“For sale: baby shoes,
never worn.”
Popularly
credited to Ernest Hemingway, this six-word story is an extreme example of
short fiction. It evokes wonder, presents questions, conjures possibilities . .
. and all with a minuscule word count of six total words.
Which
brings us to our topic for the day: word counts.
Every
story has one.
So
how long should your novel be?
50,000
words?
100,000?
150,000?
1,000,000?
Let's
start with the standards taken from a quick fondling of Google's naughty search
engine:
Micro
Fiction: 100 to 500 words
Sudden
Fiction: up to 750
Flash
Fiction: up to 1,500
Short
Story: 1,500 to 7,500
Novelette:
7,500 to 17,500
Novella:
17,500 to 40,000
Novel:
40,000 to 100,000
Tome:
100,000+ words
Sure,
these figures provide a general idea of their total word count, but what about
by genre?
Commercial
and literary novels: 80,000 to 100,000
Middle
grade: 20,000 to 55,000
Young
adult: 55,000 to 80,000
Western:
45,000 to 75,000
Mystery:
75,000 to 100,000
Memoir:
80,000 to 90,000
Romance:
80,000 to 100,000
Thriller:
90,000 to 100,000
Science
Fiction and Fantasy: 100,000 to 115,000+
*and
the general fiction sweet spot: 80,000 to 90,000
How
about by author?
The
First Law series by Joe Abercrombie:
The
Blade Itself: 191,000
Before
They Are Hanged: 196,000
Last
Argument of Kings: 231,000
Lord
of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien:
The
Hobbit: 95,000
The
Fellowship of the Ring: 186,000
The
Two Towers
The
Return of the King: 130,000
A
Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin:
A
Game of Thrones: 298,000
A
Clash of Kings: 326,000
A
Storm of Swords: 424,000
A
Feast for Crows: 300,000
A
Dance with Dragons: 422,000
Harry
Potter series by J.K. Rowling:
Harry
Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (revised title is ...and the Sorcerer's
Stone): 78,000
Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: 85,000
Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 107,000
Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 191,000
Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: 170,000
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 198,000
The
Dark Tower
The
Little Sisters of Eluria: 23,000
The
Dark Tower
The
Dark Tower
The
Dark Tower
The
Dark Tower
The
Dark Tower
The
Dark Tower
The
Dark Tower
The
Dark Tower Dark Tower
Malazan
Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson:
Gardens
of the Moon: 209,000
Deadhouse
Gates: 272,000
Memories
of Ice: 358,000
House
of Chains: 306,000
The
Bonehunters: 365,000
Reaper’s
Gale: 386,000
Toll
the Hounds: 392,000
Dust
of Dreams: 382,000
The
Crippled God: 385,000
The
Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (finished by Brandon Sanderson):
The
Eye of the World: 305,900
The
Great Hunt: 267,000
The
Dragon Reborn: 250,000
The
Shadow Rising: 394,000
The
Fires of Heaven: 354,000
The
Lord of Chaos: 389,000
A
Crown of Swords: 295,000
The
Path of Daggers: 226,000
Winter’s
Heart: 238,000
Crossroads
of Twilight: 271,000
Knife
of Dreams: 315,000
The
Gathering Storm: 303,000
Towers
of Midnight : 325,000
The
Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind:
The
First Confessor: 163,000
Debt
of Bones: 28,000
Wizard's
First Rule: 296,000
Stone
of Tears: 335,000
Blood
of the Fold: 194,000
Soul
of the Fire: 211,000
Faith
of the Fallen: 261,000
The
Pillars of Creation: 194,000
Naked
Empire: 195,000
Chainfire:
198,000
Phantom:
198,000
Confessor:
202,000
The
Omen Machine: 130,000
The
Third Kingdom
Severed
Souls: 158,000
Warheart:
137,000
So
how does one decide on their precious novel-to-be's total word count? My advice
is simple: don't sweat the small stuff. The #1 rule of writing is: write first,
edit last. So worry about the word count after you've finished that pesky first
draft, however long or short it may turn out. A story should only be as long or
short as it needs to be to introduce the main conflict, complicate it through
logical though surprising twists, then resolve said conflict in a satisfying
conclusion, no more and no less. Forcing extraneous words into your writing in
an arrogant attempt at making it longer because you want your readers to strain
their aching backs lugging your epic tome around results in unnecessary clutter
and filler; ergo, needless words. And the #1 rule of editing is: omit needless
words. Did you really need to describe that doorknob only needing turned for
three whole pages? Of course not! Write with passion while never forgetting
this precious gem of rule that connects the first two: writing is 10% writing
and 90% rewriting.
Though
there is an exception for Plotters over Pantsers when it comes to word counts.
Choosing your desired total word count beforehand then dividing by however many
chapters you plan on writing gives you a smaller goal to work toward, and
smaller goals achieved each day add up to the larger victory of your finished
novel over the long haul of months.
