Tuesday, May 14, 2013

To Novella Or Not To Novella?

Happy Tuesday! 

I'm David James and I'm new here at ADR3NALIN3 (Did I spell that right?), but I don't feel new. The wonderful thing about being a part of a creativity community is that people are often so friendly and welcoming. I'm looking forward to blogging here! Today's post is a quick one because of my new release, but I (kind of) have a joke at the end so it's all good. And, in celebration of The Warrior's Code (my new release OUT TODAY), I'm going to be talking a little bit about novellas. 

The Warrior's Code was written many months ago, before my first novel, Light of the Moon came out. Code started as a character development piece that (very quickly) morphed into something much more. 

But I don't want to talk about the how.

I want to talk about the why.

What I want to ask is this: Why do we need novellas?

Personally, I enjoy origin stories and character pieces that are complete stories in themselves. A novella should have the same features a traditional book has. A beginning, middle, and end. A plot. A climax. A resolution. Often, the ending of a novella is a moment of hope that leaves the reader wanting more, and that's okay, but there should still be a conclusion of some kind. Of course, that's my opinion. Talking specifically about why we need novellas, I think that novellas are an excellent way to introduce new characters that might narrate other books in a series. By introducing the character further through a novella, it's easier to relate to a new narrator down the road. Also, I think novellas are a great way to give characters a "happy ending" that may not have a place in the original story. 

What do you think? How do you like your novellas? Easy and open-ended? Or complex and complete?

(I feel like there was a "How do you like your eggs?" joke in there and I missed it)

-David

4 comments:

Jordan Dane said...

Interesting. I hadn't thought about novellas except as a shorter story. The idea that it can be a character study or a prequel origin notion is very cool. Welcome, David. And CONGRATULATIONS on your latest release. I love book birthdays!!!

Anita Grace Howard said...

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY, David! And I'm so excited that you're hanging w/us here at ADR3 now. You're one of my fave twitter pals, and now we have a blog in common, too!

Great insight on the novella. Like JD, I'd never thought of it in that light, and I like it. Kind of makes me want to write one with that in mind. :) Awesome first post!

Sechin Tower said...

Glad you're joining ADR3!

You opened my eyes to the potential of the Novella. I had always dismissed it as the awkward compromise between the short story and the novel, but your novella Code (along with a few other recent ones like Howey's "Wool"), are really starting to bring the novella into its own.

David James said...

Thanks All! So happy to be here as part of the ADR3 group! :)