Another Word on Word Count

[cathschaffstump]

Courtesy of Jay Lake's Link Salad, I give you a very good journal entry by Caren Johnson on word count.

I have a few things to say about this, but I'll keep it concise, because, you know, word count.

1. Do what they tell you for the first book. You can be all special later, when and if they let you. Your goal is to break in.

2. Caren says, "I think writers with those long sprawling manuscripts should rethink their word count. Look at the writers you admire and those who you'd like to compare your work to (another reason why I ask who your contemporaries are; those who don't know better start reading to find out). Are their books longer or shorter than yours? Are you making yours longer because its essential to tell your story or because you're trying to match their writing style? Think about all this before you submit that 100,000 plus word manuscript to more agents. It could be the difference between getting an offer or representation vs hearing that your story took too long to grab them or sagged during the middle and that's why they're passing on your book."

Food for thought. I am always on the other end of the spectrum. My initial manuscripts are short, and I usually plump them up with more details that are essential to the story. I envy those of you with words to spare.

***
Catherine

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.