Word counts; how long should your fictional work be?
Writers don’t count pages, but words. Any writing program (scrivener, word, pages) has a function to tell you your word counts. If someone asks for the length of your work and you answer in pages you sound like a rookie.
Approximate to the closest 5,000. For example don’t say 83,255 words, around 80,000 is okay unless you are talking to a publisher. Know your word counts :)
If you’re wondering how many pages is your work, it will depend on how your book is printed, but a good average for YA (young adult) is 250 words per page. So if your work is 75,000 words you are looking at 75,000 words/250 words per page= 300 pages.
For fiction: if your work is below 100 words it’s microfiction (superhard, I love it! For an excellent example check out Objects of Desire by Adam O’Fallon Price ), below a 1,000 words it’s flash fiction, below 30,000 words it’s a short story, below 50,000 a novella, above 50,000 it’s a novel (a fictional book). These ranges vary, but this is a good gauge.
Keep in mind that the length of a novel will depend on the genre, YA (young adult) is 50,000-80,000, any other fiction genre between 80,000 and 100, 000 with the exception of historical and science fiction which can get up to 120,000. Look up your specific genre once you figure out where your story fits or feel free to ask.
Does this matter? Yes. If you are a best selling author you may do as you please, because you already built a loyal readership, but if you are a first time author you might want to consider a couple of notions:
1-Will you be looking for an agent? If you want to publish traditionally you might want to avoid an extra long or short novel which might look as a red flag in the eyes of an agent.
2-If you don’t care about publishing or you are planning on going indie (independent publishing) you can do as you please, but a word of caution. First of all, readers have expectations. Imagine paying to to a seminar or presentation and it ends after five minutes or worse…it never ends!
I know you think that all of your 300,000 words are irreplaceable mini monuments to the art of writing, but you cannot make that judgement. If you think your long novel rocks, send it to 5 beta readers. How many get back to you? If they don’t…time to cut.
(I LOVE the last Airbender!!!!!)
Second I personally found that standard word ranges have a reason to be. The first version (okay maybe the 35th, but still an early one) of my book was 135,000 word long (for YA that’s very long) and I thought word count limits were silly and restrictive. Well, many years later that same book is 75,000 words and so much better for it. As you write more and more and get better at it you will learn to cut parts that drag and to say more with less words. My writing became more compelling and engaging and my book shortened to a standard range.
Keep in mind that when you write your first draft you might want to be way over your word count, because a quarter to a half of your draft will be pared down and the whole thing likely rewritten multiple times.
I never worry about having too long of a draft, but if my work is too short you might want to give it a bit more thought ;)
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