Reaching goals, standard lengths
15
votes
6answers
477 views
How can I make a story bigger?
I have written a first draft of what I want to be a novel -- aiming for 50-70K words. When the ending arrived I was at about 30K. So I essentially have to double the length. My list of notes scattered ...
14
votes
9answers
6k views
What is a normal length for a chapter?
I've always had trouble determining whether my chapters are within the same size realm as chapters in standard books. Since it isn't exactly feasible to count the number of words in a chapter of ...
13
votes
9answers
686 views
How do I overcome a lack of motivation to write at home?
Late October I decided to take the plunge and attempt NaNoWriMo. I haven't done much writing in some time and thought it would be a fun attempt to jump back into things. So far it's been pretty fun ...
10
votes
4answers
164 views
What are the usual methods for getting a daily word count?
Do, normally, only words which are eventually to be kept count, or do you also count rewrites? For example, if I rewrite a 50 word paragraph 10 times, is my daily count up to 50 or up to 500?
10
votes
2answers
333 views
Strategies for shortening texts
When reviewing a text to shorten it beneath a fixed, externally imposed word limit, which strategies are available for shortening the text? What kind of shortening can be expected?
The most obvious ...
9
votes
5answers
5k views
How many words/hour should you aim for when writing your first draft?
A couple of axioms here. Firstly, most people agree that you should write your first draft quickly, without too much care on quality, and get something down on paper first. The real writing begins ...
8
votes
6answers
579 views
What to do if I can't meet my chapter word count?
I usually set a word count goal for each of my chapters, say 2000 words. But sometimes I can't meet that goal, for any number of reasons. What should I do:
A. Continue anyway, and hope to increase ...
8
votes
5answers
427 views
How do you meet a writing quota?
As a parent with a full-time job, I usually have a limited amount of time to write each day. What are some tricks I can try to reach a specific word count in a specific time (e.g. 500 words in an ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
What's a normal word count for a children's novel or collection?
How many words are normal for a children's novel?
Say 5th - 8th grade, if that's the best way to measure it.
7
votes
6answers
1k views
What is a good daily word count goal?
As a NaNoWriMo participant, I've been trying to meet a rather ambitious 1667 word/day goal. I've heard that professionals do a lot less, but the first two days of this month, I actually wrote 5000 ...
7
votes
2answers
368 views
Is there any hope of a fictional short story being published?
I mean under 100k, probably less than 50k because it's a short story. Actually, I'm not sure how many words a short story has so I have two questions. How short is a short story and is it worth the ...
5
votes
2answers
129 views
Techniques for lengthening or merging chapters
When I'm working on a novel, I have a tendency to write short chapters (1k-3k words). This is not a problem, per se, but I sometimes feel the need to have one or two longer chapters to slow down the ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the recomended word-count for a fantasy-fiction book?
By recommended I mean what is the standard for it to be not too long and not too short. I know I should write until I am finished but I want to take practicality into account as well. Mainly when the ...
5
votes
2answers
246 views
What are the advantages to setting a word limit for a short story?
In the past when I've written short stories, I've found that setting a word limit tends to make my writing more focused and concise (generally, the limits have been imposed by a course I was taking).
...
4
votes
1answer
244 views
Length of non-fiction article and what to do about it
I have been working on a non-fiction (mostly biographical) article that currently is about 9,000 words and I have perhaps 30% more to go, so perhaps the final article would be 12-14k words or so. I ...
4
votes
1answer
160 views
How long is a single-title romance novel supposed to be?
My friend is a literary agent who mostly works with YA novels, but she told me recently that I should aim for about 75,000 words for my book, which I'm currently speccing out as a romance novel or ...
2
votes
2answers
3k views
Minimum (realistic) word count of non-fiction book
What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a non-fiction book? I'd guesstimate that non-fiction books "generally" (yes, this is very rough) run perhaps 150-450 pages, ...
1
vote
6answers
490 views
Ideal blog post size and frequency
Especially when you consider pro-blogging, or blogging with a definite aim and niche, what is the ideal word count to stick around for your average article, and how often is it a good compromise to ...
1
vote
1answer
638 views
What counts as a word when dealing with a word limit?
I am trying to determine if it will be feasible to revise a manuscript for a journal that has a 6500 word limit. Currently, the manuscript is between 7500 and 8000 words long, depending on how I count ...
0
votes
1answer
225 views
How can I make this essay more succinct?
I just finished re-re-reviewing an essay for an application to school. The essay seems to be flowing nicely, but as always I feel it is not succinct or crisp enough.
I do not want this to be a ...
