How long should your book be?
A consideration of word counts
When it's time to submit your manuscript to agents, two details they will want to know about the book are:
What genre is it?
How many words is it?
Wordcount (typically calculated by rounding up to the nearest 1000) is the standard way that publishing professionals communicate length. Page counts aren't as helpful because that can vary dramatically depending on how the manuscript is formatted. (Yes, there are standards for manuscript formatting - and I'll share that in a future newsletter!)
But wordcount is pretty stable, no matter the software, line spacing, or font size you use.
Does length matter?
Yes.
But how long is too long? How short is too short?
It depends on the genre and age category you are writing for.
Here is a FANTASTIC article from Writer's Digest that explains why wordcount matters and the different ranges acceptable for various genres and age groups.
Of course in order to know what wordcount is appropriate for you, you have to be able to define your genre. ICYMI, I talked about that in last week’s newsletter, along with a demo of how you can use Goodreads to help you figure out your genre.
What if my draft is too long? (Or too short?)
The answer to this question depends on where you are in the drafting/ revising process.
While planning:
It’s helpful to start out with a target word count based on what’s appropriate for the genre you’re writing. Especially if you’ve never written a novel before, having a target word count can help you measure your progress towards “done” with your draft. It may also reduce any nasty surprises when you’ve finished your draft and realize that your 50,000 word “novel” is really a “novella” or your 100,000 word Middle Grade novel needs to be chopped in half.
While drafting
Although it’s a good idea to know the target word count for your genre, I recommend not worrying too much about that target while drafting. That’s because the point of the earliest drafts is for you to get the story onto the page by telling it to yourself. Worrying about hitting a specific word count might actually hold you back at this phase.
Some people are over-writers.
That’s definitely me! My early drafts tend to be bloated. They have lots of description, info dumps, and whole scenes that don’t need to be there. When I worry too much about staying within a certain word count while drafting, I end up censoring myself and then getting stuck instead of finishing my drafts.
Other people are under-writers.
Some people need to move quickly through the important plot points of their story when they are drafting without including much in the way of description or interiority. These writers may very well end up with an initial draft that is too short. Just as with over-writers, under-writers can get themselves tangled up in knots by being overly focused on hitting a target word count. People trying to solve their underwriting while drafting may end up getting stuck trying to write something that doesn’t come naturally to them or might beef up their wordcount with more of something they don’t need (like dialogue) instead of adding what they actually do need (such as description).
Neither of these things is wrong!
Under-writers and over-writers will just have different concerns to worry about while revising. Whichever end of the spectrum you align with, the most important thing is to get that draft on the page.
While Revising
This is when word count should become a bigger focus, and may be one of the first things you should consider in your revision process.
If you are within 10k words of the “standard” for your genre
In this scenario, I don’t recommend worrying about your word count until the final passes on your manuscript when you are working on line editing. If you are only about 10k over/under, your earlier rounds of revision where you focus on story-level issues such as plot and character may also resolve your wordcount. And, if they don’t, this is a relatively easy amount to add/ subtract during your line editing, and may also be an acceptable “margin of error” for submitting if you really can’t get any closer to that target.
If you are more than 10k above or below
Then, you have significant amounts that you need to add or subtract. In addition to being a pretty big fix that you’ll want to solve earlier on, figuring out where you need to add or subtract words can help give focus to the rest of your revision. For example, if you are an under-writer, this is the time to go back and add the description or interiority you skipped. If you’re an over-writer, this is when you hone in on the plot and character arcs that are important to the story, and cut out the scenes that go nowhere.
Are you and under-writer or an over-writer?
Like most things in life, I think this is probably a spectrum rather than a binary! I’d love to hear more about your experiences over or under-writing. I’ve unlocked comments for all subscribers on this post, so please share! Remember in your interactions with other readers that we are all here to learn, so please be civil and supportive.