Let's
say you want to write an 80,000 word sci-fi with 20 chapters because all of
your favorite writers keep their novels in the same range. Great. Here's a
cookie. This doesn't mean yours must be an 80,000 word novel to the exact
period when you're finished or else worlds will collide and existence will end.
But it does give you a smaller goal to work toward while writing each day. An
80,000 total word count divided by 20 chapters is 4,000. That 80,000 total
doesn't seem so daunting a task to complete now that you've divided it up into
20 smaller 4,000 word chunks, now does it?
Divide
and conquer is my ruling philosophy when tackling any task, so I start my
novels by writing in 8 chunks of plot thusly:
ACT
1
1.
Old World Stasis
2.
New World Flux
ACT
2A
3.
Things Come Together
4.
False Victory
ACT
2B
5.
Things Fall Apart
6.
False Defeat
ACT
3
7.
False Solution
8.
True Resolution
I
flesh out my novels-to-be through some plotting, describing each chunk with a
few descriptive sentences though leaving plenty of wiggle room so that when I
write I have the freedom to add in logical twists and unexpected turns.
Remember: the first things that come to your mind while writing may parallel
the first things that come to your reader's mind while reading, and that
removes all unpredictability from your story. Plotting helps you weed out those
predictable scenes beforehand and before you've spent months toiling away at
your novel. The great illusion of writing is that a reader spends mere moments
reading a scene that in actuality might have taken you days or weeks or even
months to craft. My chapters tend to run long, averaging round 10,000 words
per, and I break each of the 8 main chunks up into even smaller chunks,
exampled thusly from my MASTER PLOT FORMULA:
ACT
1
1.
Old World Stasis
2.
Inciting Incident
3.
New World Flux
4.
Physical Crossing
ACT
2A
5.
Things Come Together
6.
Pinch Point / Betrayal Set-up
7.
False Victory
8.
Midpoint Twist
ACT
2B
9.
Things Fall Apart
10.
Punch Point / Betrayal Pay-off
11.
False Defeat
12.
Spiritual Crossing
ACT
3
13.
False Solution
14.
Separation
15.
True Resolution
16.
Aftermath
I
then break up these smaller chunks into chapters depending on the story and
characters involved . . . though if you'd like to sample those tasty details
then I suggest you read my guide on how to write a novel for both Plotters and
Pantsers, “Pen the Sword: the universal plot skeleton of every story ever told”
for only $4.99 measly buckaroos paperback, or $2.99 digital, and FREE with Kindle
Unlimited.
“But
I don't know the word counts of my favorite authors' novels!” you cry? “How am
I supposed to choose a total word count for my novel-to-be when Google only
answers my search requests with link after link to hot beastie porn?”
Easy
peasy lemon squeezy.
First,
clear your web browser.
Then
take your ten favorite novels and flip to their last page. 25,000 words
translates into 100 standard novel pages (though, as is often the case with
longer fantasy tomes, the publisher saves production money by cramming every
word they can per page through smaller font and margins, so take this “formula”
with a grain of salt if you're like me and your favorite authors write bricks).
Note how long your favorite books are. Is the average 400 pages? That's roughly
100,000 words. 300 pages? That's 75,000 words. Math is simple, huh?
Knowing
your novel's desired total word count then dividing it into smaller writing
pieces doesn't just help you write but keeps you focused. It's like viewing the
finish line from afar in a race, urging you forward, faster, harder, arms and
legs in pumping sprint, lungs panting heaves, eyes on the prize. Now imagine I
told you to run but with no set destination in mind. How far? How fast?
That's
what word counts are for.
Just
remember to pay attention to the finish line instead of the other runners
speeding past. Comparing yourself and your work (or lack thereof) to other
writers is pointless and often leads to depression because you may spend years
toiling away on the daily at your ruling passion and are still unpublished
while all your writer friends seem to have all the luck and have several novels
published.
So
what? They aren't you. You are you. Jealousy breeds contempt, and contempt
breeds excuses better left by the wayside.
Losers
focus on winners, winners focus on winning.
So
be a winner by sitting down every day with a smaller word count goal to meet
then try your best to achieve it. After a few months pass by you can hug that
finished novel in all its completed glory . . . before venturing into the
lonely blackhole abyss that is being “on submission.” Could be months before
response. Could be years. Ugh! Tom Petty sure wasn't kidding when he said the
waiting is the hardest part. I speak from experience; I have a 350,000 word
fantasy whopper that's been on submission for 11 months now and counting to one
of the “Big 5” publishers who shall remain nameless out of jinxing myself. But
I haven't spent that time just sitting here picking my nose and checking my
emails every 15 seconds for my golden ticket inside Wonka's chocolate factory.
Instead I've finished writing from scratch two more novels (both over 200,000
words) and am 150,000 words deep in another.
Because
writers write.
No
excuses.
No
days off.
Even
when we're spiraling, screaming, nerves frazzled, particles torn asunder
mid-swallow inside the churning blackhole abyss of being on submission.
But
that latter is a topic for another time.
Until
then, happy thoughts and happy writing!