift card, $15 Amazon gift card and much more!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Writing Tight: How to Make Every Word Count

with guest Amanda Barratt.

Hey there, Seekerville! I’m sooo happy to be hanging out with y’all today and chatting about a topic near and dear to my heart—novellas and how to write them brilliantly.  

Novellas are like the new girl in high school who is crowned Homecoming Queen three years after moving to town. When I first entered the writing world, they were being published, people read them, but they didn’t have the popularity or the…shall, I say, sparkle, that they do today. Back then, I rarely read them. Today, I cannot help but read them. So many talented authors have jumped on the novella bandwagon, and you might be considering becoming one of them.

But to write a novella, a stand-out, sigh-worthy, stay-up-till-one a.m. flipping pages, kind of story takes an entirely different skill set than penning a masterfully written 100’000 word epic. 

And that’s where tight writing comes in.

So without further delay, here are five points to help you trim your prose and make every word do double duty.

1- You’re Writing a Movie, Not a Miniseries—First of all, I looove a good miniseries. There’s nothing I’d rather do than spend six hours viewing Pride and Prejudice or four watching North and South. I adore the winding plotlines and drawn-out conversations. But that’s not what we’re after in novellas. I like to think of a novella as the 90-minute flick you’ll watch when you want drama/romance/comedy in a hurry. The opening credits barely have time to roll before the story gets going. Right away, we’re introduced to our main character. Instantly, the music, scenery, and dialogue tell us what kind of film this is. No Shakespearian monologues allowed!

2- Pack a Punch With Powerful Description—This is a must for evoking emotion in the reader. As a novelist, you have the luxury of describing…and describing again. But in a novella, it’s once, and that once had better be good. Here’s an example from my novella, A Bride for a Bargain (part of The Most Eligible Bachelor Romance Collection).

Merciful heavens, this thing was a palace! Ada stared. And kept on staring. Did the rich actually think themselves too good for ordinary trains? Obviously. Grander than the interior of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the railcar’s front room was a vision of wood-paneled luxury. Thick velvet drapes blocked most of the light, save what a silk-shaded lamp provided. Plush carpets rustled against her feet, and decorative pillows cluttered a brocaded sofa. It even smelled good. Like scented candles and lemon oil. 

 She drew in a long, delighted breath.

Using words that instantly paint a picture in the reader’s mind (vision of wood-paneled luxury) and actions that add to the scene (plush carpets rustled against her feet) takes the reader and…bam, places them right in the midst of what the character is experiencing.


3- Minimalize Backstory—Plain and simple, we don’t need to know everything about the character. Of course, you, as the author should know the character’s backstory. But if it’s not important to the story or the hero’s development, leave it out. Since most novellas are genre fiction (romance, suspense, etc.) the focus needs to be on the elements of the story that tie into the genre—will the hero and heroine find love, will the criminal be caught? 


4- The Heroine Doesn’t Need a Second Cousin Once Removed (Keeping Your Cast Small)—This ties into the point above. A huge cast is unnecessary and wastes words needed elsewhere. Obviously, you don’t want to go to the other extreme and use only three people total, but keep in mind, the more characters you introduce, the more you need to follow through with. For my romance novellas, I usually have a cast of about eight to ten characters—including those who only have walk-on roles. 

5- Use the Same Studs You Built Your Mansion With to Construct Your Cabin— While I love novellas, I have read quite a few I thought were lackluster and just…blah. When I examined the “why” behind my dislike, I discovered it was primarily due to the plot. There was no defined beginning, middle, and end. I’m a big fan of the three act structure and of infusing each story with certain turning points--the Black Moment, Epiphany, etc. In the novellas I disliked, any semblance of these was woefully lacking. Sometimes, I was absolutely astonished that the hero and heroine were taking their relationship to the next level. They’d barely spent any time together, for goodness sake! All this to say, a novella is a different sort of fiction, but should be constructed using the same building blocks and outlining system as a full-length novel.

Hopefully, these points provide a “nuts and bolts” approach to writing a novella that will keep readers flipping pages and staying up until the wee hours. Then lining up in droves to buy your next story and many more after that.

Do you struggle to “write tight”? Have you written a novella, and if so, did you enjoy it? 

GIVEAWAY—I’m giving away a copy of The California Gold Rush Romance Collection (which includes my novella “The Price of Love”) to one commenter. Winner announced in the Weekend Edition! 

