I’ve searched for previous threads on the topic, but nothing comes up.
The obvious answer is “as long as it needs to be.” Historically, at least, novels have gone from absurdly short (The Prisoner of Zenda) to absurdly long (The Stand). What is that range in word count?
I’ve got an idea for a novel I’d like to write; my first draft came to about 110K words, but I feel there were important bits left out. The next draft might hit 200K words. Is that too long for publishers to consider? (I hear The Stand had to be cut primarily because the publisher couldn’t bind a book that big in paperback, and a hardback its size would’ve been too pricey for the public.)
Lastly, for those who know anything about editing and publishing, is it better to be too short and add later, or better to be too long and cut down?
Thanks for such an informed answer. I’m grateful to have some kind of range to shoot for, and some idea when I’m getting too bloated for my own good.
When you write, do you draft an outline and budget word count — X words per chapter, say — as a rough estimate? Or do you simply write each chapter as long as it needs to be?
Length and complexity. If it’s too long to call a short story (personal defintion: can’t read it easily in one sitting) but too short to really live up to the name novel, it’s a novella.
Technically, a novella is between 17,500 and 40,000.
A Novelette is 7,500 to 17,499 (at least for Nebula and Hugo Awards).
I don’t do outlines; I find them constricting. I just write the story and keep figuring out what happens next, usually with a final goal in mind. I end chapters when it seems like a good place for a dramatic break.
Of course, that’s how I do it. Other writers do it differently and use outlines. It’s whatever works for you.
I just want to add that length is very dependent on genre.
Fantasy novels often run much longer than 100,000 words, and even first-time authors can sell long ones. You might do equally well in hard sf. A technothriller can run long, but that would be more difficult for someone new. It’s much harder for anybody to get away with a 200,000 word romance or mystery.
If you’re writing to a genre “formula,” read other books in that genre and do what they do.
Mainstream fiction can run very long as well, but if you’re writing a quarter million word literary novel, you’re probably not asking this question but going about your business of being brilliant and breaking all the rules.
I’ve said this many times before about book questions, but it bears repeating. You just can’t ask a question about “a novel” and get good advice. You have to be more specific. The publishing world is sliced into a million segments that have little do with one another.
I’m grateful to have some kind of range to shoot for, and some idea when I’m getting too bloated for my own good.