The word count of a novel/ette/ella is what determines what it is defined as in the literary world.

A novella is shorter than a novel but longer than a novelette. To understand what that really means, we should look at what constitutes a novel and what constitutes a novelette.

In the way of definitions, they are all stories; they all have themes, plots, characters, etc. Mostly, it has to do with length.

A Novella is between 10,000 and 70,000 words.

A Novelette is between 7,500 and 17,500 words.

This means that a short story of 16,000 words could be called both a novella and a novelette, and would stand correct when compared to definitions.

Roughly, the smallest length is a Novelette, which is usually very short ‘Prose’ and a novella is a short story, followed by a full length novel.

There is much debate over what constitutes a full length novel. A novel has been argued to have aspects beyond word count that make it qualify as a novel. In other words, there can be such a thing as a novel of 750 words, but it is all speculative. Typically, when it comes to the literary world of awards and recognition, the word count is higher than a novella by a few thousand words.

My personal opinion puts it at somewhere over 80,000 words but some assume it should be much higher. It really comes down to the story, saying what needs to be said and worrying about the word count definition later. If you are going to sacrifice the authenticity and flow of your story for the sake of it being defined as a ‘Novel’ versus being called a ‘novella’ then you are playing with fire by adding fluff. But hey, who am I to say what to do with your literary masterpiece. By all means, if you feel the need to fluff, fluff away!

Citing Sources: Wikipedia (Gotta Lov’em!)

According to Wikipedia, “The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fictiondefine the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000.^[1] Other definitions start as low as 10,000 words and run as high as 70,000 words.”

So, a Novella constitutes between 10,000 and 70,000 words.

Well, that is a great difference. Let’s take a look at what makes a Novelette a Novelette.

According, again, to Wikipedia, “The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula awards for science fiction define the novelette as having a word count of between 7,500 and 17,499. “