TL;DR A novella is a work of fiction between 20,000 and 50,000 words—longer than a short story, shorter than a novel. To write one successfully: choose a single central conflict, outline before you draft, maintain one clear point of view, keep your cast small, and edit with precision. Novellas demand tighter prose than novels because every scene must earn its place. This guide walks you through all 8 steps.
What Is a Novella?
A novella is a fiction book that is shorter than a novel but longer than a short story, typically falling between 20,000 and 50,000 words (roughly 80–200 formatted pages). It can carry a richly complex story, a full character arc, and a cast of characters—it just does all of that in a condensed format.
The novella's power is in its constraints. Where a novel has room to breathe, a novella forces economy. Every scene has to work. Every character has to earn their place. Done well, a novella is one of the most satisfying reading experiences in fiction.
Novella Word Count vs. Other Fiction Formats
Understanding where novellas sit among other fiction formats helps you identify whether your story concept fits the form:
| Format | Word Count | Approximate Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Flash fiction | Under 1,000 words | Under 4 pages |
| Short story | 1,000–10,000 words | 5–50 pages |
| Novelette | 10,000–20,000 words | 40–80 pages |
| Novella | 20,000–50,000 words | 80–200 pages |
| Novel | 50,000+ words | 200+ pages |
Note: Page counts vary depending on book formatting choices—font size, line spacing, trim size, and print margins all affect the final page count.
What’s the Difference Between a Novel, a Novella, and a Novelette?
Word count is the primary distinction, but it isn't the only one. Here's what actually changes as you move up the scale:
Complexity. A novel has space to develop layered plots, multiple subplots, and deeply contradictory character motivations. A novella typically operates with one central conflict and a simpler premise.
Pacing. Novellas are faster. There's less time for detours. Every scene needs to contribute to the central story.
Craft tools. Because novellas have fewer words to tell the story, they rely more heavily on symbolism, motifs, imagery, and metaphor to carry meaning. You're doing more with less.
Character count. A novel can support a large ensemble. A novella usually works best with a smaller cast, where each character is essential.
If you're unsure whether your concept is built for a novella or something bigger, learn how to write a novel and compare the structural demands. Some stories want more room. Some are best kept tight.
How to Write a Novella: 8 Step-by-Step Steps
Writing a novella isn't just writing a shorter novel. It requires intentional structure from the start because with a limited word count, every decision compounds.
Here's the process that works.
Step 1: Read Widely in the Form
Before you write a novella, read several of them, especially in your target genre.
Take notes as you go. Ask yourself:
- How does the author establish tension quickly?
- How many characters appear, and how are they differentiated?
- How does the pacing shift from the first third to the last?
- What craft techniques carry the most weight (imagery, dialogue, interiority)?
Reading in the form trains your instincts before you draft. It's faster and more effective than any writing rule you can memorize. Great novella-length reads include The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Of Mice and Men, The Metamorphosis, The Old Man and the Sea, and the examples listed later in this post.
Step 2: Choose Your Novella Type
Novellas typically fall into three categories, each with different expectations:
Literary novellas are character-driven and thematically dense. They tend to be slower, more introspective, and aim to make a point or illuminate a truth about human experience. Home by Toni Morrison is a classic example.
Inspirational novellas are shorter, more parable-like, and often appeal to younger readers or readers seeking uplift or moral clarity. Think of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Genre novellas include fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, thriller, and romance. These are more plot-driven and exist largely to entertain. Romance novellas, in particular, thrive in this format—the word count is ideal for building character chemistry and an emotionally satisfying arc without overstaying its welcome.
Knowing your type early shapes your pacing, prose style, and marketing approach. It also affects your choice of book genre when you go to publish.
Step 3: Outline Before You Draft
Most writers who struggle with novellas try to pants their way through them.
The problem: without an outline, a novella either swells into novel territory or collapses into an unresolved mess. The word count constraint demands that you know your story's shape before you start.
Your outline doesn't need to be complex. It can be:
- A bullet-point list of major story beats
- A scene-by-scene breakdown with one sentence per scene
- A three-act structure with the conflict, midpoint, and resolution mapped out
The goal is a roadmap that keeps your draft focused. Use book writing software like Scrivener or Fictionary to keep your outline and manuscript in the same workspace. You can also start with a book outline template to structure your scenes before drafting.
Step 4: Commit to One Central Conflict
This is the defining structural rule of the novella: one central conflict.
Not two. Not a main conflict with several subplots of equal weight. One.
Ask yourself before you write a single scene:
- What does your protagonist want?
- What's standing in the way?
- What's the Call to Adventure that sets the story in motion?
- How will this conflict resolve within the word count?
Every scene in your novella should connect to that central conflict. If a scene doesn't advance it, challenge it, or complicate it—cut it.
This is also the moment to define your protagonist's character arc. Use the types of character framework to identify how your protagonist starts versus who they become by the end.
Step 5: Control Your Pacing Deliberately
Pacing is where most novella first drafts break down.
