Should It be a Novel or a Novella?

Decisions, decisions, decisions!

As an author, sometimes I have to think about the length of my next project. And in looking at the Pride and Prejudice Variations I’ve written so far, I find that their lengths do vary. I’m looking at single books, not series.

Title                                                   Number of Pages   

Attending a Ball (Prequel)                       44                              

Women of Longbourn (Prequel)               66                           

Darcy Chooses                                             552                            

Darcy Vs Bingley                                        239                            

Darcy Vs Lady Catherine                          187                            

Darcy Vs Elizabeth                                     121                            

Darcy Vs Wickham                                     97                               

Elizabeth’s Choice                                       206                            

Lord Windmere                                          166                              

Lord Weirlane                                             126  

Lord Foxdown                                             155                            

Lord Brookton                                             154                            

As it is, my next project is, of course, EBBD or Elizabeth Bennet’s Bad Days. This will probably be of novella length. The nice thing about novellas is that they are great for marathon readers such as me. I am a voracious reader BUT, I really prefer to sit down, read a book, and keep reading until I’m finished without pausing for the next day. In other words, I love reading without interrupting the process with sleep. However…this brings it’s own list of problems. I might not get much done the next day because I’m sleeping. 😊 So, I find novellas fulfill my need to read quite well if they include a beginning, a happy ending, and a middle that gets all the questions answered and all the strife settled. 😊😊

My question to you readers is: Which do you prefer: full length novels or novellas or both and why?

Your question to me probably is: Why do you ask that? My answer is I have around 50 plots/premises and am considering what I’m going to do with them. A number of them allow for series of 4-5 books. These I most likely will write as novellas and as stand-alones so they can be read separately in any order.

I can also write them quicker than a 44 chapter novel, like Darcy Chooses. This will allow me to write 2-4 books a year versus Darcy Chooses which was written in two parts with Part 2 being published about a year after Part 1.

Another reason I am considering novella length is that lately I’ve read several extremely lengthy variations and even quit reading one of them as it was becoming tedious due to the length although well written. I have to admit that my tendency to marathon read does affect my attitude toward a very long novel. I will also say that reading a variation that gave the life history of all the characters in the book was a bit too much. ☹

So, would you be amenable to me writing novellas for the most part if I cover all the bases?

Now, I have another question. I’m going to list a small number of the possible ideas that I have for books. Please let me know which you would like to read.

1. Darcy’s Wicked Cousin – Wickham wants Pemberley for his own and seeks to eliminate Darcy as he is Darcy’s heir. Wickham is son of William Wickham’s brother and George Darcy’s sister.

2. Bennet vs Bingley – There is immediate animosity between Elizabeth Bennet and Caroline Bingley. Caroline instinctively knows that Darcy is attracted to Elizabeth, and Miss Bingley is livid. She does everything she can to destroy Elizabeth’s reputation, and Elizabeth spurns Darcy while engaging in battles of words with Charles’ younger sister. Comes to a showdown when Caroline attempts to disfigure Elizabeth.

3. The Indignity of It All – At the Netherfield Ball, Elizabeth brings up the subject of Darcy’s refusal to give Wickham the living at Kympton. Darcy, instead of refusing to discuss it, is willing to discuss it in detail.

4. Come Dance with Me – Darcy doesn’t insult Elizabeth at the Meryton Assembly. What would happen if he did dance with her and wanted to know her better. And what if he was the one to leave without saying goodbye, and Bingley stayed to marry Jane.

5. That Which Glitters – Elizabeth is attracted to Darcy, but Darcy is being pursued by a female after his money and property (plotting to have him killed after marrying him). She seems genuinely in love with him, and he is smitten without realizing that she is false. Will he marry her and die or will Elizabeth be able to win his heart after all and save him.

Let me know what you think.

UPDATE: I would like to publish EBBD the end of this month. However, I’ve been under the weather the entire month of May with a bug? or aftereffects of COVID or huge pollen count or all three. It’s really been a rough month so it might be July. At any rate, my next post will be July 3^rd, and I’m planning on doing the next chapter before publishing. I also plan a little bit more fleshing out in the finished book of the chapters I’ve already done and will include ‘In the eye of the cobra’ toward the conclusion. 😊