Word Count for the Win

Writing Tips for Writers of All Genres and Expertise

For my first Writing Advice article for Substack, I’ll tackle the idea of word count as this topic is hot right now on the Book of Faces, so I’ll wade in with my two cents of observations as a working writer and as a creative writing instructor.

When we discuss word count, we might be refering to a few different ideas, so I’ll break them down into sections.

Word Count for Rough Drafts

This is often the word count being discussed when authors get into a tizzy. It usually begins with someone simply asking, “How many words should I write in a day?”

And there will be a lot of answers.

And guess what? There is no correct answer.

When it comes to hammering out that first draft, you don’t have to get caught up in the idea of daily word count. Especially if you don’t have a deadline to deliver your manuscript.

For that first draft, you might want to consider going more by time. For instance, “I’m going to write every day for two hours.”

And that’s fine!

Other writers like the challenge of meeting a daily word count. It becomes a game for them.

I’m going to write 1,000 words a day!

And that’s fine as well!

Those of you who participate in NaNoWriMo will definitely be paying attention to daily word count so that you’ll meet the required 50,000 words at the end of the month to win the contest.

And it’s all good!

You may follow famous writers such as Stephen King, who writes a set amount of words a day within a specific timeframe, and then he’s done for the day. And we all know how prolific he can be!

Word counts can keep you consistent and on track.

Word counts can get you into a good writing routine.

Word Counts As a Tool

If you’re the type who enjoys writing sprints, word counts can be a great way to get and stay motivated.

Word counts might be a good exercise for beginning writers to get over the fear of self-judgement and blank pages. For a first draft of anything, just sit down and hammer out those words. Don’t second guess. Don’t self-edit. Just blurt it all out.

There will be lots of time for editing in later drafts.

Also, as you get better at writing, you’ll find those first rough drafts won’t be so unwieldy.

We’ll talk about to outline or not to outline on a different day.

Here’s a tip for new writers who might not realize this:

You don’t have to write your rough drafts in a linear fashion or in the order of the story.

If you want to sit down and hammer out a bunch of words for a scene that’s later in the work, go ahead and do it. This strategy can help with both word count and writer’s block. Don’t get hung up on the order of events; just write.

Word Count Stress

Word counts can be discouraging if you’re having a bad day or week. You might get overwhelmed if you’ve set yourself a word count goal, and then after a few days of life getting in the way of your writing, you realize you’re super far behind on your own word count.

If you’re not rushing for a deadline, I’d highly suggest ignoring the words you’ve fallen behind on and just focusing on starting a new day with a new count. Otherwise, you’re going to give yourself a lot of stress for no reason. You don’t want to rushwrite, grasping at straws and writing inferior prose just to meet a count. You don’t want to slam down a few thousand words to meet an arbitrary count only to realize they are terrible words and need to be removed.

Take a deep breath and begin again.

Start fresh with a new blank page.

Writing is work, yes, but there’s plenty of stuff to worry about without adding in word counts that, at the end of the project, don’t really mean anything.

How Do Those Words Look?

Once you’ve completed your first rough draft of a story or a book, you have something to work with and can begin the next phase of writing; rewriting!

Now the truth about rough draft word counts is revealed if you didn’t already know. Many of those words won’t stay. You may find as you go through your manuscript in a second draft that many of those words can and need to be omitted. There might be extra words you pounded out to meet your daily quota. You may find you have a lot of filler. You may find that you went down the garden path and have to remove entire chapters.

And that’s fine too!

It’s all part of the writing process. Nothing is wasted.

If you have nothing on the page, you have nothing to work with, so you need to have lots of words on the page to keep moving forward with your project.

My point is not to get hung up on word counts, as they won’t mean much by the end of your project. However, some writers love to keep track of their word counts; they make charts, post on Twitter, and more. For some writers, word counts are a game. A challenge they must meet!

Whatever it takes to work on your story or book is fine. There is no right or wrong when it comes to how you create your work.

But please don’t stress out about word counts when you’re working on rough drafts. You are going to be adding and subtracting words a lot which is the point of drafts! Just keep writing!

Word Count for Publishers

For those who might be confused, word count for your own purposes is very different from word count for a publisher.

For people new to the business of writing, it behooves you to study submission calls.

Most publishers/editors have a specific word count range that they desire.

For instance, if you see a call for an anthology, the guidelines might say to submit a story between 1500 to 4000 words. This means that you count the words in your story. If your story is shorter or longer than what the editor/publisher has asked for, then you either tinker with your story to make it fit the word count or move on to another call. There are reasons for word counts, such as how many stories the editor wants in the anthology as well as how they want them to look, budgeting, book size, adding illustrations or not, and so on. Your story is only one small part of a giant puzzle, so make it easy to be included by submitting the proper word count in the proper format.

Novellas range in word count, and you should check the submission guidelines before sending yours in. Some publishers don’t take novellas at all. There are various ideas about how long a novella is; some say from 10,000 words to 55,000 words. But it doesn’t matter what the general public thinks; the truth is in the guidelines. Read the submission guidelines, study them, and then follow them.

Books have word counts as well. When I wrote for Leisure Books, they suggested 80,000 – 110,000 words for a horror novel. Again, the submissions guidelines page is the place to look for how long your manuscript should be for submission.

Romance books might be longer. Fantasy books are usually really long.

You will not make friends begging a publisher or editor to look at your amazing story that falls outside of the submissions guidelines word count. Some publishers have a little wiggle room, but most have set guidelines for a reason.

You’re Not Fooling Anyone

When you submit your story or book, you need to have it formatted as requested. In the old days, a typewritten page was 250 words that were double-spaced. These days, publishers may request single space or other types of formatting for manuscript submissions.

Playing with font size and spacing doesn’t fool anyone. You literally need to count your words for a story and do an approximate word count for a book. For a book, you can count the words on a page and then multiply that word number by the number of pages. Most publishers don’t go by the number on the word program, as it sometimes counts differently than they do.

Submitting a story with tiny font to “fool” the publisher into reading more words than they asked for isn’t fooling anyone. Authors have been doing that trick for decades, and it just looks like you’re an amateur or someone who doesn’t want to follow the rules.

Editors and publishers would prefer to work with writers who follow guidelines. Yes, there are always exceptions for amazing eccentric authors, but those are rare. You want to present your best work and prove that you know how to read and follow directions.

Word Count in Poetry and Other Forms

There are some types of writing that might limit your word count or, more specifically, syllables. Sonnets, haikus, limericks and more have formats that relate to words, syllables, and sounds. If you’re writing in these arenas, study up to make sure you understand the form and are using it correctly.

Does Word Count Matter?

To summarize, word count matters when you’ve polished up your book or story and are ready to submit it to an editor or publisher. Double-check those guidelines and make sure your story is formatted correctly and falls within the stated word count.

When you’re working on your own, it’s up to you to decide if word count matters. It can help you set goals to finish your project, you can treat it like a game, you can be part of NaNoWriMo, and it can feel satisfying to meet your goals on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. If you’re trying to meet a deadline, word count can be a super useful tool. However, if word count stresses you out, then don’t worry about it. It doesn’t have to be a tool in your toolbox.

You will find your attitude may vary from project to project about your own word count goals, and that’s fine as well.

When it comes to writing, there are no real right or wrong ways to work on your drafts. Do the best you can.

Part of writing is rewriting, so your word counts are going to change anyway.

Happy Writing!