what are light novels?

[ThrillingHuman]

I used to think that light novels were a certain subclass of novels published in Japan, but, while reading "letter to David Skrbina, April 5, 2005" by Uncle Ted, I came across the following line:

B. It could be argued that the arts actually are in poor health in modern society and have been in much better health in many primitive societies. You claim that in our society the arts “are considered by most people to be true and important achievements of humanity.” But how often do most people visit an art museum, listen to classical music, or read serious literature? Very seldom, I think. Furthermore, even if we include commercial graphic art, television, light novels, and the like among the arts, only a small minority of people today participate actively in the arts, whether as professionals or as amateurs. Most people participate only as spectators or consumers of art.

and I don't like assuming things, but I doubt that THE Ted Kaczynski would be so much of a weeb to know something like light novels in 2005, were they just some japanese subculture thing, much less referrence them in writing. Admittedly, it would be hillarious if he was, but I doubt it. Which makes me wonder, what ARE light novels?

 

[Amok]

novels you can throw without taking someone's eyes out

 

[Agentt]

I used to think that light novels were a certain subclass of novels published in Japan, but, while reading "letter to David Skrbina, April 5, 2005" by Uncle Ted, I came across the following line:

and I don't like assuming things, but I doubt that THE Ted Kaczynski would be so much of a weeb to know something like light novels in 2005, were they just some japanese subculture thing, much less referrence them in writing. Admittedly, it would be hillarious if he was, but I doubt it. Which makes me wonder, what ARE light novels?

A light novel is just what says, it's a small novel. Usually anything less than 70 chapters is considered one, though there aren't any standards.

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

Basically, light novels are the Japanese version of American YA novels. Same age group but with different languages.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

I used to think that light novels were a certain subclass of novels published in Japan, but, while reading "letter to David Skrbina, April 5, 2005" by Uncle Ted, I came across the following line:

and I don't like assuming things, but I doubt that THE Ted Kaczynski would be so much of a weeb to know something like light novels in 2005, were they just some japanese subculture thing, much less referrence them in writing. Admittedly, it would be hillarious if he was, but I doubt it. Which makes me wonder, what ARE light novels?

Uncle ted... BASED

 

[autumnveir]

Light novels aren't heavy... Get it? *chirping noises*

On a serious note, light novels have a shorter word count, shorter paragraphs, less complicated words (times before having rhymic and complicated verses), and most importantly, *more detailed* illustrations. In the past, if a book has great illustrations, chances are it is an atlas (a collection of maps in varying degrees), a health book for upcoming doctors, or straight-up porn. (I'm not an expert so you can take my words with a truckload of salt).

 

[Jemini]

A light novel is just what says, it's a small novel. Usually anything less than 70 chapters is considered one, though there aren't any standards.

Err... define chapters. Most full-length novels have around 30 chapters max, and that would be considered a huge book. That said, these chapters average a lot longer than the standard webnovel on this site, and are often closer to the chapter length of Japanese webnovels which average 8K words per chapter. (And then there's books like Overlord which only has 3 or 4 chapters per book, but each chapter exceeds 15K words, and some are even over 20K words.)

The actual measuring stick for whether or not something is a "lite novel" is actually word count. In order to be considered a "lite novel," it needs to have between 50,000 and 70,000 words. It would be considered a novella if it has fewer than 50,000, and a proper novel if it has more than 70,000. So, actually, a lite novel is something of an in-between step between a novella and a proper novel. (Novellas are about the shortest length of a book, outside of children's books, that's considered worth publishing as a stand-alone work. Once you get below the threshold of what's considered a novella, you dip down into the realm of short-stories which are only published in collections of several short stories in a single book.)

Meanwhile, the average fantasy novel by industry standards is around 80K to 110K words for a first work. This would be the length of what most people would think of as your "standard size book" that you would see lining the shelves of most book stores in paper back. Really famous authors can get away with producing some real monsters like the later volumes in the Harry Potter series (namely books 4-7) which can actually exceed 200K. Normally a publisher will not touch a book that exceeds 110K for a first work and will only let you get away with it if you've shown some past success.

 

[Western42]

Pretty much stories that have pictures in them or are...um....either a bit shorter or is not what most normal stories are about. Example: Isekai and stuff.

At least, that's what I think. Pretty sure every story here can be called a light novel.

 

[Templary]

I used to think that light novels were a certain subclass of novels published in Japan, but, while reading "letter to David Skrbina, April 5, 2005" by Uncle Ted, I came across the following line:

and I don't like assuming things, but I doubt that THE Ted Kaczynski would be so much of a weeb to know something like light novels in 2005, were they just some japanese subculture thing, much less referrence them in writing. Admittedly, it would be hillarious if he was, but I doubt it. Which makes me wonder, what ARE light novels?

you I would say that they are novels that you can smoke in 2 or 1 day, although genres that are not heavy also fit, that is: no gore, tragedy and things for the still

 

[JayDirex]

Err... define chapters. Most full-length novels have around 30 chapters max, and that would be considered a huge book. That said, these chapters average a lot longer than the standard webnovel on this site, and are often closer to the chapter length of Japanese webnovels which average 8K words per chapter. (And then there's books like Overlord which only has 3 or 4 chapters per book, but each chapter exceeds 15K words, and some are even over 20K words.)

The actual measuring stick for whether or not something is a "lite novel" is actually word count. In order to be considered a "lite novel," it needs to have between 50,000 and 70,000 words. It would be considered a novella if it has fewer than 50,000, and a proper novel if it has more than 70,000. So, actually, a lite novel is something of an in-between step between a novella and a proper novel. (Novellas are about the shortest length of a book, outside of children's books, that's considered worth publishing as a stand-alone work. Once you get below the threshold of what's considered a novella, you dip down into the realm of short-stories which are only published in collections of several short stories in a single book.)

Meanwhile, the average fantasy novel by industry standards is around 80K to 110K words for a first work. This would be the length of what most people would think of as your "standard size book" that you would see lining the shelves of most book stores in paper back. Really famous authors can get away with producing some real monsters like the later volumes in the Harry Potter series (namely books 4-7) which can actually exceed 200K. Normally a publisher will not touch a book that exceeds 110K for a first work and will only let you get away with it if you've shown some past success.

By these metrics I am a light novel Author, and content to be one ^_^