MICROSOFT WORD WORD COUNT HOW TO
Thrillers / Horror / Mysteries / Crime: 70,000–90,000 wordsįor a great discussion on the fundamentals of fiction, and how to write a great story, check out this podcast interview.The following are average word-count ranges by genre. However, you’ll also want to take your genre into account. If you’re working on a novel-length book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least - but it’s better to aim for 90,000. The Old Man and the Sea was about 25 to 30,000 words, tops.”Ĭoyne uses the Nanowrimo word-count length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Big, epic stories get anywhere from 120,000 to 200,000 words.” But, he also mentions that “ The Wizard of Oz was 40,000 words. In “ Outlining Your Book in 3 Easy Steps,” editor Shawn Coyne says, “The average novel today is about 90,000 words. Writer’s Digest recommends 80,000 to 89,999 words as a “100% safe range for literary, mainstream, women’s, romance, mystery, suspense, thriller and horror.” That’s approximately 300 pages of double-spaced type. How many words in a novel?Īnd what’s the average length of other types of books?īefore diving into the specifics of genre-based word counts, let’s look at the broader picture of average book length.įor most publishers, a book is “novel-length” when it’s between 50,000 and 110,000 words.Īt a writers conference I recently attended, publishing veteran Jane Friedman said 80,000 words is good for most fiction, below 60,000 isn’t novel length territory, and above 120,000 is likely too much. My point is that your genre will likely dictate your word count. There are exceptions, like YA books that exceed 250,000 words, but those tend to be outliers, and first-time authors rarely, if ever, get to be an outlier.Īdditionally, knowing your word count before you start writing can help you better plan your narrative arc as well as your writing schedule. At the end of this article, you’re going to find a guide to suggested word count length for most every popular genre. If you’re not a thriller author, I won’t keep you in suspense. Thrillers tend to be 70,000 to 90,000 words. Because thrillers are about pulse-pounding action and maybe some character development (especially if it’s part of a series), the word count isn’t massive. That includes scenes like “the hero at the mercy of the villain,” but it also includes book length. But that contract is dependent upon the book’s genre.įor instance, when a reader picks up a thriller, they have certain expectations of what they’re about to read. Word count matters because every book, regardless of genre, has an inherent contract with the reader. The short answer is: long enough to tell the story but short enough to consistently hold the reader’s interest. If you’re writing your first novel or any book, you’re probably asking these questions. But no agent would get to know that because they’d see “Memoir: 270,000 words” and hit delete before reading any further.įor that matter, how long should any book be? How many words are in a typical novel? What’s the ideal book word count? The platform could be as broad as Oprah’s.
The life story could be as compelling as Lincoln’s. The prose could be as fleet-footed as Fitzgerald’s. Even if she self-publishes, the cost per copy would be high, and few readers would slog through such a tome - particularly for someone who’s not famous.Īnd no agents or publishers would even look past that number. We gave each other knowing glances, and because I didn’t want to break this poor memoirist’s literary heart, I nodded at Shayla to take the lead. Soon after I heard someone mention the words in a novel, I held my breathe and let the moment pass.Īs nicely but as directly as she could, she explained to the memoirist that a 270,000-word memoir was excessive. “My memoir is 270,000 words long.” I heard these words during a breakout session I led at a local writers’ conference.Īn editor friend of mine, Shayla Eaton with Curiouser Editing, was sitting in on the breakout. “How many words in a novel?” is a question many writers ask. A Word Count Guide for 18 Book Genres: Memoirs, Children’s Books, and Non-Fictionīy Blake Atwood | Mar 9, 2022 | Craft | 47 commentsĤ. How many words per page can you expect in a book? For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I’m currently taking a writing and blogging sabbatical due to family health issues.
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