The two most common failures:
Too slow in the first half—The story feels like it's warming up, then suddenly races to the finish with no room for the emotional payoff.
Too front-heavy on action—The conflict peaks too early, leaving the second half with nowhere to go.
The fix is intentional pacing from the outline stage. Map where tension rises, where it releases, and where it builds to the climax. The reader should feel continuously pulled forward, not rushed and not bored.
One note: pacing can be used deliberately as a craft tool. Hiroko Oyamada's The Factory (see the examples section below) intentionally induces discomfort through its monotonous pacing because the subject demands it. Whatever you do with pacing, do it on purpose.
Step 6: Choose One Point of View and Stick to It
A novella works best with a single, consistent narrative perspective.
Decide before you draft:
- First person ("I")—intimate, subjective, immediate
- Second person ("you")—immersive, experimental, unusual
- Third person limited ("she/he/they")—flexible but grounded in one character's experience
- Third person omniscient—broader, but risky in a short format
Also decide on tense: present or past. Both work in novellas. The key is consistency.
Shifting between multiple POVs or tenses without clear purpose fragments a novella's intimacy. The short form thrives on sustained access to one consciousness.
If you want to explore multiple points of view, a novel gives you the structural room to pull it off. See our guide on how to write a book for how multi-POV structure works at full novel length.
Step 7: Keep Your Cast Small
Every character in a novella must serve a clear purpose.
This isn't a rule, it's a word count reality. With 20,000–50,000 words, you don't have the space to properly develop more than a handful of characters. Readers need to know who's who without a character list.
Before you write, ask:
- Which characters are essential to the central conflict?
- Which character arcs are you committing to?
- How does each character's weakness or strength interact with the protagonist's journey?
For secondary characters, apply this test: if you remove this character from the story entirely, does anything important change? If the answer is no—cut or consolidate them.
Understanding types of characters—from protagonists to foils to stock characters—will help you make these decisions deliberately.
Step 8: Edit with Precision and Patience
The shorter the piece of fiction, the stronger every sentence has to be.
In a novella, weak prose has nowhere to hide. Overwritten scenes drag the entire story down because they consume a disproportionate share of the word budget. A bloated chapter that works fine at 90,000 words is fatal at 35,000.
Your editing process should focus on:
- Cutting scenes that don't advance the central conflict—even if they're beautifully written
- Tightening dialogue—every line should do at least two things (reveal character AND advance plot)
- Strengthening metaphors and imagery—these carry more structural weight in short fiction than in long-form
- Verifying your themes land—with less space, thematic clarity requires more active craft
If you want to learn how to write a book chapter by chapter, that same principle applies at the scene level in a novella.
Editing a novella well takes as long as editing a novel. Don't rush it.
Want support through the writing and publishing process? selfpublishing.com has helped thousands of authors go from first draft to published book—including fiction writers working in every format. See how our coaching works.
What Makes a Great Novella: Key Craft Principles
Beyond the 8 steps, these craft principles separate forgettable novellas from ones that stick with readers:
Economy of language. Cut every word that doesn't earn its place. Novellas reward precision.
Symbolic weight. Because you have fewer pages, motifs and symbols do more work. Introduce them early and pay them off.
Strong opening. You have less time to win the reader. The first 500 words of a novella must hook immediately—a question, a tension, a character in motion. Avoid slow world-building openings.
A satisfying, earned ending. Readers feel cheated by rushed endings in novellas even more than in novels. Pace toward your ending with enough runway to land it.
Examples of Novellas Worth Reading
These published novellas demonstrate the range of what the form can do, from literary to genre to experimental. Read them as a writer, not just a reader.
The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht
A dark, gothic fantasy novella about a nameless monster and the frail master who binds him to a plan of revenge. Precise, atmospheric prose. A masterclass in building menace in a short form.
Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan
A delightful, sharp-tongued romance novella featuring two women in their seventies who've had enough of terrible nephews and dull lives. A perfect example of romance novellas done right—warm, funny, emotionally complete.
You, Me, U.S. by Brigitte Bautista
A Filipino romance novella about best friends navigating unexpected feelings, competing ambitions, and what it means to choose someone at the cost of your plans. Emotionally rich and culturally specific.
Home by Toni Morrison
A literary novella following Frank Money, a Korean War veteran navigating racism in 1950s America as he races to save his abused younger sister. Morrison demonstrates how much a novella can carry when the prose is doing maximum work on every page.
The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
An experimental novella following three workers at an endlessly sprawling factory. Oyamada deliberately weaponizes monotony—the pacing induces the same dislocation her characters feel. A powerful example of form serving content.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The classic inspirational novella. A small prince travels from planet to planet in search of wisdom, encountering adults who've forgotten what matters. Proof that a novella can carry enormous philosophical weight in very few pages.
Novellas Published by selfpublishing.com Authors (Real Results)
One of the most common questions writers ask before committing to novella length: can a short book actually sell?
