Why (and When) Word Counts Matter

​Writers—especially those working on their first books—tend to obsess over word count. Maybe that's because a manuscript's word count is one of its only truly objective elements. Character, plot, style, and voice are all difficult to define, and books change with each reader's response.

But a manuscript that is 82,749 words is exactly that. So it makes sense that writers want to control this aspect that we can control, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Word count is important, especially for writers planning to pursue traditional publication, and understanding word count goals can make the drafting and editing processes more efficient. But sometimes focusing on word count can be a detriment.

Let's discuss why word count is important, how to use your current and projected word count to your advantage, and when word count should be the last thing on your mind.

Setting Your Target Word Count
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​Your ideal word count range is based on your manuscript's audience and genre. Word count expectations for a young adult romance novel are vastly different than those for an adult fantasy book. There are a plethora of resources available to help you determine the ideal word count for your manuscript, and this post is geared more toward helping you understand how to use word count as a tool, rather than defining specific numbers, so I won't go into detail here. Use the links below as a starting point for your research.

• Writer's Digest
• The Write Practice
• LitRejections

Also note that while reviewing the word counts of published books can be helpful, it's not an ideal method for determining the word count for your manuscript, especially for a debut. Depending on the time of publication and the author's notoriety, many published books have word counts well above or below the norms. Always assume you are the rule, not the exception. Yes, you may hook an agent or publisher with a 150,000-word manuscript, but chances are far more likely that agents will turn the manuscript away without reading past the word count. In an already difficult industry, there's no need to create additional hurdles.
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​Why Publishers Care About Word Count
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​Short answer: money.

​The publishing industry has been around for a long time, and at this point, it has a pretty good handle on what sells and what doesn't. As I mentioned before, word count is one of the most easily quantifiable aspects of a book. The numbers are easy to track. So while publishers may not know exactly how readers are going to react to a unique character or plot, they know exactly how readers will react to a book with a six-inch-wide spine.

Publishers will go with the safe bet. In turn, agents know that manuscripts aligning with industry standards are more likely to sell to a publisher.

But what about Stephen King and JK Rowling? They published massive books!

Yes, yes they did. But did they do that at the beginning of their careers? Nope. They began by publishing shorter work, and after they developed a readership and proved to publishers that their books would sell, regardless of length, they earned license to up the ante. Longer books cost more to print, so there's more at stake. If a 200,000-word book doesn't do well, the publisher is out a lot of money. That's not a risk most houses are willing to take on an unknown author.

Of course, these problems don't apply to those who are self-publishing... Well, not exactly. An author who is self-publishing won't run into any issues getting their behemoth on the market. However, after publication, they'll have the same issues traditional publishing houses face. Longer books cost more to print, which means your readers will need to pay more for your book. And this can be even more of a challenge for self-published authors, who don't have the credibility of a publishing house standing behind them. Most readers aren't going to take a risk on an expensive book by someone they've never heard of, so it's in the best interest of self-published authors to also keep their books within industry-standard word count ranges—and therefore within typical price ranges.

Using Word Count During Drafting
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​Focusing on your word count during the drafting stage can be both useful and detrimental, depending on your approach.

Many writers use word count as a progress bar while drafting. Scrivener even generates an actual progress bar based on your current and target word counts. Tracking your word count progress can help you stay motivated, as you hit trackable milestones.

Understanding your target word count is also important to planning. If you expect your book to be 80,000 words and you reach the halfway point with two thirds of your outline still unwritten, you know you need to reassess your plot or prose.

Having clear goals for your word count can also simplify the editing process, especially when combined with an awareness of your writing style. Let's say your ideal word count is 90,000. But you typically cut 10–20% during the editing process. That means you should shoot for a first draft clocking in at 100,000–106,000 words. On the other hand, if you tend to draft with a bare-bones style, you may need to leave room to add words during the revision stage.

The Danger of Word Counts

​When writers ask, "How long should my book be?" they generally receive at least one response to the effect of, "Word count doesn't matter. Just focus on the story." As we have seen, that's not correct. But it's also not wrong, either. Although word count is important when it comes to a book's marketability, as artists our first priority is and must be the story.

So I'll tweak that oft-given advice and say that, although word count should be a consideration, it should not be the first consideration. If stressing about word count is making it difficult for you to write, forget about it! If you reach your target word count in your draft and the story isn't finished, don't try to wrap it up quickly. And if you reach the end of your story 30,000 words earlier than you planned, don't add filler to make up the difference.

That's where editing comes in. You can always fix your word count. You can go back to the drawing board to add and remove scenes. You can adjust your pacing. You can cut fluff and add imagery. Although thinking about word count during the drafting stage can be useful and can certainly make the editing process easier, nothing that pulls your attention from the story is worth worrying about while drafting. Just get it written. Then deal with numbers.

Does Word Count Matter?
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​It's important to understand why word count is important and to have a feel for your manuscript's ideal word count range. But there's a time and a place for everything. Word count is one of the aspects of literature that is far more important to the business of writing than to the art. Most modern writers deal in both, and separating the two becomes a special kind of challenge.

So to answer the big question: Yes, word count matters! But it doesn't matter more than the story.

​Related Articles:

• Editing Basics
• What Is Developmental Editing
• Betas vs. Critiques