I’ll admit that as I’m writing, I keep half an eye on my word count.
It used to mess me up to do that. But now, I think it’s like checking my speedometer when driving a car—it just helps keep me in line so I don’t get into trouble later.
If you’re way over or way under the target word count for your genre, it’s going to mean some work later on. You don’t want to feel like you’re adding fluff to a book to get up to the target count and you don’t want to feel like you’re slashing important scenes, either. Sometimes it’s easier just to watch it as you go along.
When I’m done with a first draft, it’s usually a short 68,000 words. I write pretty sparely now—it used to be that I’d babble on and on when I was writing and wasn’t sure what direction I was going to take the plot next. Now I just stop writing when I get to that point and do some quick brainstorming. Otherwise, I have filler to remove later.
My target is 75,000 words and my manuscript goes right up to that after I add setting, character description, and the small subplots that I love including.
If you’re a newer writer, though, it might be better to just write the book you want to write and worry about the word count during revisions. I know that worked better for me while I was getting my feet wet.
I know some writers worry that word count limits creative freedom. But we can write whatever we want and make the book as long we want it….it just might not sell. If our goal is to sell our finished manuscript, at some point word count is going to have to be considered. Unfortunately, even if your book is excellent, it’s going to be hard to have it read by an agent or editor if it’s too long.
Here are some useful links to consider if you’re at the point that you need to take a look at your word count:
Word Count for Novels and Children’s Books: The Definitive Post
Think twice before querying your 291,000 word book
A Few Words on Word Counts: How to Beef Up or Slim Down (especially for freelance writers, but some tips that will help novelists, too)
An agent on word counts (and here, where she defends her position)
Writing Nowadays–Word Count Violations and You
How To Get Ahead When You Are Behind On Your Word Count
Do you watch your word count as you write, or is it something you worry about later in the process?
Thanks, Elizabeth. As someone who’s spent the last several months working my way from a finished length of 150,000 words down toward a target of 100,000 – it’s nice to see confirmation that I’m doing what’s needed.
Elizabeth – Thanks for these useful words about word count :-). You’re right that it does matter, and that keeping track of word count is easier as one goes along than it is at the end of a novel. As for me, I do keep track of word count, but when I’m writing the first draft, I focus more on the story. Word count comes later when I’m adding to characters and scenes and so on.
My word count for this comment: 76 ;-)
Great post on word count. Thanks for the links.
My first drafts almost always run a bit long. I’ve learned not to sweat word count at that stage. My first drafts aren’t publishable. Their purpose is to get me through to The End.
If I fussed at myself over word count during the first draft, it would have the effect of turning on my finicky inner editor too soon. That would bog me down, keep me from ever finishing the first draft. So I just let ‘er rip in the first draft.
Suzanne Adair
I didn’t understand the fuss about word counts when I started writing. I just wrote until the story was finished. But learning word count affects final cost gave me a whole new reason to comply. I’ll write the epics after I’m “famous.” For now, I’ll pay attention as I go and write shorter stories.
I am a person that keeps an eye out for word count. I write 90,000 word first drafts give or take a few thousand but usually, I have to add more words before it’s done.
Thanks for the links.
CD
I watch word count as I write, mostly to make sure that dramatic scenes are happening at the right places.
With regard to my cosy mystery, I have thought about word count, quite a lot, actually, because I know it is rather short (67,000 words). On the other hand, there is so much dialogue that there are 250 manuscript pages – and I am quite sure that is enough for the first in a series. This is much more dialogue than I have used before, but at least in Denmark dialogue is what everybody is ranting about.
I’ve had some NUTTY wordcount battles. My first book came in at 204,000 words… (it now sits at 137K but still needs some work). I find if I write FAST I run short, if I write SLOW I run long… it is the tangents I can fit in, I think. But just VERY recently I have learned that the filling in and making short longer is much less painful that the chopping of making it shorter–my first draft of the Cozy you saw? 58K. (it is now at 76K)–MOST of that was with adding threads that tied formerly distinct things together and i think it turned out pretty well.
As I go though, I think more in terms of chapters–I have some idea how many will be needed to get through the action and am typically not that far off. In my first draft my chapters have a somewhat predictable length, then when I fill in, some end up shorter, others longer. The jury is still out on how well this works.
I watch my word count but I don’t worry too much about it. The accepted word count for the kind of YA I write is pretty broad, usually between 60k and 85k. I always fall somewhere between. Thanks for the links! I’m off to check them out.
Thanks for posting this. I’m working on my first draft now, but I have a feeling it’s going to be too short.
Anju
Thanks for the links to check out. I’m still finding that balance. My first story was WAY too long – almost double – but I didn’t know anything about word counts (or much else) at that point. My latest story is a little too far the other way – lacking description and setting details. I’m working to find that balance!
Linda–You’ve done a ton of work! I know that’ll work out really well for you and your manuscript!
Suzanne–I write really rotten first drafts, too. :) Good thing we don’t have to turn THOSE in!
Margot–You’re right–word count gets even more important the closer we get to turning in the manuscript!
Robynn–I hated to bring up that element, since we’re all creative people here, but you’re absolutely right–there’s a cost issue involved for the publishers. Maybe in the age of eBooks, that will change.
Teresa–You’re so welcome! :)
Clarissa–I’m a last-minute adder, too. :)
Laura–That’s a good point–making sure that the pace doesn’t drag.
Hart–Wow! Can’t wait to see it…sounds like you’ve done an amazing job with the revision!
I put in the chapter breaks right before I submit–otherwise, they’re a disaster because of my adding and cutting!
Heather–Sounds like you’re right on target!
Anju–The nice thing is that you can usually make it longer by finding relevant threads to your story and expanding on them a little. I’d rather be too short than too long, for sure.
Dorte–You know what I usually do is to put my mystery in Courier font, multiply the pages by 250 and see what the word count is that way. I have a LOT of white space on my pages because I’m a big fan of dialogue–love reading it, love writing it!
I keep an eye on word count too. Lets me know when my story is either getting out of hand, or too sparse. But I also edit as I go.
Not that it prevents me from having to revise/edit when I’m done, but keeps the worst of the mistakes down to a minimum.
I also read you last post, the checklist. Very helpful. Especially on the words to avoid.
Have a good day Elizabeth.
…….dhole
Donna–That’s the way I look at it, too…helps keep me in check!
And, thanks so much! Sometimes it’s nice to do a Word “find” for those pesky trouble words. :)
Jemi–The nice thing is that description can all be added later–I don’t ever do it until right before I hand in the manuscript.
I admit, I am one of those who obsess about word count and then get stumped because I feel like I will never reach the target. I tend to write short stories or vignettes.
I will take your suggestion of just writing and either add in the end if I’m low or cut out some material if I’m high. Thanks.
Yup – I always watch the wordcount. Obsessively. And not just the total wordcount. I look at the breakdowns of wordcount as mentioned in this article:
http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2010/03/plotting-made-easy-complications.html
which I extrapolated into a spreadsheet for my own purposes here:
http://writingblog.truckpoetry.net/2010/11/writing-by-numbers-planning-worksheet.html
Yes, obsessive, I tell you.
Thanks for the great post, Elizabeth, and the handy links. I find I tend to write too spare and need to figure out ways to boost my word count when revising (while also slashing unnecessary words and scenes).