A novel vs. short story has a lot of differences--some obvious, some not so obvious. Let's start with an obvious one: word count. A short story generally runs to 10,000 words maximum, although some publishers and authors extend that ceiling to 20,000 words. Novels start from about 50,000 words, but some publisher guidelines peg a novel as starting at 65,000 words. Basically, short stories are short. Novels are long.