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Word count - anybody published?

hoop

New Member
Hello - I've nearly finished my first ever BIG story :eek: It's around 40 grand in length, but I've heard that publishers usually go for 75+ from unpublished authors - should I be shoehorning a sub-plot in here? I don't mind doing it, and reckon I could pull it off without it being obvious, but y'know... the extra work. I was pretty hyped about finishing this novel off in <2 weeks...

Cheers
 
A novel for teenagers, for example, is best around 50k. Some publishers of adult novels specifically require 100k.

But what I'm more concerned about is that you wrote your novel in two weeks. That isn't nearly enough time to develop a story. You talk about the possibility of shoehorning a subplot, but what you should do instead is give the story you have much more time, more room to breathe. I think you will find that the story expands to a better length naturally. Editors are too good at detecting shoehorned subplots.
 
Mari said:
But what I'm more concerned about is that you wrote your novel in two weeks. That isn't nearly enough time to develop a story.
I think you're right. It took me aroung three months to write/polish/re-read/re-polish it before I was satisfied with it. Then one month of toeing ond froing between my 'friend' editor.
 
Yo, although I wrote the novel itself in 2 weeks, I consider that as 10% of the work being done - I'm at my best during the editing phase. That's why I was so quick with the first draft - which, for me, is basically a list of cool ideas and characters linked together with unconvincing dialogue. I wanted it out of the way quickly so I could sit down with a big pile of paper and a nice red pen over Christmas, polishing up the writing until it shines. That, for me, is the real pleasure of writing.

FWIW I wrote 10k a day on Sundays, and 5-6k a day on workdays. I spent all day at work dreaming about the story, letting it grow in my head, so I don't think it's rushed, so much as hauled out of my head before I had time to think about it too much and get carried away with thoughts of self-doubt.

I shall take the advice of the comments so far though, and bung in another 30k words somewhere. I've got a feeling that the falling in love (cheeeeeeeez) isn't so convincing, so maybe I could do something there. 40k looked a bit thin. You know how with some books, when you think about them, you sum them up by thinking of a typical scene that may not actually be in them? For example, 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King would conjure up images of Ben and Susan talking in a back garden, or Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco would be a bunch of monks eating dinner during a dusky, far-off night? Well, I don't think my book has any 'archetypical scenes.' It just goes from situation to situation, which are all quite different. Maybe I need to bring that in somwhere.

Apologies for the tangent-filled post! This is what happens when your fingers are itching for a keyboard and you've been stuck washing pots all day in a sandwhich shop:eek:

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
 
You might want to do a little more research. Adding detail will increase the word count and add verisimilitude. You could also start the story earlier: turn it into a story of three generations of a family instead of just one character. You can also try adding scenes from minor character's POV. All of them might be better than forcing a sub plot.

hoop said:
I've got a feeling that the falling in love (cheeeeeeeez) isn't so
convincing, so maybe I could do something there.

A love triangle almost always "works."
 
Mari said:
But what I'm more concerned about is that you wrote your novel in two weeks. That isn't nearly enough time to develop a story.

Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" was written in three weeks, so it can be done. Then again, I hate "On the Road", so maybe that's not such a good example.

I agree that Hoop should be wary about shoehorning in subplots. Subplots aren't just ornaments, they need to be essential to the story's progression. If the story can stand on its own without extra material, then perhaps it should stay as a novella. The downside is this would make it less publishable, but then so would dodgy subplotting.
 
This is all very true. I think 'shoehorning' was probably too much of a throw-away term - I introduced plenty of characters fairly early on, but left them behind as the story focused on other things. I tied them up with writing that is probably a little too convenient. I reckon I could open one of them back up and weave them in and out of the narrative, see what they do.
 
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