"Old" People Writing for Teens V

[Bookgirl2021]

Wait...we're down to 85k for YA fantasy? Folks over on r/PubTips were saying that 95k - 100k is an optimal target for YA fantasy. I'm screwed!

Best of luck, and keep us posted on the response!

Thanks to the cost of paper, 70-90K is ideal. 90-100K is still passable, but may also increase the chance of passes.

 

[knifeeffect]

Thanks to the cost of paper, 70-90K is ideal. 90-100K is still passable, but may also increase the chance of passes.

Damn. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[KGBwrites]

I just got a partial request! (Insert internal screaming since external screaming would raise a few eyebrows even if it is technically after work and I'm alone in my office.)

 

[Jazz Club]

I just got a partial request! (Insert internal screaming since external screaming would raise a few eyebrows even if it is technically after work and I'm alone in my office.)

Wow, conrats! For Unwelcome Complications or something else?

 

[Sage]

Depends on the publisher & the book.

But I have been hearing suggestions that agents/publishers want shorter books. (Not seeing evidence of it on the shelves)

 

[Sage]

I just got a partial request! (Insert internal screaming since external screaming would raise a few eyebrows even if it is technically after work and I'm alone in my office.)

Congrats!

 

[amlptj]

Wait...we're down to 85k for YA fantasy? Folks over on r/PubTips were saying that 95k - 100k is an optimal target for YA fantasy. I'm screwed!

Best of luck, and keep us posted on the response!

I feel the same way. I literally chose Fantasy because of the higher word count! I cant get a MS under 130K the first draft to save my life. Now I'm at 123k which i know is still too large but I'm waving my white flag for now.

 

[KGBwrites]

Wow, conrats! For Unwelcome Complications or something else?

For something else. I'm not yet querying Unwelcome.

 

[amlptj]

When do you all feel your Query letter, synopsis and MS are ready to query?

Or is it one of those things you never really feel ready about and you just take the plunge anyway?

 

[Sage]

When it feels like any further revisions/critique at the beta/SYW stage would be negligibly better or even counterproductive. Sometimes you just take the plunge.

It also depends on the person. Some will never feel it’s good enough, & some will feel their words were perfect as soon as they were on the page.

 

[Bookgirl2021]

What Sage said.

I went through 10+ drafts of AM before I was ready to query it, but I also definitely fall into the "never feel it's good enough" category. That said, I feel like a couple of my other projects I'll be ready to query a lot sooner--partially because they're starting out in a better place than AM did (like actually being fleshed out plot and characters after the first draft, without a bunch of pesky plot bunnies and their holes).

 

[Zoealea]

Popping in to say "hey!"
I haven't been writing much but want to get back to it, so I thought I'd see if I remembered my old login

 

[Unimportant]

That's IMPRESSIVE. Getting my manuscript from 109k to 106k was already very difficult. Being asked to cut more is kind of my nightmare!

I find it's dead easy to cut 5 - 10% just at the word and phrase level is easy, but trying to cut or combine scenes to make bigger cuts is danged difficult. I'm a can't-see-the-forest-for-the-trees kind of person: way better at line editing than structural. I also have a tendency to overwrite in first drafts, so I generally can cut about 30% after a couple of rounds of line editing.

 

[Sage]

Tightening my prose is my favorite kind of editing, though I’ve been known to do it too much & kill the voice.

I can usually only kill scenes if someone’s pointed out that they’re killable. Still, I tend to write lean, so it’s rare that I’m being asked to shorten a book.

—-

Welcome back, Zoealea!

 

[knifeeffect]

I find it's dead easy to cut 5 - 10% just at the word and phrase level is easy, but trying to cut or combine scenes to make bigger cuts is danged difficult. I'm a can't-see-the-forest-for-the-trees kind of person: way better at line editing than structural. I also have a tendency to overwrite in first drafts, so I generally can cut about 30% after a couple of rounds of line editing.

I'm the exact same way! From first draft to now, I've written roughly double my wordcount in deleted or revised scenes (and that's not counting the 120k+ third of a draft I wrote back in high school...I'm a chronic over-writer).

I actually cut ~1k BEFORE that 109k number through line edits. I've done several structural changes to try and shorten it, but the more I've done, the more I've found that cutting a scene in one place winds up evening out in the end. In my most recent rewrite, I shaved off ~1.5k by removing close to 3k worth of scenes...I was really hoping to remove closer to 2.5k total. T_T

I can usually only kill scenes if someone’s pointed out that they’re killable. Still, I tend to write lean, so it’s rare that I’m being asked to shorten a book.

I definitely lean this way, and I'll usually ask people "can I cut this scene" or "which scenes can I cut" when I give them my stuff to read, but I'm getting desperate, so I decided to cut two scenes that I really loved Now my manuscript is down to 104.9k, which I'm super excited about, since 105k was my initial target!

 

[Bookgirl2021]

Popping in to say "hey!"
I haven't been writing much but want to get back to it, so I thought I'd see if I remembered my old login

ZOE! I saw the avatar and was like, "Wait a minute..." What have you been up to? How's life?

I definitely lean this way, and I'll usually ask people "can I cut this scene" or "which scenes can I cut" when I give them my stuff to read, but I'm getting desperate, so I decided to cut two scenes that I really loved Now my manuscript is down to 104.9k, which I'm super excited about, since 105k was my initial target!

It's always hard to kill our darlings. It's life a piece of me dies every time o have to cut something I really love. But congrats on hitting your target! That's awesome!

 

[amlptj]

Popping in to say "hey!"
I haven't been writing much but want to get back to it, so I thought I'd see if I remembered my old login

Hey Zoe, how have you been!?

 

[Mgellis]

I just found this thread!

Guilty!

I am an old person writing for young people! I don't know why I like writing YA sci-fi adventure and romance--probably something to do with how much anime I watch--but it's what makes me happy.

Currently working on something that will probably end up as a novella. I started with Snow White as the basic plot idea and let it grow from there. (I think by the time it is done, it will be a very different story, but that's okay.)

It's great to meet you all. I'm very glad I found the Absolute Write Water Cooler.

 

[Sage]

Mgellis