Dec 11 2008
Novel Ideas: Setting a Goal Length
I’ve nearly reached the 35 000 word mark writing my novel. This is approximately one-third the desired length of my first draft.
Tripling this word count would take me to 105 000. Because I wish the finished product to be between 80 000 and 100 000 words in length, I think I’m on the right track.
When it comes to a first draft, it’s necessary to write more than you intend to keep. Much of the first draft will be deleted during the editing process as you endeavour to improve the quality of your language and clarity of your plot. Recently I revised a short story I wrote over a year ago, and edited out nearly a quarter of the length!
The great part is that I have enough words to fill one-third of a novel, but I feel I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg. This makes me confident that my plot is meaty enough to be novel-length.
After you’ve done some outlining (anywhere from basic to detailed), set a word count goal range based on the desired length of your final draft. Then add at least 10 000 words to that range for your first draft.
Although you can change your goal at any time, setting a word count range has more to do with pacing your story appropriately than with length. If you wish your novel to be about 350 pages long, but you’ve told your entire storyline in the first 100 pages of your draft, you have a pacing problem, or a plot that’s too thin.
I tend to write a substantial first draft, and then ADD to it extraordinarily in my first revision. My first draft was about 80,000 words, my second 128,000. But then I trim it down again, tightening, tightening, tightening, until it says what it does without extra crap that weighs it all down.
Shakespeare:
That’s a good system as well. I think as long as you have a goal in mind and a system in place, anything will work. And you’re right, there’s always so much to trim away at the end that doesn’t need to be there. Thanks for commenting!