The answer, backed by our own students' results, is yes — decisively.
selfpublishing.com has helped authors publish over 20 novellas in the 70–160 page range across genres from self-help to fiction to children's books. Here are the top performers by Amazon review count:
| Title | Author | Pages | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Essential Keys to Effective Communication | Bento C. Leal III | 133 | 3,570 | 4.5 ⭐ |
| A Year Without the Grocery Store | Karen Morris | 127 | 2,757 | 4.4 ⭐ |
| The (un)Lucky Sperm | Brett Preiss | 154 | 1,045 | 4.1 ⭐ |
| Friendship with God | Jamie Moore | 156 | 726 | 4.8 ⭐ |
| From Supervisor to Super Leader | Shanda K. Miller | 124 | 710 | 4.5 ⭐ |
| Go Go Yoga for Kids | Sara J. Weis | 128 | 625 | 4.7 ⭐ |
| Look at That! | Bobbie Herron | 74 | 501 | 4.4 ⭐ |
| Framed! | M.E. Skeel | 111 | 416 | 4.0 ⭐ |
| The Empowerment Alphabet | J.C. Dilley | 111 | 386 | 4.8 ⭐ |
| The Addictoholic Deconstructed | Nicole Labor | 145 | 374 | 4.8 ⭐ |
A few things worth noting from these results:
- 74 pages is enough. Look at That! by Bobbie Herron sits at the short end of novella range and has over 500 reviews.
- Genre doesn't limit you. These 10 books span communication, prepping/homesteading, memoir, faith, leadership, children's wellness, fiction, and addiction recovery.
- Ratings stay high. Every title here maintains a 4.0 or above—short books reviewed at high volume with strong ratings signals genuine reader satisfaction, not padding.
The lesson: a short book, written with intention and published correctly, can outperform longer books that take three times as long to write.
Should You Self-Publish Your Novella?
Most fiction writers self-publishing a novella go direct-to-reader for good reason.
Traditional publishers rarely acquire standalone novellas. They're a hard commercial sell for bookstores, which prefer full-length novels. Literary magazines and anthologies do publish novellas, but advances are low.
Self-publishing gives you:
- Full creative control over length, cover, and pricing
- Higher royalty rates (up to 70% on Amazon KDP)
- Faster time to market
- The ability to publish a series of novellas as a strategic play for reader acquisition
Many fiction authors use novellas as a series entry point—a lower-priced book that gets readers into the world before the main series. It's one of the most effective ways to grow readership quickly.
If you're ready to think about how to publish an ebook, novellas are an excellent format for digital-first publishing. Amazon KDP, Kobo, and Apple Books all work well for novella-length fiction.
Want to understand the full publishing landscape? Our guide to self-publishing vs. traditional publishing breaks down which path makes sense depending on your goals.
If you've finished a novella draft and want help getting it published, selfpublishing.com provides coaching, editing support, and a proven step-by-step process. Our students publish an average of 3 books a day across every genre. Start here.
FAQ: How to Write a Novella
How long is a novella?
A novella is typically 20,000–50,000 words, or approximately 80–200 formatted pages. Some publishers define the range slightly differently (some start at 17,500 words; others cap at 40,000), but 20,000–50,000 is the most widely accepted range.
Is a novella harder to write than a novel?
In some ways, yes. A novella demands greater craft discipline than a novel because every word has to work harder. You can't pad. You can't add subplots to fill space. Every scene must serve the story. That said, the shorter commitment can also make the novella easier to complete—especially for writers who struggle to sustain a novel's momentum.
Can I sell a novella on Amazon?
Yes. Amazon KDP supports novella-length fiction with no minimum word count for ebooks. Print novellas can also be published through KDP Print or IngramSpark, though the per-page pricing makes very short print books more expensive per unit.
What’s the difference between a novella and a novelette?
A novelette is shorter: typically 10,000–20,000 words. A novella is 20,000–50,000 words. Both are shorter than a novel, but novelettes are closer to the short story end of the spectrum—less room for plot complexity or character development.
Do novellas need an editor?
Yes. Short fiction needs editing just as much as long fiction—arguably more, because the prose has less room to hide flaws. A professional developmental editor can help you identify structural issues, pacing problems, and scenes that aren't earning their place.
Can a novella become a novel?
Absolutely. Many writers start with what they think is a novella concept and find the story wants more room. If your outline keeps expanding and your word count pushes past 55,000, follow it. The reverse is also true: what starts as a novel can be pruned into a tighter, more effective novella.
Ready to Write Your Novella?
You now have a clear picture of what a novella is, how it differs from other fiction forms, and the 8-step process for writing one with intention.
The most common mistake writers make is treating a novella like a short novel. It's not. It's its own form—tighter, more concentrated, and more reliant on craft efficiency than length.
Let your story tell you how much space it needs. Some ideas want room to breathe into a full novel. Others are sharpest when held to a novella's discipline.
If you want support through the writing or publishing process—from draft to published book—explore what selfpublishing.com offers. We've helped thousands of authors write better, faster, and get published. See how it works.
