Another Word on Word Count
Caren EstesenA few weeks ago I posted my thoughts on word count. I was hoping to gently discourage writers from believing that every work has to be 100,000+ words. After reviewing the comments it seems like most writers wanted a hard and fast rule for every type of book. I'll try to shed some light on the types of books that I rep and read the most and their ranges, but I'm going to focus mostly on arguing against the 700 page book.
Genre fiction is the easiest type of book to define by word count because it follows a formula. For example, romance is about two people meeting, falling in love, and weathering the circumstances trying to keep them apart until they come to a solution in a satisfying conclusion. Mysteries are about one or more people realizing that something is wrong (this can stem from a dead body, stolen object or anything that violates the rules of the world built) and seeking to understand why someone or something has upset the balance. They conclude by solving the puzzle of what happened. (There is a set formula for science fiction, westerns and horror as well, but you get the idea). I would say with the exception of science fiction (it blurs into fantasy so quickly and that sprawls out into giant books that are usually part of a series or trilogy), most genre fiction falls into the 70-85k word range.
Commercial fiction, women's fiction and literary fiction aren't so easy to define by word count because they can range from quicker reads to monstrously long works. My rule of thumb is that if the book is longer than 100,000 words then we need to go back and check out why. For example, in The Crimson Petal and the White (still one of my favorite books despite its size), did we really need to hear from so many points of view. Should we have limited it to the key players instead of having so many secondary characters weigh in with their thoughts? In Outlander, did we really need to have so much of the politics take over the story when at the very heart of this is a romance (the reason I mention it here and not in the genre paragraph is because it's being sold as commercial fiction rather than romance with both the covers and the placement in bookstores)? For these stories, the editors agreed with the writers that it took that many words to tell a story. But more and more I'm seeing editors who want crisp, succinct writing.
YA (and even young reader/middle grade) is easier to define. Despite the successes of Harry Potter and Twilight, I think its definitely going to hamper you if your YA is longer than 70k words and your middle grade novel is longer than 45k words. I, as the agent, have to prove that it is essential that the book be that long and it doesn't suffer for the inflated word count. I don't want to suggest that there are exceptions to the norm, but not every story--especially for YA and middle grade fiction--needs to be told in epic format.
My point to this is that longer books give writers more chances to be sloppy about their writing. They're no longer objective in what should stay and what should go. Do you really need a sub plot? Does that extra character round out the character list or is it just someone who is a convenient add-in? What details are you giving that are essential to adding flavor to a story? Is it important that we see the heroes childhood to understand why he was so easily led to the dark side? If so, how much of it should you show the reader?
I think writers with those long sprawling manuscripts should rethink their word count. Look at the writers you admire and those who you'd like to compare your work to (another reason why I ask who your contemporaries are; those who don't know better start reading to find out). Are their books longer or shorter than yours? Are you making yours longer because its essential to tell your story or because you're trying to match their writing style? Think about all this before you submit that 100,000 plus word manuscript to more agents. It could be the difference between getting an offer or representation vs hearing that your story took too long to grab them or sagged during the middle and that's why they're passing on your book.
Reader Comments (9)
Thanks, Caren! :)
I think one should not only look at the works of writers they admire to gauge length but should specifically look at that writer's FIRST book. Many publishers want first time authors to prove themselves with a shorter first book and, once they show they can sell books, they're willing to take on longer projects. Look at Jonathan Stroud. His first two books were rather short, paving the way for him to do the far more complex Bartimaeus Trilogy.
Yes. There will ALWAYS be exceptions to the rule (look at TWILIGHT and other monstrously sized first novels). The trick is to not want to be the exception to the rule. Being an exception is MUCH harder than being published.
The way you set up the word count makes it much easier to approach. Thank you for taking the time to make it clear - or I guess as clear as it ever can be.
Oh, good. Becuase I don't think I could write a 100,000+ word novel if you held a gun to my head.
Thank you, this does clear up the subject a lot and is a good reminder for us to cut the unecessary out! I'll steer a friend of mine who's worried about her 120k romance novel towards your post.
Thanks for this helpful post. As a first-time YA author (book release in about 6 mo.), I remember obsessing about word count as I wrote the first draft. One thing I did that helped was to go to a few bookstores and simply take a look at the lengths of the current YA releases. I'd say your 45-70K YA range is right on, because, as you pointed out, the vast majority of YA works are far shorter than anything from J.K. Rowling and/or S. Meyer.
Perfectly clear post. I too have overwritten, only to learn that less is really more in presenting a story. I remembered Hemingway underwriting but giving descriptions of characters in a few words or a single sentence. Most books I read today give a paragraph or page of character description. In cases where an author has overwritten and told not shown me what I need to know, I wonder where the editor was.
I appreciate this very much. I just completed my first novel, and it is right at 70,000 words. I was worried that it was to short, but that is just how the story played out. I was reluctant to "beef it up" just to boost the word count. Now I will stick to my gut instinct and leave it alone, unless an editor suggests otherwise.
Just paste the book onto the end of itself--an instant 120,000. Most people only read the beginning and the end.