My novella's identity crisis!!

Is this a novel or a novella??

When I started writing, the only numbers I had in mind for words was over 10,000. That was the Derby rule. So, I started writing!

Now, when I write a first draft, I start with a very basic outline: I write a bullet list with one or two sentences for each thing I want to happen and then add a few points in between to make the story flow from one point to another.

I got all my points down, wrote 39k words, and then told myself - I can round that off and finally called it a complete draft!

41k words in 28 days!

Then… I got to my second draft. A week-long break and I had to check if my first draft was any good. Especially, I wanted to focus on my pacing, because I’ve never written a novella before. So, I found a few templates online, modified them to my needs, and dropped my story idea to check how my first draft fits into your regular plot structure.

Fortunately, my story fit quite well with only a few minor edits!

Unfortunately… I’ve never written a novella before and I had to figure out how to make someone fall deeply in love in a very short timespan (seriously! I had to ask for so much help here!)

PS. No, this is not the MC! She is aromantic (experiencing little or no romantic attraction to anyone; not having romantic feelings) and she does not magically get “fixed” in this romantic fantasy. There is no need to “fix” anything here!

Anyway… a few notes here, a few edits there, 2 additional chapters planned to help with the love story grow, and a third of the way into edits, and now projections show that my story is now going to be reaching 50k.

And there comes the problem… according to what I’ve read and heard, a novella is under 40k. I could have deleted a few words to make me happy, but I keep adding instead to try and get that love connection working (is it? I don’t know! Beta readers will help with that) and so… the question is…

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