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Average Word Count

9 years ago

Out of curiosity, what is the average word count of a decently long story?

Average Word Count

9 years ago

I have performed all the science necessary to determine that it takes eons longer to count all the words in decent stories then do the math than it does to stop giving a damn and work on a story with a length that you feel is appropriate.

Average Word Count

9 years ago

That's what Microsoft Word or a word counter or anything is for. Curiosity killed the ghost, as they say (but not the penguin)

Average Word Count

9 years ago
EndMaster posted the word counts for some of his stories on here somewhere a while ago. You may be able to use the search feature to find them. I think Necromancer was in the 60,000-70,000 range.

But our resident penguin is right, worry more about quality writing and you'll be better off in the long run. I mean, it may help to have a ballpark figure of how large you want your story to be and have a typical word range per page, but I don't think that should be a huge concern for a first draft. You can write a good story in only a few thousand words (or few hundred). Snow is a prime example of an amazing story that is short.

Average Word Count

9 years ago

Thank you for a straight answer. Endmasterpieces are quite long as well... I've got a solid 10,000 words and am currently working on my story.

Average Word Count

9 years ago
Did you mean here at CYS specifically, or just in general? You can get the word count of books on Amazon easily. Or, the words in traditional books vary by genre. Then again, if you are just interested in numbers and what to call your work, The Writer's Workshop can give you suggestions.

Average Word Count

9 years ago

I was looking for the average word count on this site.

Average Word Count

9 years ago

That would require everyone keeping track.

Average Word Count

9 years ago

And my question has been answered.

Average Word Count

9 years ago

Depends on how you define a 'decently long story'.

A good story is exactly as long as it needs to be.