#my tablets

[midnight--siren]

Vent mainly in tags

My hands should just be broken

[zombifiers]

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that I’m going to be writing a novella that I’ll soon submit for hopeful publication. Previously, in my call for betas post, I said it’d be gothic romance, and probably on the dark fantasy side.

Well turns out in today’s first rewrite, that all changed to dark cyberpunk with mythic elements. Think Ergo Proxy, Bladerunner, Ghost in the Shell, and Dark City. It’s also a frame story, a story in a story like Valente’s The Orphan’s Tales series.

I’ve tentatively titled the novella Human Behavior. The first chapter’s rough draft is done, so if anyone wants to look it over and give me some thoughts, like or respond here, and I’ll give you the link to the chapter on Google Docs. Please do this even if you liked the previous post -- I don’t want to surprise you with a link unannounced. 

It’s only the first chapter so it’s just one part of the story’s exposition, but what I’m mostly looking for are an outsider’s POV about the story that as the writer, I can’t get: are the characters interesting? Do they feel real to you, or is there something that could be done to make them more rounded? Is there anything that feels off/confusing about the setting and the theme (near future dark sci-fi)? Corrections for spelling and grammar should be held off til the whole novella’s rough draft is complete, because that’s a whole editing circle of hell unto itself.

Thanks for your time and attention, guys. I’ll be working on Chapter Two tomorrow, and will hopefully have that done and shared on Google Docs as well.

[zombifiers]

Writing problems I never expected to have:

Do I cut this manuscript down to be a short story, or keep it on as a novella?

Mind you, I’m not talking about Draft 1.5 of the novel. I’m talking about something else: a Frankenstein’s monster manuscript I cobbled together out of old stories. This month, Tor.com is accepting open submissions for novellas, novelettes and short fiction, but before I learned they were taking short pieces too, I went through my archives and strung together a bunch of things I wrote within the same time frame last autumn. I read it over and did minimal edits yesterday, only to discover that these unrelated pieces can relate to each other. These unrelated pieces can all easily add up to a larger story.

It helps that they all share the same themes: broken pieces of a person being healed and put back together; fear of affection and emotional intimacy; the strength of a relationship that’s not quite romantic, not fully platonic. In some cases I even repeat phrases in different stories, which was definitely not intended.

Anyway, I went to bed yesterday ecstatic at the idea that I not only had a novella on my hands, but that I had somehow managed to create pieces of a larger story without even realizing it. Almost as if it were meant to be together later on.

And then I wake up, check the Tor blog again, and discover they are also taking short story submissions.

Which means I could have just polished up one of these things and submitted it, thus cutting down half my work.

Trouble is, I’ve already started on the work. The novella train is just leaving the station, and I still have time to hop off and change my mind, but I’m not entirely sure I want to. Not just because I’m stubborn (I am), but because I’m not sure which would benefit the manuscript: short fiction, or novella?

8| In all honesty, I’m not used to writing either a short story or a novella, though I have an easier grasp of the short story. I’ve never actually written a novella intentionally before (as in, I never sat down and intended to do just that, but could create one out of related pieces). I’ve read them and I’ve always been a bit sad that I could never manage to do it myself, and here I have a chance.

But that brings me back to my first question.

Which makes me realize that ultimately it’s not about asking which label to slap on it (short fiction, novella, novel, etc.), it’s about asking myself another question. What is the best format that will do this story justice? Can I satisfyingly tie up the plot in the length of a short story (which this place has generously bumped up to 12,000 words)? Is the plot and the problem the characters face large enough in scale that makes it fall under a novella umbrella (hee)? And most importantly, do I have enough relevant material in the story to justify its length as a novella?

If I had to answer honestly, I’d say that no, I don’t think I could satisfyingly tie up the plot in 12k words. I could tie it up, sure, but I don’t think I’d be doing it justice. But I’m a harsh critic and can’t rely solely on my own perspective. (Which is why I put out a call for beta readers -- hint hint).

The second question -- is the problem large enough for a novella -- is a little trickier. I’d say yes, because I think putting together broken pieces of your heart is an epic undertaking no matter what, but again, I don’t know if it’ll read like that. And I also want to say that a master story-teller could probably take something “epic” and satisfyingly write it in a smaller way. Seeing as I’m not a master story-teller, this standard does not apply to me -- and I shouldn’t be ambitious enough to try it. Not now. Not as I am. Icarus and all.

The third question is the easiest answer. Yes, I have the material. I have hard copy physical proof of the material sitting next to me at my elbow. It sits at 22k words, just 8k shy of the novella length, but I know that with edits and whatnot I could get it closer to the target.

(Related side note: I’m notoriously generous with my cuts when I edit a piece. I can gouge out whole pages and paragraphs, only to sum them up in a sentence or two that works just as well. But after looking over the manuscript yesterday, I feel like what I have in the text is all solid and relevant. It has a place there, as it is, that can’t be summed up in smaller, prettier phrases.)

So... I guess I answered my own question. It’s a novella. And I have to start tackling it like it’s one.

Looks like my weekend’s gone completely \o/