KK is for Kicking Ks
How Many Words Make a Novel?
Let us imagine you are about to begin planning or writing a novel…are you wondering how many words will be enough, and how many will be too much?
What are the criteria for deciding the word count aim?
The answers include publishing industry standards as well as decisions that are personal to your chosen story and/or genre.
For once, this is not so much a Freewriting piece as a list of useful links. I am suggesting them to you as I’ve found them useful but I cannot guarantee you will too, or that the link won’t break some time in the future.
Please let me know if these links are helpful to you. Each one opens in a new tab.
- WordCounters – a site dedicated to word counting for novelists
- Reading Length – a search engine that gives information about estimated word count, reading time and other values
- How Long Should My Novel Be? – an article on Writers & Artists
- Word Counts by Genre – a blog post on Novelry
- How Many Words Are There In A Novel? – an article written by Harry Bingham on Jericho Writers
- Word Count Guide: How Long Is a Book, Short Story, or Novella? – an article on MasterClass
Is There a Definite Length You Need to Aim For?
From reading the links above you’ll realise that the answer to this question is “Yes” and “No”.
- Keep looking around the Internet for advice and information.
- Read, read and read novels and writing craft books or articles to get a sense of typical book lengths, by which authors, for which publishers, and certainly in different genres.
- Break the rules when you know why, if, your story warrants it.
- Pay heed to not submitting a 120,000+ word doorstop as your first novel…unless that is the industry standard for your chosen genre.
- If you are aiming for a taut, tense, purposeful psychological thriller as your first novel, make sure it is as tight and well-edited as possible. Cut the fat out, leave the meat in.
- Once you are an established author, choosing new lengths of novel to strive for may become your negotiable asset.
More writing practice at ABC Alliterative Title Challenge.
