Excellent Reasons an Author Would Write a Novella

by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

If you’d asked me a few years ago for my feelings on novellas, I would have told you that they were okay, but they weren’t my first choice for reading material and that I wasn’t sure if I would ever write one. 

I had my reasons. I like books that delve into the characters and relationships. I like complicated plotlines and secondary characters who have personality and depth. That’s hard to pull off in 90K. It’s close to impossible in 25K. 

Fast forward a decade. 

Y’all. As a busy wife, mom, homeschooler, author, reader and more…I can get behind a novella now! 

Here are a few reasons an author would write a novella: 

As a reader:

1. Reading a novella requires a short time commitment. I have zero self-control when I’m reading and frequently finish books the same day I start them—which means I stay up way too late! So a shorter story works great for my schedule. 

2. If I enjoy a book, I always want to know more about what happened, both to the main characters and the secondary characters. Novellas that land in between novels in a series meet that need.

3. A novella gives me the opportunity to try a new-to-me author. Do I like their voice? The setting of their series? The glimpses of the characters? I have found so many new authors this way! 

As a writer: 

1. It’s not that writing a novella is easier than writing a novel. It isn’t. But it does require a shorter time commitment which makes it possible to squeeze writing one in between my longer-length projects. 

2. When you indie publish a novella, the costs for editing, proofreading, etc. are less than for a full-length novel.

3. If you’re traditionally published, you probably have a limit to the number of novels you can publish in a series. A novella gives you the opportunity to surprise and delight your readers with stories from the secondary characters who are begging to have their own stories told. 

Since I’ve jumped on the novella bandwagon, I’ve come to appreciate novella collections that are made up of multiple novellas from different authors. Here’s why:

As a reader:

A novella collection that is tied together by genre or theme (think romantic suspense or Christmas) is the bookish equivalent of the amazing flight of grits I had last summer in a Charleston restaurant. 

Yes, I said flight of grits. They came out on a wooden board. Four small bowls of different types of grits. Two were sweet. Two were savory. 

Here’s the thing. I don’t do sweet grits. Grits, in my opinion, are to be eaten with butter, salt, pepper, and maybe cheese. You can throw in some bacon. Or shrimp. That’s fine. But never in a million years would I order peach cobbler grits. 

But since they came with the flight, I decided to try them. And guess what? The peach cobbler grits were surprisingly tasty. As were the blueberry muffin grits. Seriously! And the savory grits, including a pesto variety, were amazing and unlike anything I’d had before.

And this is what a novella collection is like for me as a reader. I treat a novella collection as an opportunity to try something I’m already predisposed to enjoy, along with some new things that I’m not sure about.

I’m not expecting the reading experience to be as filling and satisfying as a full meal. I’m expecting a taste. A sample. Sure, I want it to be compelling. But I don’t expect it to give me all the feels I typically get from a full-length novel. I understand the limitations of the novella, and I’ve come to appreciate it for what it is. 

As a writer:

I’ve written a novella on my own and it was fun and served its purpose. I give it away to my newsletter subscribers, and that is an excellent use for a novella. 

But I have to say that writing a novella collection with friends is the best! I reached out to a few of the authors I’ve worked with, and they said the same things. It’s hard work, but the opportunity to collaborate with other authors results in long-term friendships that wouldn’t have developed any other way. 

Being part of a novella collection is also a great way to serve your readers, not only by giving them another story to enjoy, but by introducing them to authors who they may not have tried before. 

So how about you? Have you considered writing a novella? Do you read novellas? I’d love to chat about this in the comments! 

Grace and peace,

Lynn

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Excellent Reasons an Author Would Write a Novella, from author @LynnHBlackburn on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Lynn H. Blackburn loves writing romantic suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she's a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters and loves putting them into all kinds of terrifying situations while she's sitting at home safe and sound in her pajamas! 

Unknown Threat, the first book in her Defend and Protect series, was a 2021 Christy Award finalist and her previous titles have won the Carol Award, the Selah Award, and the Faith, Hope, and Love Reader’s Choice Award. Malicious Intent, the second book in the series, released March 2022.

She is a frequent conference speaker and has taught writers all over the country. Lynn lives in South Carolina with her true love and their three children. You can follow her real life happily ever after by signing up for her newsletter at LYNNHBLACKBURN.COM and @LynnHBlackburn on BOOKBUB, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, PINTEREST, and INSTAGRAM.