Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Hi everyone! I'm working on my first novel and I don't know how I'll ever reach a word count of at least 60,000 words, as my writing style is thorough yet concise. I'm certain that I would like to write a novel, not a novella or short story. Does anyone have any tips on how I can beef up my word count? Any and all tips are much appreciated.

If I were in your shoes, I would first create an outline. If you plan your novel out in detail, you might find the execution to be easier. I like to plan my novels one scene at a time. I usually end up with extra scenes that can be added if I think a particular plot point or character needs more depth. I hope this helps!

Libby wrote: "Sometimes when you find a story a bit too short, it's because you don't have enough detail. Scene description, emotions, reactions, dialogue, are all of those bases covered in enough depth? If you ..."

Hmmm...That's a challenging question for me to answer.

I've never felt like a story was too long or too short based on word count alone. A story only feels too short if it feels rushed or incomplete. It only feels too long if it drags. Neither of those are absolutes, because everybody likes/dislikes something different.

I think you should strive for balance rather than attaining a word count, unless of course you have a publisher on your back demanding a word count. I find that an outline helps me achieve balance, but I am one of those authors who usually has to cut scenes out. I tend to be long winded. My second book was 150,000 words. I LOVE detail, but not everyone does.

Stephanie wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm working on my first novel and I don't know how I'll ever reach a word count of at least 60,000 words, as my writing style is thorough yet concise. I'm certain that I would like to write a novel, not a novella or short story. Does anyone have any tips on how I can beef up my word count? Any and all tips are much appreciated. "

It's a little difficult to know what you could do to beef up the word count without knowing what you have so far.

But, just some general tips:

1. Subplots. And if you have subplots, do more.
2. Details. If you have details, add more.
3. Flashbacks to help understand your characters better.
4. Short stories within the novel.
5. Plot twists can divert the story a bit. So can red herrings.
6. Get your reader a bit deeper into the thoughts of the characters.

Maybe it will ease your mind, too, to know that some sources say a novel is at least 40,000 words. Some say fifty.

Also, there's no great shame or defeat in realizing your story is not a novel. Two of mine, The Asphalt Carpet and Very White Jesus were intended to be novels but ended up as novellas. Yes, I could beef them up until they are novels, but it would drag them out and slow them down too much.

Pad. Use lots of adjectives.
J.M. Garlock
"The Centurion Chronicles"

A lot of people will say that a story is as long as it needs to be. Good advice, but maddening. Only you as the story-teller know if the story accurately conveys the message you intended. Have you gotten the overall tone and setting of the book the way you want? Are the characters (even minor ones) fleshed out enough that the reader can understand what motivates and drives them? Does the book only have one central plot or are there many subplots branching out? If you are uncertain about any of these questions, there are a number of articles, books, and forums that can help on all these topics. But a word of caution, like a piece of art, if you keep going back to it you will find that you keep changing it. There is definitely a point of diminishing returns at which point you will have to say, "Enough. It is what it is." I went through fifteen drafts of my novel before reaching that point.

One thing you can do is to read some of it, a chapter or just a few paragraphs and record it. Then listen. Not for errors, not even for rhythm and tone, but try and listen as someone who doesn't know what you, the author knows. Do the words alone portray the setting and the characters clearly? Do the words alone give you a clear impression of the plot and motivations? Is there any point where you would ask why? Are you unable to visualise an object or a room based only on the words? That might help you decide if more needs to be added and where.

Word counts have bothered me for as long as I've been trying to publish. Nothing worse than a publisher or agent saying "I won't look at it if it has more than X words." Everything gets compartmentalized and sorted by irrelevant details.

In short, write as many words as you think it needs. Then have a friend beta-read it and see if they have a lot of questions that can be answered by adding a little exposition here and there. Don't worry about word count until you feel the book is finished, and even then, let someone else worry about it.

Don't obsess over word count. Write, proof-read, rewrite, evaluate, and polish. The resulting manuscript will contain as many words as you feel it should. The actual final word count of the published work will be determined during the editing phase.

I agree with Jim. And (respectfully yet violently) disagree with J.M.

DO NOT "beef up"
DO NOT pad
DO NOT laden it with adjectives!

The only proper way to write a longer story is to have a plot that demands more words.

Sure, you might find that you've not included enough exposition, enough character back story or detail about whatever...But you're just as likely (more likely) to find that your first draft has far too much of everything.

But you shouldn't be obsessing over word counts. You should be obsession over the story, the characters, the dialog, the whole writing process.

I can point to a LOT of books (even ones I end up liking) where I've finished the book and thought, "Wow, that would have been SO awesome if it had only been trimmed down by 30,000 words [or in some cases a couple hundred thousand words]!"

I can't think of any books where I've said, "Wow, that would have been SO awesome if it had only been beefed up by 30,000 words."

Having walked under the burning broiling blistering sweltering seething furnace-like sun of a Central Texas August, I can promise simply throwing adjectives into the mix doesn't help.

Think of your story like a description of a trail you've walked through the boonies. The people you're relaying information to will want to know about the terrain, the plants, the wildlife, the places to be cautious, as well as all the other details that (if unknown) can turn a pleasant excursion into a nightmare. It also pays to remember details you might feel unimportant due to conciseness may be vital to someone surviving your trail.

Ultimately a story takes the word count it takes, and that tends to be determined by the story.

R.F.G.
Your analogy is apt. (I'd write more, but I'm minding my word count. Only 11897 characters left.)

Micah wrote: "I agree with Jim. And (respectfully yet violently) disagree with J.M.

DO NOT "beef up"
DO NOT pad
DO NOT laden it with adjectives!

