novelettes
Short fiction pieces
Novelettes are short novels or long short stories, typically ranging from 7,500 to 20,000 words—longer than a short story but shorter than a novella.
The term sometimes carries a dismissive tone, suggesting a lightweight or sentimental work: She dismissed the book as one of those romantic novelettes.
In science fiction and fantasy publishing, novelette remains a neutral technical category for award eligibility.
Imagined narrative work
- narrativesAccounts of events
- storiesAccounts or building levels
- talesSpoken or written narratives
- proseUnversified language
short fiction · chapbooks · serialized stories · penny dreadfuls · pulp fiction · romantic fiction · Gothic tales · adventure stories
Total of terms
- lengthMeasure of extent
- paginationSequential numbering of sheets
- installmentsPeriodic partial payments
- serializationEncoding objects for transmission
magazine publication · digest · anthology · compilation · binding · pamphlet · periodical · paperback
Genre literature prize
- submissionsItems offered for consideration
- editorsContent revisers and correctors
- magazinesPeriodic illustrated publications
- slush pileUnreviewed manuscript accumulation
literary journals · manuscript · reprints · collections · small press · independent publishing
Love and its excitement
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- science fictionSpeculative fiction with technological themes
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- horrorExtreme fear or disgust
adventure · Western · detective · thriller · speculative fiction · steampunk · historical romance · supernatural
Rate of movement
- structureArrangement of interconnected parts
- character developmentProtagonist's psychological growth
- economySystem of trade and production
- subplotSubordinate narrative strand
tension · climax · resolution · dialogue · exposition · narrative voice · denouement · rising action
fiction
Imagined narrative work
- narrativesAccounts of events
- storiesAccounts or building levels
- talesSpoken or written narratives
prose · short fiction · chapbooks · serialized stories · penny dreadfuls · pulp fiction · romantic fiction · Gothic tales · adventure stories · potboilers
word count
Total of terms
- lengthMeasure of extent
- paginationSequential numbering of sheets
- installmentsPeriodic partial payments
serialization · magazine publication · digest · anthology · compilation · binding · pamphlet · periodical · paperback · collected works
Hugo Award
Genre literature prize
- submissionsItems offered for consideration
- editorsContent revisers and correctors
- magazinesPeriodic illustrated publications
slush pile · literary journals · manuscript · reprints · collections · small press · independent publishing
romance
Love and its excitement
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- science fictionSpeculative fiction with technological themes
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
horror · adventure · Western · detective · thriller · speculative fiction · steampunk · historical romance · supernatural · space opera
pacing
Rate of movement
- structureArrangement of interconnected parts
- character developmentProtagonist's psychological growth
- economySystem of trade and production
subplot · tension · climax · resolution · dialogue · exposition · narrative voice · denouement · rising action · story beats
- literaturebooks, book, fiction, poetry, stories
- fictionfiction, short story, fairy tales, fables, literary fiction
- romancelove story, amor, love, boyfriend, courting
- writingsessay, essays, article, articles, stories
- compilationsanthology, compilation, anthologies, collection, collected stories
- popular fictionbestsellers, genre fiction, page-turners, pulp fiction, mysteries
novelettesepics
Long heroic narratives
sagas · epic novels · vignettes · trilogies · flash fiction