How long should a good fantasy be?

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dclary

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I'm rewriting a fantasy novel, and it will not be nearly as long as my first draft, but it will be tons better, not so twisted and everything. How long should a good fantasy novel be?

As long as it takes. Plus about 1000 words to give your editor to cut so she feels she accomplished something.
 

thothguard51

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As Dclary said, as long as it takes. The story word count ends when the story is finished and not a word sooner.

Now, for fantasy fiction, most publishers prefer longer than shorter, 90,000-120,000, or longer. I guess this is because most fantasy fiction is along the nature of a journey of one sort or another. A first draft for me is alway longer because I throw everything end that comes to mind, (within reason of the storyline), and then edit out as needed. I have cuts lots of chapters that were good, but was just fluff from the author...me.

Good luck.
 

Canotila

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If it turns out to not be long enough, look for elements you can flesh out into sub plots. Since you're planning to write several books, this will also give you more toys to play with as things move forward.
 

Parametric

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Isn't your novel a YA fantasy, Forest? Because that affects the desired wordcount a lot.
 
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