Joelle

..about how many words are there?
This has probably already been answered somewhere but I did a few quick searches and found nothing. I'm on about 31,000 on the novel I'm currently writing and I'd like to have a final number in mind now for pacing purposes.
Thanks in advance.

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Joe Moore

Here's a general rule of thumb on word count:

Epic: A work of 200,000 words or more.
Novel: A work of 60,000 words or more.
Novella: A work of at least 17,500 words but under 60,000 words.
Novelette: A work of at least 7,500 words but under 17,500 words.
Short story: A work of at least 2,000 words but under 7,500 words.
Flash fiction: A work of less than 2,000 words.

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Joelle

ooh thank you very much

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dwellerofthedeep

100,000 words is the most marketable number for a 1st novel.

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HarryG

I agree, but please remember that it depends on the kind of novel you are writing. 100,000 words is indeed the average, but 200,000 words may be equally appropriate. Don’t be cowed by numbers, write it to the end, and good luck.

mammamaia

also keep in mind the word count preferred by publishers of the kind of novel you're writing... you can check out some submission guidelines and get a good idea of what a marketable average is for your work that way...

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lin

I just sort of shoot for 100,000 words. I wouldn't want to be submitting a first novel twice that length unless it was really incredible and fit a niche.

ClancyBoy

Or you could write as many words as the story requires, no more, no less. Our job is to write a good story that people want to read. It's the publisher's job to figure out how market it.

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Mike C

You keep saying dumb stuff, Nancy. Your job is to write a good story that people want to read that is marketable. If it's not, the publisher will go to the next guy in the line. You have to produce a saleable product.

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Hobbes

In comparison, The Great Gatsby is about 82,000 words long, IIRC.

Shawn

Since we all write The Great Gatsby daily, ILTNMMAMOTCHYCFAPMSFTJ.

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ClancyBoy

If it's a book people want to read, the only reason it wouldn't be marketable is if the publisher is too dense or too lazy to figure out how to market it properly.

Yes yes, I know I might not make money with that attitude. I already have a job though, so I could give a shit. I'm here to make art.

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"Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons wait for you down there. Little pets they are, little little little pets. Cute little things, they say. Don't you believe it. No man ever saw them and walked away alive. You won't either. That's the final dash, flash. That's the utter clobber, cobber." --Cordwainer Smith, Norstrillia.

lin

I wrote a GOOD Gatsby, but not a GREAT Gatsby.

Krim

90,000-120,000. Less for young adult fiction. That goes down as much as around 60,000, some less than that.

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ClancyBoy

Now just what the hell kind of an attitude is that?

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