What is the difference between a short story and a novela or novelette?

Question: What is the difference between a short story and a novela or novelette!?

I am looking for a definition that is based on word count and content!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel!. While there is some disagreement as to what length defines a novella, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000!.

A novelette (or novelet) is a piece of short prose fiction!. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms, like a novella, is usually based upon word count!. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula awards for science fiction define the novelette as having a word count between 7,500 and 17,500 in length!.

A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to be read it in one sitting, a point most notably made in Edgar Allan Poe's essay "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846)!. Other definitions place the maximum word length at 7,500 words!. In contemporary usage, the term short story most often refers to a work of fiction no longer than 20,000 words and no shorter than 1,000!. Stories less than 1,000 words are usually referred to either as "short short fiction" or "short shorts!."

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The bottom line is that novellas are essentially longer than short stories but not long enough to be a novel!. No one is going to count words to determine if a certain work should be labeled as a short story or novella!.

This is what our good friend Webster had to say:

Main Entry:
no·vel·la Listen to the pronunciation of novella
Pronunciation:
\nō-?ve-l?\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural novellas or no·vel·le Listen to the pronunciation of novelle \-?ve-lē\
Etymology:
Italian, from feminine of novello new, from Latin novellus
Date:
1898

1!. plural novelle : a story with a compact and pointed plot
2!. plural usually novellas : a work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a novelWww@QuestionHome@Com

Novellete - 7,500 and 17,500
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Novelette

Novel - Above 90,000 words!. Below that is a Novella!. Some claim that above 200 pages will constitute a novel!.

Short story - no longer than 20,000 words http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Short_story!.!.!.

Content can be anything for all four!. You can create a short story out of a novel and a novel out of a novella!.

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