Rami Ungar The Writer

If you see a pun in that title, you’ll realize it’s one of THE worst puns in existence. I’m not even sure why I made it.

Earlier today I had an idea for a story that I’m tentatively calling “Rose”. I’m not going to get into details about it, though I will say that flowers and plants do play a big role in the story, if the title didn’t give it away, and when I write it I’ll probably listen to a lot of songs about obsessive love and stalkers. I somehow came up with it while sitting in my Science Fiction and Fantasy class today (I’ll probably be able to recall the thought process behind it better at a later date, because it’s a bit of a mystery now), and I wrote it down when I got home today.

Now at first I thought it would make a great short story. But then…I realized that this story would be longer than your average short story. Then I thought, “Perhaps it could be some weird, creepy novel.” But that was too long. So I thought to myself, “How about a novella?”

Now, I’ve never had any definite opinions on novellas. I’ve only read a few in my entire lifetime, most of them by Stephen King (anyone familiar with “N.” or “Everything’s Eventual”, by any chance?). I’d never considered writing one before. Short stories, which are the foundations for a career in fiction writing, are hard enough to write for me, and novels are my true passion. Why would I have time for a novella, that strange middle-ground between the art of short stories that is sometimes so elusive for me and the novel that is my freedom and passion?

But when I thought of this story, it somehow clicked that a novella format would be best. I wouldn’t have to struggle to extend the story, and I wouldn’t have to pack it into a neat little package. The story would fit in the format of a novella. And from there I formed my first real opinion on novellas: they are perfect for those stories that can’t fit into the format of a short story but would suffer as a novel.

I’m not exactly sure when I’ll write this novella–though I have an idea or two–but I look forward to writing it, like I look forward to writing all the stories I come up with. Until then, I’ll probably churn this one in the bowels of my imagination until I have a better idea of the story I’d like to write with it. After all, my stories are usually a bit better when I’ve given them a little time to mature in my imagination.

Oh, fun fact before I finish this post: this novella is the 60th idea for a story I’ve had, not counting short stories or articles I’ve written. With the amount of ideas I have, I’ll at the very least never run out of ideas for stories to write, and at the very best I’ll be very prolific. Either way, it’s good news.