Non-threaded

Forums » Writing Workshop » Read Thread

Find proofreaders here, useful resources, and share opinions and advice on story crafting.

Word Count

10 years ago

So I began writing a novel on the 2nd of March, and currently I'm about 4000 words in.  If I continue on a pace of about 1000 words per day, it would take me about 60 days to reach about 60,000 words.  Would that be a decent amount of words to publish?  Keep in mind, that these 60,000 words would not have been edited.

Word Count

10 years ago

An average novel is about 64,000 words. I'd say that's pretty solid then. Thousand words per day is hard to maintain though (Dunno how S. King does 2000)

Word Count

10 years ago

Ah thanks.

Word Count

10 years ago

King treats it like a job, which is pretty important. 

Word Count

10 years ago

He has an office in a barn away from the rest of his family, and also not another job. 

 

Word Count

10 years ago
1000 words a day is really, really impressive.

Word Count

10 years ago
Genre tends to dictate word count for novels. Even for first time authors, a word count of around 100,000 would be reasonable in the fantasy/sci fi/speculative fiction market. Romances tend to be close to 60,000. Shorter horror novels can be around this range, as well as YA fiction.

So it depends on your story really. Keep in mind you'll be doing multiple re-drafts after the first. You can use that opportunity to fill in details you weren't certain of.

Word Count

10 years ago

13,474 is my current word count, and it has taken me over five months to achieve that. If you could do 1,000 words in a day, than that would mean that you could have achieved what I did in 14 days. 0.o

I wish I had that kind of motivation...

Edit: Perhaps the reason why my word count is so low is because more than half of them have more than 5 characters. (including words like 'he, she, the, and, etc')

Word Count

10 years ago
Designate a certain time of day to do your writing, and do it at that time everyday. I'm a slow writer, so it takes me about two hours to hit 1,000 words, but other than the past two days (I've been playing with the editor) I've managed to hit that bar for about two weeks.

Stephen King's biggest tips are really the best (at least in my personal experience).
1) Write alone and without distractions.
2) Avoid the television like the plague.

Word Count

10 years ago

1) Impossible for me. Along with the designated time.

2) Don't have cable anyway.

Word Count

10 years ago
Then I would invest in a pair earplugs. Some people go a little overboard and soundproof their room, but I think earplugs are a much simpler method.

And I think everyone would be surprised at how much time they squander away doing nothing of import. If you keep a daily log of your activities for a few days, you'll see where you can find extra time.

Word Count

10 years ago

They feel funky. They're more of a distraction than my little brother. And complete silence is also makes me restless and unable to focus.

Mostly, I've been doing rps, writing, homework, or doing a drawing for my story when able to get on a computer. Otherwise, I just read.

Word Count

10 years ago

Cut back on the RP, drawing and reading. Then, you will have time. 

Write on friggin' paper if you have to. That's what I do when I'm seperated and feelin' creative. 

Word Count

10 years ago

Put on headphones and listen to music.  It works for me!

Word Count

10 years ago

I never count the words in my stories... May as well. My guess is 1000 to 1250 went into The Chris Parable, while my others most likely have 250 to 500, or 500 to 750.

Word Count

10 years ago
If you type in Word, there is a word count feature.

Word Count

10 years ago

I just type into the editor, I never use anything else when writing my stories.