Another definition that I like a lot--this time from Matthew Simmons:
I read a book some time ago called, I think, Twelve German Novellas, and in the intro it mentioned that early on "novella" was not just a way to refer to a length, but a style as well. A novella, it said, was a longer short story, concisely plotted, and with a twist somewhere in the middle that sends the story careening off in an unexpected direction.
Now, I haven't read that book in quite a while. I could be misremembering. (I am very likely misremembering. I feel like I have a terrible memory.) But even if I am misremembering this, I have decided at this point not to go back and find out if this is, in fact, what it says a novella is, because I like thinking that this is what a novella is. I have published one, and have drafts for two more novellas, and I have always followed that definition when writing them. And I have always, when I have picked up another novella, hoped to read a thing that fits that definition.
Because, really, doesn't that sound like exactly the sort of thing you'd like to read?
Matthew Simmons is the author of A Jello Horse (Publishing Genius Press, 2009), The Moon Tonight Feels My Revenge (Keyhole Press, 2010), and the upcoming collection Happy Rock (Dark Coast Press, 2013). More things about him can be found at happyrockisabook.tumblr.com.
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