Short Story & Novella Word Count: Flash Fiction to Novella

A short story is typically 1,500 to 7,500 words, flash fiction is under 1,500 words, a novelette runs 7,500 to 17,500 words, and a novella spans 17,500 to 40,000 words. These ranges are not arbitrary — they are the categories used by publishers, literary prizes, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association to classify fiction by length. Knowing where your work falls helps you target the right publishers, competitions, and readers.

Fiction length categories at a glance

| Category | Word count | Typical pages | |---|---|---| | Micro fiction | Under 100 words | Less than 1 page | | Flash fiction | 100–1,500 words | 1–3 pages | | Short story | 1,500–7,500 words | 3–15 pages | | Novelette | 7,500–17,500 words | 15–35 pages | | Novella | 17,500–40,000 words | 35–80 pages | | Novel | 40,000+ words | 80+ pages |

These ranges come from the Nebula and Hugo Awards, the two most prestigious awards in speculative fiction, which use them to determine eligibility. Most literary magazines and publishers use similar boundaries. You can track your count with the <a href="/" class="text-indigo-600 underline decoration-indigo-600/40 hover:decoration-indigo-600">word counter</a> as you write.

Flash fiction: under 1,500 words

Flash fiction is a complete story told in under 1,500 words. Some flash fiction is as short as 100 words; the most common range is 500–1,000. Flash fiction demands extreme economy — every word must do double duty, and there is no room for exposition that does not also advance the plot or reveal character.

The best flash fiction focuses on a single moment, image, or turn. It does not try to tell a full life story in 800 words; it tells one story with precision. Hemingway's famous six-word story (“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) is the extreme example, but most flash fiction aims for 500–1,000 words — enough to create a scene, a shift, and a resonance.

Short story: 1,500 to 7,500 words

The short story is the most common form of published short fiction. Most literary magazines request submissions of 1,500–7,500 words, and many cap submissions at 5,000 or 7,500 words. A typical short story is 3,000–5,000 words — long enough to develop a character and a turn, short enough to read in one sitting.

Famous short story word counts:

• “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway — 1,500 words
• “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson — 3,000 words
• “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl — 4,000 words
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman — 6,000 words
• “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor — 6,500 words

If you are submitting to literary magazines, check their guidelines — most specify a word count range, and exceeding it is the fastest way to get rejected without being read. Use the <a href="/word-frequency-analyzer" class="text-indigo-600 underline decoration-indigo-600/40 hover:decoration-indigo-600">word frequency analyzer</a> to check that your most-used words are deliberate, not accidental repetition.

Novelette: 7,500 to 17,500 words

A novelette is longer than a short story but shorter than a novella. The term is used primarily in speculative fiction — the Nebula Awards have a dedicated novelette category — but the length range applies to all fiction. Novelettes are long enough to develop a subplot or a more complex structure than a short story allows, but short enough to read in a single sitting.

Famous novelettes:

• “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe — 11,000 words
• “The Call of Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft — 12,000 words
• “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery — 17,000 words

Novelettes are the hardest length to sell. They are too long for most literary magazines (which cap at 7,500 or 10,000 words) and too short for most book publishers (who want novels). The main markets are genre magazines, anthologies, and self-publishing.

Novella: 17,500 to 40,000 words

A novella is a short novel — long enough to have the depth and structure of a novel, short enough to read in one or two sittings. The Nebula and Hugo Awards define a novella as 17,500–40,000 words. Most published novellas fall between 20,000 and 35,000 words.

Famous novellas:

• “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka — 21,000 words
• “Breakfast at Tiffany's” by Truman Capote — 26,000 words
• “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens — 28,000 words
• “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck — 29,000 words
• “Animal Farm” by George Orwell — 30,000 words
• “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad — 38,000 words

Novellas are increasingly popular in the age of e-readers, where readers can finish them in a single afternoon. Many genre publishers now release novellas as standalone ebooks, and self-published authors use novellas as low-risk entry points to a series. For a full breakdown of novel-length fiction by genre, see our guide to <a href="/blog/average-novel-word-count-by-genre" class="text-indigo-600 underline decoration-indigo-600/40 hover:decoration-indigo-600">novel word counts by genre</a>.

Novel: 40,000 words and up

A novel is 40,000 words or more, though most published novels are 70,000–100,000 words. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association defines a novel as 40,000+ words, but commercial publishers rarely accept novels under 60,000 words (except in category romance and some YA). For a detailed breakdown by genre, see our <a href="/blog/average-novel-word-count-by-genre" class="text-indigo-600 underline decoration-indigo-600/40 hover:decoration-indigo-600">novel word count guide</a>.

How to choose the right length

Do not start by deciding the length — start by writing the story. Write the story as long as it needs to be, then see where it falls. If it is 4,000 words, it is a short story. If it grows to 25,000, it is a novella. Forcing a story into a length it does not naturally fit is the most common reason short fiction fails: a 3,000-word story stretched to 7,000 feels padded, and a 12,000-word story cut to 7,500 feels rushed.

Once you know the length, you can target the right market:

• Flash fiction: online literary magazines, flash fiction contests, anthologies
• Short stories: literary magazines, genre magazines, anthologies
• Novelettes: genre magazines (especially sci-fi and fantasy), anthologies, self-publishing
• Novellas: small presses, self-publishing, serial fiction platforms
• Novels: traditional publishers, self-publishing

Tips for writing short fiction

Short fiction rewards discipline. Every word matters more than in a novel, because there are fewer of them.

• Start in the middle. Short fiction does not have time for backstory. Start at the moment of change.
• Use the <a href="/remove-extra-spaces" class="text-indigo-600 underline decoration-indigo-600/40 hover:decoration-indigo-600">remove extra spaces</a> tool to clean up your draft before submission — stray formatting is the mark of an amateur.
• Cut the last paragraph. Many short stories end one paragraph too late. Find the real ending and cut everything after it.
• Read it aloud. Short fiction lives by rhythm. If a sentence does not flow when spoken, it will not flow on the page.

The word count is your guide, not your master. Write the story, find its length, and let the form serve the fiction.