OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
Do you write every day? Do you obsess about word count?
Here’s a scenario: you’ve finally decided to start a writing project. A novel, of course. Maybe even the great American novel. You sit down and stare at that blank screen. Then what?
Even for many seasoned writers, the fear of starting can cause anxiety. Getting over that anxiety then presents a whole series of obstacles. One, in particular, comes up again and again in writing workshops: how do I find my groove and keep it?
Professionals have been telling us how to write since Aristotle’s Poetics.
A quick look through any fiction writing monograph and you’ll see a plethora of advice . You’ll often hear the ambiguous “Write what you know,” which must seem odd for fantasists, down to Elmore Leonard’s supremely practical ten rules for writing (my favorite: “10. Try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip”).
I’ll add one more pebble to the mountain of advice. The technique that always, no matter what, helped me was to set a very simple writing schedule for myself and stick to it. No matter what.
I used to use a large paper desk calendar, the type with the big squares (I now use Google calendar). I always gave myself a small word count (i.e. five hundred words) in the beginning. I would write immediately after I breakfast. I would then sit at my computer until the words came. No internet. No books. Just the blank screen. And the hardest part? You have to stare at it.
I believe there’s something enthralling about this process. Literally. Of course you will often fiddle, play with your keys, toss something up in the air, sing a song, or talk to your dog. But at some point you find yourself staring … and thinking. Then the mind clicks over and an image pops in your head, maybe a scene, some dialog. Something comes and the narrative starts to flow.
Now you’re in it.
Of course, the staring is just a metaphor. My first novel, I spent half the time on the floor tossing a ball up and down. It functioned the same way as staring: it was a mechanism to set my mind right.
When I’m done with the daily session, I write in my calendar how many words I completed for that session. I find that for the first two weeks, it’s rough going. Then, I suddenly am writing for longer than expected. And the word count increases. Of course, if you’re limited to only an hour of writing a session, you’re limited.
I find that if I have the time I can easily hit 2K words a session (usually two words for me). Of course, we all write different types of prose. Some writers have diarrhea mouth and must excise material during revisions. Other like me tend to leave things out and fill in the end.
Bottom line: get your word count in, whatever that number is.
Now, there are plenty of philosophical romantics out there who say this technique is much too machine-like, that true inspiration comes when it comes and you can’t force it. I’d like to hear an Olympic athlete say this on those cold morning when he or she has to get up and go run in the rain. It will sound like the excuse it is.
Writing is exercising the brain. It’s a habit. And it needs to be used. The words you put down may not always be your best. In those instances the writing session is like a free-writing exercise, which does wonders for the subconscious. Amazing insights often bubble up, even if the prose is crap.
Of course, this is a technique to get your butt in a chair and words on a page. I admit it’s a very blue-collar approach. But, hey, if you don’t like sitting in a room by yourself, spinning stories, find something else to do because this gig can, often, is a labor of love.
In addition to Curtis' post, here's some additional information people keep asking me about word count.
How many words is a book?
It's a terrible answer, but it varies by genre and increasingly by means of publishing. At the top end, fantasy books can weight in at 120,000 – 150,000. Fast paced thrillers like James Patterson can be 70,000 – 90,000. Romance can be 50,000.
Then there's a novella at 25,000 – 40,000 which is becoming more popular with ebooks.
Remember that your first draft will need editing. Stephen King recommends cutting 10% every edit, so if you want a book of 90,000 words, write 100,000.
What's the best word count tool for my blog?
I've been using this word count tool. It's easy to use. You just put in your current number and your goal and it gives you some HTML to post on your blog. I use this on the sidebar at my fiction blog JoannaPenn.com (which I am in the middle of a WIP anyway)
What do you think about word count goals and targets?
Top Image: Flickr Creative Commons
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1 2 3 Next »First write the book completely, get the story out - then worry about word count. http://j.mp/BkRecipe
Stream. The problem is that some people need a regimen to be productive. Getting the story out then becomes easier when they give themselves reasonable goals.
I really like this post. I was just talking to myself the other day about word count and how I need to set a simple goal for every day. Thanks for the advice, Curtis!
Hey, no problem. Works for me every time.
I keep a close watch on my wordcount. I set a wordcount goal for the year and try to get to it. Though I count all the writing I do, both fiction and non-fiction. I feel that when a novel takes more than theree months to complete (as it does in my case) it's good to have something you can measur your progress with.
Jane. A word count for the year sounds like a great idea. I find, though, that I have to stick with counts for projects because I have no idea how often I can write with focus.
I just try to hit a number I like (for the past year or so, that's been 100k words), and when I reach that number, I keep writing until I finish. I'll worry about cutting once I'm done.