Buy your copy here

Rush to California after the 1848 gold discovery alongside thousands of hopeful men and women. Meet news reporters, English gentry, miners, morticians, marriage brokers, bankers, fugitives, preachers, imposters, trail guides, map makers, cooks, missionaries, town builders, soiled doves, and more people who take advantage of the opportunities to make their fortunes in places where the population swelled overnight. But can faith and romance transform lives where gold is king?

Amanda Barratt

Amanda Barratt is the ECPA bestselling author of four novellas published by Barbour Publishing. She fell in love with writing in grade school when she wrote her first story - a spinoff of Jane Eyre. Since then, Amanda has penned novels set in Regency and Victorian England, and the Gilded Age. 

A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, she lives in the woods of Michigan with her fabulous family, who kindly put up with the invisible people she calls characters.

These days, Amanda can be found reading way too many books, watching an eclectic mix of BBC dramas and romantic chick flicks, and trying to figure out a way to get on the first possible flight to England. 


You can connect with her at: amandabarratt.net and on Facebook at: Facebook.com/amandabarrattauthor

Tips for Writing a Novella

Janet here. I'm honored to have been asked, along with authors Victoria Bylin and Pamela Nissen, to write an historical novella for Love Inspired Historical. I'm thrilled to join these wonderful authors on the printed page! The Spring Wedding anthology will release in the spring of 2012.

Editor Tina James gave these guidelines for this novella:

The word count for this novella is 25,000 words.
The theme is spring weddings.
The hero and heroine should know each other in this reunion romance.

I'm grateful for these concrete facts to center my story around. Yet I wanted more information about novellas in general so sent out a plea for tips and got great advice on writing novellas.

Cheryl St. John, Marrying the Preacher's Daughter, Love Inspired Historical, June 2011, gave this explanation: A novella needs all the same elements as a full-length novel: Engaging sympathetic characters, internal and external conflict, believable motivation, a realistic setting and hooks that keep the reader turning pages. However, you have a lot fewer pages in which to do all that.

I'm nodding and noting that the 25,000 word count varies depending on the number of novellas in the anthology.

Seeker Glynna Kaye, At Home in His Heart, Love Inspired, August 2011, chimed in with her view of novellas: I think the best ones don't try to cram a 60-100K book plot into 25K. Instead they focus on a "smaller picture" -- a snapshot, a shorter timeframe and a GMC that fits that. Instead of months, they might encompass a weekend or a few weeks. You get a cozier feeling from them than you might get in a bigger novel because of the narrower scope. I always like ones that leave you smiling at the end. That are heart-warming.

Victoria Bylin, Marrying the Major, Love Inspired Historical, October 2011, gave me this advice:
1. Limit the time frame of the story. A day? A week? A month?
2. Keep story locations to a minimum. Setting description eats up word count
3. Keep secondary/supporting characters to a minimum.
4. Instead of starting from scratch, use secondary characters from earlier books.

Cheryl St. John added these tips:

1. The first place I look for a story is in my idea file where I’ve saved ideas that didn’t have enough conflict to support a full-length novel. Don’t ever throw out an idea—the archives are a gold mine when you need a novella.

2. When developing your characters, don’t give both major story people complicated pasts or set them both up with difficult to resolve motivations or conflicts. Keep the major stumbling block to falling in love focused on one character.

3. One character may already be in love with the other or have admired them from afar.

4. Use a secondary character from a previous book as your hero or heroine. You already have their names and descriptions decided and most likely your setting has been established, so your job is easier.

5. Secondary characters are important, but one character may serve several purposes. Look to combine characters if the cast gets too large.

6. Use stereotypes for secondary characters. The reader already has expectations and a mental image.

With all this wonderful advice for writing a novella, I'm ready to forge ahead. I will tell the story of single mother Elise Langley and Doctor Wellman, secondary characters from Wanted: A Family. I will also prepare for the next opportunity and start a file of characters from previous books begging to have their story told.



For a chance to win my novel Wanted: A Family, Love Inspired Historical, March 2011, leave a comment. Tell us if you like novellas. Or have written one. Or hope to.



Or anything you'd like to share. We love hearing what's on your mind.

While we're chatting, I've brought mini breakfast croissants and bagels in honor of the novella, the mini novel. Mini is still mighty as these tasty morsels prove. Dig in!