Length

[Der Sturmbrecher]

Hullo,

I've started writing a novel which I've been wanting to tackle for awhile. Sadly my writing is irregularly scheduled, but it's a start. From what I've seen, though, it looks like my work is too short. It just seems like I don't have enough words to draw it out long enough. Prior to the novel I've done some short stories, and I'm worried about making my book too short. Suggestions? Comments?

Thanks!

Rotrich Sturmbrecher

[meh]

Finish it anyway while you've got momentum. 

[Starbeam]

Don't worry too much about the length until you've finished a draft.  Chances are things will change between starting and finishing, and there will be places that need extra scenes and such.  Plus length can vary depending on the type of novel it is you're writing.

[Der Sturmbrecher]

Thanks folks! Wish I could write right now, but alas, PreCalculus is demanding my attention.

[KevinEvans]

Like they said, finish first, then look at the length. My publisher likes novels to be 100-125 K words, but states that a strong story line is most important.
Regards,
Kevin

[Aakaakaak]

If it comes up short of a full novel it comes up short. Market it as a novella. Consider it a stepping stone to writing a full blown novel.

[SCARPA]

Typical minimum length of an adult fantasy novel is 100,000 words or 400 pages. If its shorter also look into whether it can be marketed as YA, which typically have shorter lengths. My novel, Veil of the Dragon turned up short on page count and so I am following an agents direction and filling it in a little more. Important to remember the people we are wanting to publish us have to sell it and there will be inevitably certain rules of the market they have to follow.

[Der Sturmbrecher]

Typical minimum length of an adult fantasy novel is 100,000 words or 400 pages. If its shorter also look into whether it can be marketed as YA, which typically have shorter lengths. My novel, Veil of the Dragon turned up short on page count and so I am following an agents direction and filling it in a little more. Important to remember the people we are wanting to publish us have to sell it and there will be inevitably certain rules of the market they have to follow.

I hadn't heard that figure before. Thanks!

[Enjorous]

Remember the immortal words of Stephen King (quoting a rejection slip he once got)

Second draft=first draft -10%

[Kali]

But Stephen King also is a "big" writer.  I don't mean famous, I mean he naturally writes excessively.  He writes a WHOLE lot of words in his first drafts, so he has to trim.  I write lean.  My first non-NaNo draft came in around 66k words.  I need to loosen up, not subtract 10%.  All depends on what your natural inclination is.

[Enjorous]

*shrugs* I find it helps keeps things tight when there aren't random tangents flying all over the place. That's the spirit of it I think.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

But Stephen King also is a "big" writer.  I don't mean famous, I mean he naturally writes excessively.  He writes a WHOLE lot of words in his first drafts, so he has to trim.  I write lean.  My first non-NaNo draft came in around 66k words.  I need to loosen up, not subtract 10%.  All depends on what your natural inclination is.

My first drafts almost always need an extra 20% added to the last third or so so that someone who isn't me has some hope of understanding what's going on, fwiw.

[Starbeam]

Stephen King doesn't plot anything out.  He just lets the story go where it wants to, and he's also extremely verbose.  So there's likely going to be more that has to be edited out of his work than say something like Dresden Files where it's been plotted out.  Plus some people, in rewrites, discover subplots that need more fleshing out, or details that they understand but that there isn't enough for readers to understand.  And word length depends a lot on what kind of novel it is.  An urban fantasy can be something like 100-150k words while an epic type fantasy can be up to 300k or more.  Well, if you write like Robert Jordan, anyway.  The NaNo goal is 50k, which I suppose could be typical for non-genre specific work, though I've never looked into that.

[KevinEvans]

My wife and I write together. Our latest novel (all most done, just revisions on the last chapter) I plotted and wrote 67K, also I put in plot tags where my wife dropped in her half of the story line. The two of us together create better content than either of us alone.

The real deal though is to run on the popcorn system. That is, keep writing. No one pops corn one kernel at a time, the reality of the publishing world is that, a book can take upwards of 4 years to hit print. Even books written on contract run a year or more from deal to publication. Research your market and write, write and keep writing.

Brandon Sanderson had the seventh novel he had written come out as his first book, just as he had finished his eleventh novel. That netted him a contract, and his ability to stay two years ahead of his deadlines, gained him (in part) the WoT contract.

So Write, Write more, and then keep writing. The trick is to fill the pipeline and get in front of the curve. And (you guessed it) Keep Writing. (Grin)

Best of luck,
Kevin

[SCARPA]

True that.