Some of you may remember when I was writing The Gnome, I had intended it to be a novel. As it turned out, it became a longer novella of almost 40,000 words. I went back and read it, added some things that I had thought of along the way, but it was basically still going to be a novella. I went ahead and charged $2.99 for it because it was longer than my novellas that are $1.99. There was just nothing left to add to The Gnome, at least not it my opinion. My beta readers liked it, even though I had worried about writing something in a different genre than I usually write.
So flash forward to the present. I’m working on something right now that I think has a great title, which is weird since I usually can’t think of one. I’ll reveal that title later, but for now I think it would be best to keep it quiet. The story line is good, but when I think of the critical points of the story (kind of like an outline, but not exactly), it looks like this is going to be another novella. I originally thought I wanted it to be a novel, but I don’t think it will be.
This is what I’ve discovered may be the reason I don’t write too many novels. I prefer to READ novellas. When I open a book on my Kindle, if it has too many “locations”, I inwardly groan. Why is this, you might ask? Because I want to hurry and get done so I can read the next thing, and the next thing. Different new things. This is also why I rarely read series (except the awesome ones). I don’t want to get too involved because I might be in the mood for a totally different kind of book the next time. Many times, novellas feel like “a great ride” because they’re usually fast paced and things get done. Now there are some exceptions to this rule I’m currently listening to Stephen King’s 11/22/63 on cd. And it’s LONG. 25 disks. But Stephen King is one of the few authors who make me want to keep reading a book and never stop. I feel sad when it’s over. There are very few authors that can do this for me. There ARE some, both indie and trad, but it’s definitely the exception to the rule.
Does this make me shallow? I hope not. Does it make me restless? Probably. Does it mean I get bored easily? Yep. I might mention I also prefer movies to TV series as a rule. And, no, I don’t have ADHD. I can focus on something intently when I need to (like my job in accounting). I’m just so darn eclectic. Yeah, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
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