Prose fiction tends to come in two basic lengths: long and short. But as constructs made up of slippery words and unruly sentences, narratives resist fitting into categories by length. In an analogy to women’s fashion, the novel might be the floor-length gown with a bustle and train, and the short story, a trim mini-dress. Novels can balloon to 600 pages or more; short stories restrain themselves to 20. The novella, which typically runs between 50 and 120 pages, describes works of prose that are either too long to be short stories or too short to be novels. And the shortest works of fiction, categorized short short or flash fiction, are little more than string bikinis, running less than a page in length.
Most romances in print today are novels, running between 200 and 400 pages. The demands of the traditional marketplace and the genre itself shaped its length. For decades, the cost of print and distribution deterred authors and publishers of romance from writing and publishing shorter fiction. Occasionally, print publishers would introduce new romance authors with collected novellas, offering a sample of two or more writers’ voices and style within one novel-length, printed book. Otherwise, a romance was expected to span hundreds of pages. Writers became practiced at writing romances of this length, and readers came to expect them.
Now, writing has gone digital. With the rise of e-readers and e-books (eliminating printing and distribution costs as determining factors in book length), writers and publishers recently began producing romances in the short story format. The benefits are obvious. Digital short stories allow romance writers to provide new readers a sample of their writing style and story-telling abilities in a quick, inexpensive read, or to treat established fans to follow-up stories of secondary characters who don’t warrant full-length novels. Correspondingly, readers can access and sample a greater variety of writers’ work without breaking their book buying budget, and/or fill the lunch or cocktail hour with an entertaining episode from a favorite series. They can reach a happy-ever-after in one sitting.
Unfortunately, creating a satisfying short romance poses serious handicaps for even the most skilled romance writers.
Every romance begins with a narrative challenge that must be answered. Can the writer convince her readers that the hero and heroine have actually fallen in love with each other and achieved a happy-ever-after by the end of the story?
The primary plot in a romance reveals the progression of a love relationship between two characters who must be introduced first to the reader, and then to each other. Because readers enjoy seeing the couple’s relationship unfold authentically, over time, romances require a significant number of character-driven scenes between the new couple. Merely summarizing wooing scenes or deep altercations frustrates the readers who want to watch the significant moments as they occur between the couple in their waltz towards love. The readers need towitness the conflicts and resolutions in actual scenes. That’s how they judge and become convinced of the strength and endurance of the couple’s love. Those scenes eat up a lot of pages.
Complicating the structure and length of the love story further is the modern romance’s tendency to alternate point-of-view between the hero and heroine. The technique can double the number of scenes required for the reader to see both the heroine and the hero move from out of love to in love. Accustomed to a world where half of all marriages end in divorce or infidelities, contemporary romance readers don’t want to see one person fall in love, they want to see two people fall in love with each other. Only then are they convinced the relationship will endure.
Frankly, though, fitting the exuberant romance into the truncated short story format is a bit like struggling to fit lush, sexy Marilyn Monroe hips into skinny jeans. It’s a tight fit and, even if the girl gets the jeans on, it’s almost impossible for her to zip up.
So how does a writer fit her romance’s generous curves into tight pants, while still successfully convincing readers the story has fulfilled its promise to deliver a believable romance?
She employees a variety of techniques that we can categorize into elements of setting, character and plot. First, the writer sets the story in surroundings familiar to her reader. The less description required to lay the scene, the fewer words required. With that in mind, she limits or eliminates complicated backstories and world-building. She may even set up conditions that force the couple together for an extended time.
The writer might restrict point-of-view to one to save words. While readers like watching both the hero and the heroine fall in love, the page requirements to do so may short-change a satisfying conclusion because the plot must be severely restricted to make room for the internal musings of two characters. And the reader may not get to see one of their favorite scenes—the one in which the hero and heroine first meet. It takes time to introduce the characters separately and then show them meeting. Most or all secondary characters tend to be eliminated too.
Plot is affected the most. All subplots will disappear. Scenes that don’t include the hero or heroine take up precious words needed for the lovers. Scenes, especially middle scenes showing the progression of time, will disappear, replaced by signal headings like: three weeks later. Finally, complex, labyrinthine plot twists require too many words/pages/scenes to set up, show and wrap up within the short romance. They get axed.
Readers of short romances often complain that they feel cheated by the story’s length. That they wanted more, that scenes were missing that would have convinced them of the authenticity of the relationship, if it had only been longer. So, here is my guide to reading a short romance:
1) Anticipate rapid pacing in the plot—the leisurely stroll to love, by necessity, will be a bit more of a race.
2) Accept a single narrating point-of-view—trust that the second lead character is reliable and honest.
3) Expect story, but not much plot. E.M. Forester clarifies the two as an issue of causation. He gives this example. The king died, then the queen died is a story. The king died, then the queen died of grief is a plot. Plots require far more scenes than story to show cause.
4) Plan for abrupt conclusions—once the story has convinced the reader of the HEA, the denouement isn’t required for a sense of resolution.
5) Finally, don’t blame a short romance for failing to accomplish what a full-length novel does. It simply can’t. There aren’t enough pages or words. Think of a short romance as a small bar of rich, dark chocolate, instead of a seven layer, raspberry cream-filled double chocolate cake covered with ganache frosting. Both are chocolate, both delicious, but sometimes you just want a wee bit of chocolate.
So. Where to get a short romance? A number of publishers produce digital collections of short romance. Secret Cravings publishes a “Weekend Getaways” Line. Evernight Publishing puts out “Romance On the Go.” “Lunch Hour Love Stories” represents the shorter work of a dozen well-known writers. Boroughs Publishing offers their “Lunchbox Romances.” And while not necessarily specific short story lines, Decadent publishes short fiction under its “1Night Stand” series, and Ellora’s Cave distributes short works of romance and erotica carrying its “Quickies” label. Lots of independently published short romances are also available through Amazon and Smashwords.