Albert Camus, The Stranger (36,750 words)

Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's (26,433 words)

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (38,000 words)

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (28,500 words)

Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea (26,601 words)

Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis (21,810 words)

Richard Matheson, I Am Legend (25,204 words)

Herman Melville, Billy Budd (30,000 words)

George Orwell, Animal Farm (30,000 words)

John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men (29,160 words)

Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (25,500 words)

Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome (34,500 words)

***

I was ashamed when my first attempt at writing a novel ended at 26,000 words. I wasted a lot of time doubling its length, only to return it to its beautiful original shape before publishing it.

I’m no novelist.

I’m a novellist.

And I’m in good company.

Keep writing!