The only proper way to write a longer story is to have a plot th..."

Micah wrote: "I agree with Jim. And (respectfully yet violently) disagree with J.M.

DO NOT "beef up"
DO NOT pad
DO NOT laden it with adjectives!

The only proper way to write a longer story is to have a plot th..."
Fair enough. I should have qualified my comment. There are standard perameters for short stories, novellas & novels. One way to increase marketability is to make sure what you're writing fits into those parameters. There are a lot of tricks to the trade that every writer should know.

The infamous "Show, don't Tell," might help. I read a 60,000 word novel not long ago which would have been much more satisfying had it been 90,000 words, simply because the author skimmed over too many scenes by "telling" what happened instead of "showing" the actions. Read over your work to see how many scenes you might be able to expand upon, then start adding the actions, reactions, and dialogue that will really make those scenes come alive. That will automatically add words to your work.

Ahhh! - we have the classic "tail wagging the dog!"

Writing is about telling a great story and NOTHING, and I do mean NOTHING, takes priority over writing the best possible telling of that story. Compromising your story to meet word count is unacceptable.

Just gonna toss this out there. Two of my books are the exact word count I was shooting for, part of a series that will be exactly 100,000 words in the end.

Part of the fun of writing the stories is hitting the exact word count.

I added it into the blurb that the stories are exactly a certain length.

The books are the most popular things I've done so far.

Is it necessary to worry about word count with most works? Not really. But, there's really no harm in it, either. Yes, quality is more important than quantity, but that doesn't mean you can't shoot for quantity and quality both.

I once wrote a story in first person and found that it didn't read well. I changed it to third person and was able to add all the details and dialog that filled out the story and made it a much better read. Things that a character telling a story wouldn't bother with, a narrator can expand upon to the benefit of the story.

I agree with Libby. Sometimes you find that you don't have enough detail. While not looking to necessarily make my stories longer, I would look at a very short paragraph and see whether it could be enhanced by adding more detail, dialogue, emotions, reactions, etc.

I also find that once you revise your story over and over and over, where it starts off as a skeleton piece and you continue to revise by adding more fleshly details until it's finally a complete story form, word count won't be a problem.

There's nothing wrong with having a target word count. It helps me to know where I am in the story. The first draft of my latest book looks like it's going to come in at between 5,000 and 10,000 short of my target (80,000 words).

I will use a few of those 'spare' words to flesh out characters and describe some incidents in more detail, but mostly I will use them to shape the pacing and increase the tension where required. In short, they are there for me to grab and manipulate the reader. That's the theory, anyway. I have a fairly spare writing style, so I have to be careful as any padding will be obvious.

Jonathan wrote: "If you find yourself obsessing over word count, remember that at one time shorter novels weren't just acceptable--they were the norm."

"Obsesssion" over word count doesn't necessarily mean one is trying to write a long novel. Sometimes keeping an eye on word count can be due to trying to keep the story short.

There's no rule against writing a long novel, either. A writer should write the books he or she feels compelled to write, no matter how long or short they may be.

Steve wrote: "There's nothing wrong with having a target word count. It helps me to know where I am in the story..."

I'm doing more or less the same. I am working on a short novel and am shooting for 25 to 35 thousand words in the rough draft, then will flesh it out in the edits and rewrites. There's plenty of places I can stuff a few more words.

R.F.G. wrote: "Having walked under the burning broiling blistering sweltering seething furnace-like sun of a Central Texas August, I can promise simply throwing adjectives into the mix doesn't help.

Think of you..."

There's no need for any of that -- instead, write about rivers of sweat pouring down your character's face and back, about the sun scorching his skin like an industrial laser, about sand glowing white-hot, about your character's boots melting and smoldering from the heat, and about air that feels like it was superheated in a steelmaking furnace, and you'll be fine.

Exactly, Dennis. Show don't tell. That always helps with the word count. Take a small paragraph where you're telling and replace it with senses, reactions, and emotions, and voila, not only have you increased your word count, but you've enhanced the story and made it better.

At the risk of repeating anything already said by previous posts, don't think that a novel is necessarily defined by a word count. The good folks at the Nebula awards may have officially set down their criteria for what does or does not constitute a novel by word count alone, but this is because a Fantasy/SF novel depends on extraordinary detail. People consider Conrad's Heart of Darkness a novel, although I think it is at most a smaller novella, and possibly a larger short story. If you communicate everything you wish to in a concise manner and find that you do not wish to revise your work anymore, then leave it be. The work is what matters, and if you approach it correctly it will tell you when to stop altering it.

It sounds mushy, I know, but I compare it to how Bruce Lee talked about fighting. 'When the enemy expands, I contract. When the enemy contracts, I expand. And when the moment I do not hit, [my fist] hits all by itself.' Happy writing!

At the risk of repeating anything already said by previous posts, don't think that a novel is necessarily defined by a word count. The good folks at the Nebula awards may have officially set down their criteria for what does or does not constitute a novel by word count alone, but this is because a Fantasy/SF novel depends on extraordinary detail. People consider Conrad's Heart of Darkness a novel, although I think it is at most a smaller novella, and possibly a larger short story. If you communicate everything you wish to in a concise manner and find that you do not wish to revise your work anymore, then leave it be. The work is what matters, and if you approach it correctly it will tell you when to stop altering it.

It sounds mushy, I know, but I compare it to how Bruce Lee talked about fighting. 'When the enemy expands, I contract. When the enemy contracts, I expand. And when the moment I do not hit, [my fist] hits all by itself.' Happy writing!

Here-Here, Xan!

I was just about to comment, but then I read Xan's post! Took the words right out of my mouth! Erm, I mean, keyboard :)