Novella, my butt; colon info a comic

The great American novella this is not. But it could save your butt.

The city Health Department released what it called a “novella” Friday about how to prep for a colonoscopy.

The pamphlet (below), which looks more like a comic book, is a reminder to get your tuchus taken care of.

“Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in New York City,” said Health Department Deputy Commissioner Dr. Sonia Angell. “One of the things about really trying to communicate about health is speaking to people in a language they can understand.”

That may be, but creative writing teachers told The News that “Preparing for a Colonoscopy: Sandra’s Story” is not, in fact, a novella.

A novella “includes at least 17,000 words, presenting more conflicts than a short story but less than a novel,” said Jane LeCroy, a poet and teacher who lives in Washington Heights. “This PSA qualifies as more of a comic — text and images combined — to tell a story.”

Jim Daniels, a poet and professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s creative writing program, said he gets a check-up every five years and applauded the PSA, but balked at the “novella” misnomer.

“Novella? Novellas are typically unpopular with publishers because they don’t know what to do with them,” he said. “I’d suggest they call it something less literary— something celebrity-driven? A tell-all memoir? ‘My Favorite Colonoscopies’ by Orson Welles?”