Does Size Matter? Is Bigger Better?

I’m working on a little novel. It’s going to be only 220 pages. It HAS to be. This means there will be none of the typical Carole McDonnell sub-plots. It’ll have to be streamlined and fast, clear-sighted and focused.

Not that novels with large plots are unfocused, but for this little story with big themes, I’ll have to focus on the fact that bigger is not always better.

There are great novels, great poems, and great novellas. But not as many great novellas as there are great books. The reason is that great novellas and great novelettes are hard to write. Great novellas need not be poetic but they require certain skills of precision I’m not sure I have. On the one hand, many of my short stories seem to want to veer off into novel territory. They want to take the reader past the story into a larger world. But on the same hand, I am awful at flash fiction..and not really adept at short novels. Short novels require the telling word, the perfect scenes, the tightest use of language.

By nature, I’m a contrarian. I like finding every possible foil for my characters, every possible branch for my main theme. I also love my characters – even my evil ones. Although I can get away with exploring my secondary characters in a larger novel. I have to be careful with a small one. I have to re sist the desire to try and satisfy all that my novel and my tendencies desire. I have to be content to experience joy and satisfaction with glimpses. Not empty glimpses, of course. The glimpses must be deep and must resonate. They must be powerful and the right word must be used to describe people places and things…because word count and page count are important. At the same time, I must be ready to see the opportunities when they present themselves. Yet I mustn’t go too far down any unnecessary or fun path.

It’s a hard balance. But it is one I have to learn…at least now in my career. Yeah, every writer must learn to write a small but powerful novel, at least once in her life. It’s not the size that matters; it’s how you use what you’ve got.

Carole McDonnell
Wind Follower, Juno Books