How long is too long for a Novel

Lady Akkia · Mar 13, 2010

I have been curently working on a story for some time now and was curious on how long Novels usually are. I have been working on this story for a very long time. As of right now my word count is 53108. My story is only halfway done as well.
Is this to long for a novel? I mean I know that Novels can be long but I just don't want to over do it. As of now I was thinking about spliting it up into two books and I've also got a layout of the third book. I don't know if it'll be a trilogy or maybe longer as of yet though. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
- Lady Akkia
Apprentice Scribe

Danthia · Mar 13, 2010

It varies by genre, but most traditional adult novels run between 80,000 and 100,000 words. Some genres go as low as 60,000 (like cozy mysteries) and as high as 140,000 (historical and fantasy). YA novels fall in the 50,000 to 80,000 range.

First-time authors are advised to stick to the lower end (under 100,000) when possible. Fewer agents and editors take a risk on a big book with an unproven author.

There is wiggle room in these ranges, typically 20% higher or lower.

kuwisdelu · Mar 13, 2010

If you're at 53k and about half done, you're likely to be fine. Be aware, if you end up over 100k, you'll probably end up cutting and editing it down a few thousand words, but that happens to many, many people, and not something to be worried about until you get there. Keep writing; you should be fine.

Lady Akkia · Mar 13, 2010

Thank you both for your great advice and I'm really glad I haven't gotten long winded <^.^>
I did think that when I did the final editing I'd propably cut some out. In my begining editing I had already cut out a bit in the start of the story and put in a prolouge.

blacbird · Mar 13, 2010

As an aside, and the kind of thing you need to be careful about in your manuscript, the word you want is "too long", not "to". Too many errors of that sort in your manuscript and it won't matter how long it is.

Further, in rough draft, your 53,108 almost certainly will need trimmed down to something considerably less, say, maybe 40,000. Rough drafts inevitably contain redundancies, superfluities and fluff of one kind and another. Don't expect your first draft to be anything like perfect, or acceptable for publication. That's just the way it works, for almost everybody.

caw

Margarita Skies · Mar 13, 2010

My novels are always +140,000 words.

dpaterso · Mar 13, 2010

blacbird said:
As an aside, and the kind of thing you need to be careful about in your manuscript, the word you want is "too long", not "to". Too many errors of that sort in your manuscript and it won't matter how long it is.

Absolutely. Tho' moderators often rename typo'd threads in passing, as it's easy to make a mistake when typing the subject line due to small font.

-Derek

blacbird · Mar 13, 2010

dpaterso said:
Absolutely. Tho' moderators often rename typo'd threads in passing, as it's easy to make a mistake when typing the subject line due to small font.

I wouldn't have mentioned it, except the same error occurs in the post, indicating that it probably wasn't a simple typo.

caw

shaldna · Mar 14, 2010

agh, small italics are really hard to read. Just saying.

In terms of the length though, it depends on age range and genre. For a YA you would be looking at the 50-80k mark, for an adut novel around the 80-100k mark, fantasy and some sci fi and some family sagas can run on towards 150k

Lady Akkia · Mar 14, 2010

Thank you again everyone for all the advice I really appreciate it. I'm glad to see that the normal count seems to be much higher then what it is now. I'm aiming my novel towards more adults but young adults may be interested in it as well. I try to keep my scenes pg13 atleast for now until it's done and I've done my final editing.

job · Mar 14, 2010

Lady Akkia said:
Thank you again everyone for all the advice I really appreciate it. I'm glad to see that the normal count seems to be much higher then what it is now. I'm aiming my novel towards more adults but young adults may be interested in it as well. I try to keep my scenes pg13 atleast for now until it's done and I've done my final editing.

I wear big thick glasses. I haven't had my second cup of coffee.

Please.

Default print settings. Black print. 12 point typeface.

Please. I want to read what you have to say. Have mercy.

Greeble · Mar 15, 2010

I'd draw the line at 1000000 words.

shaldna · Mar 15, 2010

Greeble said:
I'd draw the line at 1000000 words.

I draw the line where the story ends and worry about word counts afterwards

Phaeal · Mar 15, 2010

Yes, the first draft is not the time to worry about word count. It's the time to stay loose, explore, throw everything into the pot. I typically cut 25-40% between first and final drafts, even when adding incidents.

How long is too long for a Novel

Lady Akkia

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Lady Akkia

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Lady Akkia

job

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