January 9, 2019
Optimal Word Count: Dos and Don’ts
If you take a look around you, you’ll discover we’re obsessed with measuringFor more on this, take a look at my article on measuring success. Your camera is this many megapixels, your phone has this many gigabytes of RAM. It’s no surprise that texts – novels, essays, and blog articles – fall victim to the same process. But what is an optimal word count for a given text?
In today’s article I’ll… Well, let’s be unusual and start from the end: I’ll eventually give you some tips on how to calculate the optimal word count for your novel (though probably it won’t be what you expect). But before that, I will talk a bit about word counts.
I’ll explain why I think optimal word counts are overrated. Furthermore, I’ll show you why becoming preoccupied with having the “right” word count for your novel might be counterproductive.
Optimal Word Count: a Way of Organizing Your Novel
Let’s be clear about one thing: There’s nothing wrong with having a vague idea of how long your novel should be, at least in terms of the minimum word count. The reason? Because that’s what separates a novel from a novella or a short story.
The Good Way…
Having a plot in mind, it’s perfectly fine (indeed, important) to say “it should be at least X number of words”.
- A short story is usually at least 500 words (more typically at least 1500 words).
- Novelettes are at least 5000 words (though technically you could still call them short stories).
- Novellas “should” be at least 25.000 words.
- You call something a novel if it’s 50.000 words or longer.
All these should be taken liberally, there are no real rules; only guidelines. Still, it’s a good starting point for realizing what it is you’re writing. And hey, it’s absolutely fine to change your mind along the way and realize the story you’re writing is shorter/longer than what you anticipated.
So, what’s the problem with optimal word counts?
…and the Bad Way
I think the best way to understand how thinking of an optimal word count can be counterproductive is to think of the upper limits of this word count.
Notice how, in the previous section, there was no mention of such a thing. It is of course implied. If a novella is at least 25.000 words, any text surpassing that cannot, really, be a novelette or a short story.
Similarly, a text that is over 50.000 words is not a novella anymore; it’s a novel.
But what about the maximum word count of a novel? More particularly, what is the optimal word count of a romance novel, or the optimal word count of a fantasy novel? Here is where things get complicated, unnecessarily so.
The problems with maximum word count for novels is that they no longer denote the separation between the novel and some other, longer form, the way a novella differs from a novel.
Maximum Word Count for a Novel: a Marketing Problem
Instead, such limits are entirely marketing-driven and they are in place because of entirely artificial demands the publishing industry imposes.
As such, you might have read on some blog that your fantasy novel should be no less than this many words, but also no more than this many. Perhaps, the blog would claim, a horror novel should be at least this many words, but its maximum word count should not exceed this many words.
All these are entirely artificial, largely arbitrary limits. Literary agents and publishers seek to avoid risk, and as such they tend to favor homogenized works.
The question, then, is: Should you follow such “rules”?
Blindly Following an Optimal Word Count Can Destroy Your Work
Assume you are reaching the end of your novel. Let’s say you have written about 90.000 words, which – according to the aforementioned arbitrary rules – is the upper limit for your specific genre.
Then you discover that the narrative ending is not quite right. You feel that the plot requires you to offer some additional narrative exposition in regard to certain events.
Should you write some more and go over the prescribed limit, or leave the text as it is, knowing that it’s problematic?
To me it’s obvious: my art comes first, everything else is secondary. If I feel I need to go over 100.000, or 120.000 words, I’ll do it. On the other hand, I feel that I have the experience to know whether a need to add more text is actual or perceived.
The difference is crucial. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry purportedly mentioned:
Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away
It is a valid observation, to some extent. And so, what are we to say about it? Should you obey word count limits? Is there even such a thing as an optimal word count?
Tips on Calculating the Optimal Word Count
And so, we have reached the… promised part. I did warn you, however, that it might not be what you expect.
The answer to the question, How do you know the optimal word count for your novel, is this:
The optimal word count for your novel is the one where, once reached, you should neither add nor subtract anything.
I know that perhaps this isn’t a very satisfactory reply. But it’s an honest and accurate one, I assure you. Let’s open it up a bit.
What the above phrase indicates is that, ultimately, you should not be too preoccupied with strict word counts. Instead, focus fully on the narrative structure of your novel.
Focus on things such as narrative progression, character development, and narrative journeys. There is a story arc that you need to follow, and it takes what it takes. Add what needs to be added, remove what is not essential to the plot or character development. The remaining narrative is the optimal word count of your novel.
“And what do I do with literary agents or publishers?” you might ask.
Well, that’s up to you. As I mentioned further above, my art comes first. This is the main reason why I’ve moved past the publishing industry, because I want to be in full control of my art.
If this is something you feel uncomfortable with, you need to think of your priorities. Is your narrative what’s important, or offering agents, publishers, or audiences what they expect?
I can’t answer that for you, but do keep in mind that if you try to please everybody, you will almost certainly end up pleasing nobody.
One Comment
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I never considered word counts per se, except as they affect the size of the final volume in print, and the limits that places on POD.
My thinking has been more along the lines of every single word that was necessary, and none that were not, to tell the story. I ruthlessly slash the word count – I tend to put too much nuance on in first drafts. Much of the nuance is shortened by proper word choice later, and I’m getting better at doing that from the beginning, but there is a point at which you have to separate getting the story out from polishing it, or you will get stuck on a single word.
When the story is complex, it takes more words. When the characters required to tell the story are many, again, more words. I reduced three main pov characters, plus a pov friend each, by deleting the friends. It was surprisingly easy.
But you can’t pare the story down by eliminating everything, or why bother. And that’s where skillful writers sneak in backstory by drops, where beginners need infodumps and character descriptions right down to the shoes.
It is learnable – if you notice, and you care.
I think one of your reviews that I read indicted half the book was superfluous. I’d rather not get that comment from my readers.