Reaching Word Count Limit But Wanting To Write More

If the work is complete, it's complete. I rarely feel the urge to add more to it. That usually comes up as I'm writing--and then I try to find a way to put in what I want without pushing up word count. Sometimes it doesn't work, alas, and then I either cut it, redefine the story, or put the idea I wanted to add into another story.

I always overshoot my word count goal on the first draft. I also trim a lot during revisions, so it all evens out.

Hi, Ken. Do novels have word count requirements that are absolute cut-offs? I understand that short stories have these kinds of limits, but longer works?

I can give a little personal feeling on this since I do sometimes have page limits in my day job writing projects. I just write the thing until it's done, frequently going over the limit. It gives me freedom to really concentrate on "tightening" the writing (usually by eliminating unnecessary words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs). Then, on a full read-through I can see the best places where further cuts can be made. My philosophy is it's much easier (and possibly more logical) to write the project through to its end and then cut it down than to write it short and try to pump it up. The latter is more likely (in my hands) to contain adipose tissue instead of good, lean meat.

With the type of writing I do, I run into word count or page length limits all the time. I deal with it by writing the draft I want to write at first, then tightening words/sentences/paragraphs successively until I meet the specs. That usually works, but there have been times I've had to sacrifice things I considered useful.

It looks like NeuroFizz and I like using the word liposuction machine.

It's possible with a short story, but I wouldn't think that it is a common problem for novels. Most of the time, the word count is a ballpark figure of the lower limit. Going over that is usually a good thing, since it leaves plenty of room to edit and still be happy with the size of the work.