Why does it matter that a book is a certain length? Why can’t we just let people LIVE? Well, if length is a big constraint for you, know that they’re only guidelines for easy classification — you don’t have to shorten or fluff up your work to fit. Unless you’re entering a competition, that is.
In this article, I’ll be going over some of the main types of book length, so you know how to fit under different guidelines correctly. We’ll be tackling word count and genre differences, but you can come back to this resource whenever you need!
What’s a small stone?
This is a new one to me, which I found whilst researching this article, but I absolutely love the idea! A small stone — credit to Satya Robyn for these — is a tiny observational piece. For example, looking at a crumpled sock or a fallen petal can inspire a small stone — and she has written a blog post explaining how to write your own! They’re usually less than a sentence and can help you practise writing descriptions. With such limited space, you’d think it would be easy to just bang one out; but you really have to make every word count! Try your hand at them to sharpen your skills.
What’s a vignette?
Vignettes are short scenes that usually originate from a larger story. They don’t have a narrative — they’re observations or descriptions. Usually, vignettes can create a mood or thematic presentation of a story for a reader, but there are also books composed entirely from them! Perhaps one of the most famous examples is Margaret Atwood’s The Female Body — based around womanhood and objectification, the choppy language is a perfect example of a vignette. You’re aiming for short, hard-hitting and descriptive.
What is micro-fiction?
These stories are about 100 words or less, and will contain at least fragments of a narrative. In micro fiction, if it didn’t matter as much already, every single word counts and must contribute to the story. However, there’s a lot of differences of opinion when it comes to micro fiction, so take this guide with a pinch of salt. You can find a heck of a lot of them out there, but for starters, Omazagine at Oprah.com collected 8 micro-fiction stories to pique your interest. Here, you can see that with a bit more room to play with, characters come into their own, and storylines are erupting rapidly.
What’s flash fiction?
A flash fiction story can be as short as you like, up to about 1,000 words. However, it most definitely is a story, meaning it has a plot journey from beginning, middle and end. Although it seems like not much can happen, many successful flash fiction stories tell an intriguing tale with the constraints of word count. The New Yorker always has great ones, as do many publications out there. There’s much more wiggle room in flash fiction — and often, authors can explore more complex themes and ideas a little more overtly.
What’s a short story?
Writing a story of about 1,000 to 7,500 words would mean you’ve written a short story — congratulations! You can include more detail about your setting and characters than would have been awarded in the shorter versions, and there is much more room for a more complicated narrative. Again, millions to be found, but in particular, The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link is a great example of what can be done with more word count. Fantasy is always an experimental genre, but the length of this story is perfect: it gives the reader just enough information to follow along, but there’s still a lot left a mystery.
What is a novelette?
Novelettes are 7,500+ words, up until 20,000 words. Although they seem like a hefty beast, this is a kind of awkward middle. Print publishers may struggle to fit novelettes into a magazine, but they’re much too short to be published as a novel. Bloodchild by Octavia Butler is a gory, body-horror story inspired by the parasitic reproduction of botflies – so exercise caution if you choose to read it. But it is where the novelette shines in its thickly descriptive prose and arcing structure.
What’s a novella?
Next up is the novella — which is anything from 20,000 to 50,000 words. This is where your plot development and characterisation can really shine, but perhaps you might want to leave your conflicts to an even longer form to really air out that dramatic tension. Animal Farm by George Orwell is just on the cusp between a novelette and a novella, at ~29,000 words. Mostly, novellas are a good way of fleshing out a full story, without the commitment of writing a novel-length piece.
What is a novel?
A meaty novel includes upwards of 50,000 words, calling it at 110,000, or thereabouts. When people think ‘book’ — it’s highly likely they are thinking of a novel. There are many different genres of novel (and sub-genres, as well as melded genres like romantic comedy), making it such a versatile format for writing. Classic novels like The Great Gatsby (Ray Bradbury) or George R.R. Martin’s The Hobbit explore a wide array of settings, characters, decisions and plots. However, they take a fair amount of time to tackle for readers, so you’ll have to really get them invested.
What’s an epic?
Whew, you’re still going? Well, an epic novel is usually only reserved for those writing for fun, or those with a publisher behind them already. Why? Because they’re 110,000+ words — no upper bound on this one! Usually, these stories are sci-fi or fantasy, due to the scale that comes with describing a whole other world, but I think web-comics count too, and am ready to debate this.
Seperating fact from… er…
Although there is no specific limit on what differentiates types of fiction, some adhere to general word counts. This doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself — unless you are self-imposing guidelines — so write your story as long or as short as you feel!
Impish Fen 
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