Size Matters – Word Count
Dic-tion measuring contests are bad for writers
In which I discuss word count, both as a necessary metric for publishers and as a poor (and even damaging) metric for writers.
Publishers need it
Word count has become the yardstick publishers use to determine how big a story or book is likely to be. It’s not quite as big a deal for e-magazines, websites, and ebooks, but even today, 88% of published writing is printed. Publishers must consider the cost of paper, printing, shipping, and storing. The size of books (and their weight) matters, so publishers need a good way to calculate it. Word count is the best metric for that.1
Writers use it too
Since publishers set submission lengths by word count, writers must keep track of how long their manuscripts are. After all to finish a novel, you need to write a lot of words, right? NaNoWriMo has long posited that 50,000 words counts as a finished novel, but for actual published novels only middle grade books would be that short. Young adult and adult novels are at least 70,000 words and usually 80,000 – 100,000 words.
Writing a novel is a daunting task; even a short one can’t be completed in a couple of sessions, and many take months or even years. With such a hefty project, it’s easy for a writer to lose track of their progress. And without a sense of forward motion, you can feel lost… and alone.
Because writing is a largely solo endeavor. Most of the time, it’s just you and the computer. To combat this, many writers join writing-focused groups, workshops, or online forums. They’re a good way to socialize and connect with other writers, providing much-needed support and connection.
Writers naturally share the progress they’ve made with others. It’s a search for external validation for having moved forward—a way to seek acknowledgement that you’ve done something. And the simplest way is to express progress is through a concrete number like word count. I often see comments like, “I wrote 2000 words today!” or “I had to rewrite an earlier scene so I only got 200 words done!”
Why it’s wrong
When writing progress is boiled down to a number, it’s all too easy to feel demoralized when your number is lower than that of your peers. This is especially true if what you really need in that moment is a little validation, something to give you hope and motivate you. Yes, you did something. Yes, the book will eventually get finished.
As a measure of progress on a book, word count comparisons between writers can be wildly inaccurate. One person’s 2000 words might be another’s 200 words (plus editing). But 200 is a much lower number; it seems pathetic by comparison because “plus editing” can’t be quantified. Repeat such comparisons a few times and it can be demoralizing. It’s all too easy to internalize the idea that word count is the only way to measure progress.
Then, when you’ve been sitting alone at the computer for hours, working on your book, you judge yourself by the few words you’ve added since you started. Even though you know you have been working, it feels like you’ve wasted this time.
But you haven’t! Because, by falling into the trap of measuring your progress by counting words, you’re ignoring all the other work that is an important and required aspect of being a professional writer, such as edits, revisions, worldbuilding, and research. Not to mention any of the business side of writing: submissions, marketing, emails, contracts, publicity, marketing… etcetera etcetera.
I know of zero professional writers who produce publish-ready copy without some editing or revision.
Writers are a diverse lot. Some don’t revise much; others do a ton of drafts. There are pantsers and plotters2, people who write in a flow state and edit later, and others who meticulously edit as they go. But I know of zero professional writers who produce publish-ready copy without some editing or revision.
Case in point. Bestselling writer (and amazing human being) John Green admits that about 90% of the words he writes never see print.
What’s the alternative?
And this is the point in the post where I’m supposed to provide you with my simple and brilliant alternative … and believe me I would… if only I knew of one.
All I can tell you is how I measure progress, but it’s a bit complicated.
TIME – I set aside focus time. Ideally it’s 2 x 90 minutes per day. (And actually spend that time on ‘creative’ writing-related activities – drafting, outlining, researching. Business activities (like querying, contracts, emails, and writing this newsletter) are also important, but they come outside these focus sessions.
COMPONENTS – I break books (and stories) into smaller pieces, and when I complete a piece, I try to pause and give myself credit for it.
Some examples:A character sketch with personality, quirks, background, growth (arc) in the book.
An outline or parts of one, like acts, story beats, or even notes on dramatic moments.
A scene – even a short scene is a critical piece towards the completed book.
Research (and Worldbuilding) – this can be very hard to quantify… and it’s difficult to know when I’ve done enough. It’s important to count it as progress though, which I do by the amount of notes I keep.
Edits – Reviewing draft(s) and making the book better is part of the writing process. I measure my editing progress by:
Critical read through - How much have I’ve read of the manuscript (making notes as I go).
Addressing issues - How many of the notes I’ve fixed/crossed off.
WORD COUNT – Don’t look at me like that… 🤣 I’m including word count, because it can be used for the extremely limited case of writing a first draft - all new words… but only for comparison against your target. It’s never a good measure as a comparison with other writers.
Like I said… my way is a decidedly non-simple. Not a metric really, but more of a diverse amalgamation that is summed up by the philosophy of pausing when something (any part of the work) has been completed, acknowledging that accomplishment, and giving yourself credit for it.
Support other writers in this as well! Writing is hard; help your peers celebrate progress in whatever form they use to express it.
Want more content? Visit jakkoke.com for stories and novel excerpts!
Until next our storylines cross, thanks for reading.
— Jak
Before the advent of word processors and computer software (and even for years afterwards), publishers required manuscripts to be submitted in a standardized format: a mono-spaced font (most often 12-point Courier) with double-spaced paragraphs and one-inch margins.
Rule of thumb was that this formatting meant that each page contained 250 words (25 lines x 10 words per line average). This made it easy work to calculate the total number of “words” by taking the number of pages and dividing by 4, then multiplying by 1000. (A 400-page manuscript = 100,000 words).
Pantsers are writers who don’t outline their story. They draft “by the seat of their pants”… making up the story as they go. Plotters, by contrast, create outlines and plan the beats (or events) of the story in advance, before drafting the book.