Don’t let word count define your novel.
Now, before I get myself in trouble, let me say this: if you sign a contract to do a novel that is 75,000 words, you should try and write a novel around 75,000 words. You need to honor your commitment, and you don’t want to jeopordize your relationship with your publisher.
In the past, my editors and publishers have been somewhat flexible with the word count. A few times I’ve gone over, and a few times I’ve gone under.
I think it’s easier to widdle down a manuscript than to beef it up. Even though I feel like I can sometimes be repetitive (my editors work hard to cut out the flab), I don’t think I’m overly wordy. But sometimes I’m overly ambitious, and the novel needs to be compressed a bit.
Right now I’m working on a novel that’s already at 80,000 words. That’s around the length it’s supposed to be when I hand it in. There’s still a good chunk of story to go. Yet I’m not worried. I don’t feel the need to break the momentum and the style and pacing all to get the word count. No. I’m going to keep going as I also ween and cut at the same time.
The reality is this: if the story is that great, the publisher will be fine to print it at the word count you hand in.
The reality is also this: there is always going to be lots more work to go after handing it in.
My goal is to write the story I need to write, then take a hatchet to it before handing it in. Not a blind hatchet, but a sharp one. During the edits, I’m sure it will be tightened as well.
For those interested, the story is about a man who is told he’s going to die on his upcoming birthday. There’s the premise. But as always, there’s quite a bit more to the story.
The premise for your WIP reminds me of Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz. I enjoyed that book and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the idea.
Speaking of word count, I've noticed that your books seem to vary in size. How many words are there in Ghostwriter, and then how many in Isolation? GW comes in at about 350 pages, and Isolation runs about 280 pages.
If the book is at a higher word count than they requested, does the publisher format the book to try to make it look smaller?
Do you ever plan to write a BIG book? Like, in the 200K range?
Hi James. I just checked–Isolation at last count had around 76,000 words and Ghostwriter had 80,000. A lot depends on the font and the paper the publishers use. A short novel can appear to be beefed up or a longer novel can appear to look smaller.
I just noticed as I was looking those word counts up that I originally had 96,000 words in Ghostwriter. I had to dramatically rewrite it. A lot got cut or changed.
I don't see myself doing a 200K word novel anytime soon. I have an epic series idea that could look like Stephen King's The Stand. But it will be five individual books. We'll see what happens with that.
They're closer in word count than I thought. That's interesting. I wonder if your publisher wanted Ghostwriter to look longer so they worked with the formatting to make that happen.
Also curious: Did you request the deckled edges for Isolation, or was that something from the publisher?
Well, I'd like to see a 200K word book from you. I try to read some of these long books and they just feel like so much fluff. I can't imagine you'd be so fluffy.
The publisher chose the deckled edges. The only input I get regarding printing is the cover. I've been happy with all my covers so I"m fortunate.
And hey–I can totally be fluffy. I can have a whole line of fluff! 🙂
Be careful! One line leads to another.
Seriously, man, you need to back off on the page-long paragraphs. You need to have more dialogue. And shorter chapters too. We can only take so much. 🙂
I do not like shorter chapters actually, i like long ones. it gives the book better flow opposed to shorter chapters. I would also love to see a 200k book from you! I'm sure even if it was fluff, that your fluff would be very good!