Word Count

The word count is intimidating. That's a fact. For a fiction novel your book should probably be a minimum of 60,000 words. Wow. That's a lot. Write now my novel is 45,000 words so I'm going back through and I'm thickening the plot and adding more words. I think this will actually improve my novel.

Here are the recommended word counts for various genres.
These are taken from http://www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com/word-count.html

• Short story: any fictional work under 7,500 words
• Novelette: between 7,500 and 17,500 words
• Novella: between 17,500 and 40,000 words
• Novel: anything over 40,000 words

Though a novel is anything about 40,000 words you're going to have much better luck if you make it longer. If you can get your word count up to 70 or 80 thousand without just dragging your story then you're golden!

Writing Tip: It's always easy to take away some of your story than it is to try and write more. When you write your first draft put in everything you can think of, then go back through and take it out later.

Alysa Tarrant