How Long Is a Short Story, Novella and Novel?

You've finished a draft and the word counter says 9,200. Is that a short story? A novella? Too long for the magazine you wanted? Word counts decide where your work fits, which contests accept it, and how readers and editors label it. If you just want to see what a story of a certain length feels like, our AI story generator writes Short (about 400 words), Medium (about 800) and Long (about 1,300) stories you can read in a few minutes. This guide answers how long is a short story, and every other length, using published rules from awards and magazines.

Quick answer: A short story is usually fewer than 7,500 words, based on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association's Nebula Award rules. A novelette runs 7,500 to 17,499 words, a novella 17,500 to 39,999 words, and a novel 40,000 words or more. Flash fiction is much shorter, often 1,000 words or fewer.

Key takeaways

• A short story is generally under 7,500 words, and many magazines want at least 1,000.
• The clearest published cutoffs come from the SFWA Nebula Award rules.
• Flash fiction has no single official limit. Each magazine or contest sets its own.
• Novels sold to publishers usually run much longer than the 40,000-word minimum, depending on genre.
• Always check the specific guidelines of the market or contest you're entering.

How long is a short story in words?

A short story is a piece of fiction under 7,500 words, according to the category rules for the Nebula Awards run by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). Many magazines also set a minimum of around 1,000 words, as the market examples below show.

The Nebula rules are among the most widely cited definitions because they're specific and public. They split fiction into four categories:

• Short story: fewer than 7,500 words
• Novelette: at least 7,500 but fewer than 17,500 words
• Novella: at least 17,500 but fewer than 40,000 words
• Novel: 40,000 words or more

These are award rules for speculative fiction, not laws of literature. A literary magazine or school assignment may use different numbers. But if you need one reliable answer, "under 7,500 words" is a solid working definition.

Why length matters for your story. A short story has room for one main character, one central conflict and a small number of scenes. If your plot needs several viewpoints and subplots, it may be growing into a novelette or novella. Our beginner's guide on how to write a story explains how to shape a story that fits a short format.

How long is flash fiction?

Flash fiction is a very short story, often 1,000 words or fewer, though there's no single official limit. Each publisher sets its own range. Flash Fiction Online, for example, accepts stories of 500 to 1,000 words.

Flash fiction still needs a character, a change and an ending. It just gets there faster. Writers often start in the middle of the action, cut almost all description, and let a single image carry the emotion.

Here's an example of a complete piece of micro-length fiction, under 100 words:

For forty years, Mr. Hale left the porch light on for his son. The neighbors stopped asking why. On the night the power went out across the whole valley, Mr. Hale sat on the step with a flashlight, pointing it at the road. At 2 a.m., headlights answered. A car pulled in. A tall man climbed out, older than Mr. Hale remembered, holding a bag of groceries like he'd just popped out for milk. "Sorry," he said. "Traffic."

That's under 100 words, and it still has a want, a wait, and a payoff.

How long is a novelette and a novella?

A novelette is 7,500 to 17,499 words, and a novella is 17,500 to 39,999 words, under SFWA's Nebula Award categories. Both sit between a short story and a novel, and both give you room for more scenes or a second viewpoint without the scale of a full book.

Novelette: long enough for a fuller arc and a subplot, short enough to read in one sitting. The Nebula Awards have their own novelette category, and many genre magazines publish them.

Novella: long enough for a complete, layered story with several characters, but it usually still follows one main thread. Many readers finish a novella in an evening or two.

How many words are in a novel?

A novel is 40,000 words or more under the SFWA Nebula rules, but most novels sold to traditional publishers are much longer. Expected length depends on genre and audience, and publishers and agents have their own preferences.

A widely shared guide from Writer's Digest suggests these ranges for a first novel:

These numbers are guidance for writers hoping to sign with a traditional publisher, not rules. Self-published books, series installments and books by established authors often break them. Still, if your debut thriller is 180,000 words, it's worth asking whether you're telling one story or two.

If you're planning something novel-length, an AI novel generator can help you brainstorm chapters, and our post on plotter vs pantser helps you decide how much to outline before you start.

How long is a short story for magazines and contests?

Magazine and contest limits vary widely, so the only safe answer is to read each market's guidelines. Here are a few published examples to show the spread:

Notice that two of these markets accept work well beyond the 7,500-word "short story" line. Many magazines publish novelettes too. Guidelines change, so check the live page before you submit.

Tips for writing to a word limit:

1. Write first, cut later. Draft freely, then trim to fit.
2. Cut scenes, not just words. Removing one scene saves more than trimming every sentence.
3. Start later. The first page often holds backstory you can drop. Our guide on how to start a story shows openings that get going faster.
4. Merge characters. Two minor characters doing similar jobs can often become one.
5. Watch for filler words. "Just", "really", "very", "started to" and "began to" add length without meaning.

How long is a short story for school?

For school, a short story is usually whatever length your teacher sets, often anywhere from a few hundred words to a few thousand. If the assignment doesn't give a number, ask. A 500 to 1,500-word story is a manageable target for most classes, because it gives room for a full plot without overwhelming the writer.

For students who need a starting point, our list of short story ideas for students includes prompts sorted by grade level. Teachers can also use the reader age setting on our tool to generate sample stories at a suitable level.

How do word counts relate to story structure?

Word count shapes how much structure a story can carry. The longer the work, the more characters, subplots and settings it can support without feeling crowded.

These aren't rules, just patterns you'll notice in a lot of published fiction. A story that keeps outgrowing its length is often telling you it wants to be the next format up. For a broader look at genres and how they shape a story, see our guide to the types of stories.

Try it on storygenerator.io

Want to feel the difference between lengths? Open the free AI story generator, keep the same idea, genre and tone, and generate it three times: Short (about 400 words), Medium (about 800) and Long (about 1,300). Compare how much room each version gives the characters. For more short-form practice, try the AI short story generator with a Mystery genre and Suspenseful tone.

Frequently asked questions

How many pages is a short story?

Page count depends on font, spacing and format, so writers and editors use word count instead. A short story is usually under 7,500 words under SFWA's Nebula rules. To estimate pages for your own manuscript, check your word processor's word count and look at how many words fit on one of your pages, then divide.

Is 10,000 words a short story or a novella?

Under the SFWA Nebula Award rules, a 10,000-word story is a novelette, not a short story or a novella. Short stories are under 7,500 words, novelettes run from 7,500 to 17,499, and novellas from 17,500 to 39,999. Other markets may label it differently, so check each magazine's guidelines before submitting.

What is the minimum word count for a novel?

Under the SFWA Nebula Award rules, a novel is 40,000 words or more. Publishers usually expect longer books depending on genre. A Writer's Digest guide suggests 80,000 to 89,999 words for many adult genres and 100,000 to 115,000 for science fiction and fantasy, though these are guidelines rather than strict rules.

How long is a novella?

A novella is at least 17,500 words but fewer than 40,000 words under SFWA's Nebula Award categories. That's longer than a short story or novelette but shorter than a novel. Novellas usually follow one main storyline with a small cast, which makes them a good format for a focused story that needs more space.

Can a short story be 1,000 words?

Yes, a 1,000-word story is a short story, and many markets also treat it as flash fiction. Flash Fiction Online, for example, accepts stories from 500 to 1,000 words. A 1,000-word story has room for one character, one problem and a clear ending, which makes it great practice for new writers.

Read next

• How to Write a Story: A Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide
• Types of Stories: 15 Genres Explained
• Short Story Ideas for Students and Classes