I tend to have to fill in instead of cut. Although, the times when I had to excise a bunch of material was so painful!
I have to fill in as well Curtis - I'm a sparse writer. My natural novel length seems to be 68,000 words so far - that's with two :) I cut 20,000 words out and it felt right!
True. For my upcoming YA novels. I shot for 70k on each. They will be a series, so it's really one long novel. But each one stands alone. 70k feels great as a length in terms of arcs and resolution. Very manageable.
I often jump around in my books, so I often wind up having both to fill and to cut, which is a big pain (and costs a good week+ after I've "finished" the book).
On the topic of word counts, Joanna's pretty much got it nailed for the genres she's talking about. Here's some others that I write in:
Dime novel Detective: these tend to be short books, ~30k up to ~80k, with the occasional big book (usually in a series) poking its head above 100k.
Political thriller and/or family saga historical fiction: These tend to run longish, because they're playing so many threads at once. My latest in this genre ran 220+k words and readers are complaining that it's over too soon. Ludlum, Clancy, Alan Drury, Leon Uris, etc. all routinely write at obscene lengths like this.
If you're trying to figure out how many "book" pages a given story will take up, think "300 words/page" and you'll be pretty close to how things wind up looking in most printed books. With ebooks, of course, the "length" is under the reader's control, since they're the ones that chose the font size ;-)
Great post :-)
220k words is way too much Dan - I reckon you've got 2 books there :) but then aren't you also used to writing fantasy?
I find I'm getting annoyed with books over about $100k these days, they feel like they haven't been edited enough, but of course, that's personal preference!
I'm definitely the word diarrhoea kind of guy. I usually don't have much trouble getting words onto the page, the big issue is if it's any good :)
After every section i always do a mini edit and i guarantee i'll alter around 10-25% each time. Maybe not the most efficient way of doing things, but it's my little process
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
Yeah, I like the idea of reading over what you wrote the day before. But I try not to edit at that point. Just read for tone and mood and all that (and to refresh my memory). Sometimes, though, when the ball is rolling, I skip the read through and jump right in.
Yeah i agree, when the ball's rolling i sometime skip things and just create create create. After all, you can always go back an edit anytime, whereas inspiration doesn't come every day
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
everyone has their little process Matt!
We sure do :)
I feel mine is one of the most long winded ones though. I may be OCD, or it may just be really cautious. Hmmmm, not sure haha
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
When I was in the thick of writing the first draft of my novel, I definitely recorded my word counts as I went along. I didn't have a daily quota exactly (because I had a newborn to care for), but I did track how much I wrote and at what times I wrote. Doing so really helped me see which times of day were my most productive. For example, I discovered I'd only write about 500 words per hour during the afternoon, but as many as 1000 words per hour first thing in the morning.
On the other hand, I don't advocate obsessing over word counts or counting AS you're writing. At the moment I'm working on short stories, so I don't bother with word counts until the revision stage.
If counting and setting targets helps you write, do it. If it hinders you from getting the words down, don't.
Thanks for a great post!
Very true. Once the project is working, the word counts is something I give very little time to. I simply jot down what I see in my Scrivener file onto my calendar. The word count is only important, for me, in the very beginning, while I'm struggling to get the story going.
I'm a morning person as well Suzannah, the afternoon just becomes a chore :)
I just write the whole thing and then worry about word count in editing. Great post, thanks and God bless!
I wish it were that easy for me! :)
I think it's essential to have a wordcount goal for every piece of writing. You are so correct when you say that writing is exercising the brain. It's a habit. YES!
Very much so. And one of those great ones that comes back to you so quickly, after a time away.
Hey, Joanna. Just wanted to thank you for hosting my article. It's great to interact with your audience. You have such a great site.
Again, big thanks.
Thanks for your post Curtis and all the best with the launch.
Hi Joanna,
Since I have a day job where I write and do freelance writing on the side, big chunks of time for writing my novels are limited so I can't commit to a daily word count. However, I'm pretty faithful when I do schedule time to write my novel.
One of the things that helps me is to do what I (and I've heard others) refer to as "prewriting." While I'm doing the mundane things of everyday life, like washing dishes, waiting in line at the grocery story, pumping gas, etc., I think about what I'm going to write next in the novel. It keeps me in my "novel world," helps me to work out glitches and and preps me to be able to get down to business when I do sit down to write.
Janice
The pre-writing is so fun! I'm in that stage now for my next novel, researching, thinking, composting! With my day job, I used to get up and do an hour from 5am, I'd get 500-800 words per day done like that and then a chunk at the weekend. But I have these sporadic bursts as well, I'm not a daily writer