A Novella Idea
Written By Asia Howe
How many of us would attempt to emulate the professionals, greats? Perhaps we would be more inclined to do so if we were assured a safe, supportive, and structured setting wherein we could attempt our best. Last semester, fall 2014, now University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH Hilo) alumni, Mikayla Anima, who holds a BA in English and Educational Studies Certificate, took a chance. In a directed study overseen by Instructor Susan Wackerbarth titled English 399V: Writing the Novella, Anima emulated the professionals.
Both the alumni and Wackerbarth thought of the focus for the study. Having completed English 286A: Introduction to Fiction Writing, Anima knew she could write a long piece within the span of a semester. Knowing a short story would not be the right focus for a semester-long study, the instructor suggested a novella. “We settled with the novella as a challenge,” the alumni asserts. “[I had] to keep my writing on the shorter side while [still] creating a more detailed story.” The novella is a fictional narrative longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.
UH Hilo alumni Mikayla Anima. Photo courtesy of Mikayla Anima.
Two drafts of a novella comprised the main task of English 399V: the first draft was submitted piecemeal, in chapters while the second was submitted as an actual novella. Amid the writing of chapters, Anima had to read three novellas and then write a paper on an element from one of the novellas. “I read more than three novellas,” she adds, “mostly because I realized that writing a novella is actually really difficult.” She used the knowledge she gleaned from Dr. Mark Panek’s English 431: Fiction Writing class as inspiration for her novella.
“I learned how to focus on one idea and go with it,” Anima replies when asked what she learned from the study that she could not have learned from a general, approved English course. English 399V, unlike a general course, allowed the alumni, in her opinion, more time to concentrate and elaborate on a single idea. “Writing short stories is good practice,” she affirms, “but writing a novella was challenging because even though I was tired of reading and writing [about] the same idea, I was forced to keep working and revising until [my idea] became something completely different.”
Although Anima did not want to be a writer, the study had such an influence on her that she reviewed her aspiration to be an editor or teacher. After completing her novella, the alumni realized that creative writing could indeed be a career choice. At present, Anima intends to earn her Master’s in Creative Writing at San Francisco State University, where she has already been accepted. She hopes to gain more experience through the Master’s program and become a professional writer.
Students interested in a directed study are encouraged to speak to their advisor in the department of their major. For more information on directed studies, visit the UH Hilo Directed Studies webpage.
