I’m a writer. I don’t do math.
That’s my mantra — and I stuck to it. Until … I ran into two little words: word count.
Stay in the writing world long enough, say longer than 24 hours, and you’re gonna run into those two little words too.
Word count, like jeans, comes in all shapes and sizes. You’ve got non-fiction word counts for blogs. Magazine articles. E-zines. Devotionals. And then you have word counts for books, both fiction and nonfiction – everything from novellas to self-help to sagas the size of Gone with the Wind (960 pages in paperback).
Just what are the basics when it comes to word counts? It depends. Really. It depends on the publisher. But there are some ballpark figures — and that’s what I’m going to share with you today.
NON-FICTION
Blogs: 300 to 500 words (And, yes, I know some people will say you can write more. Go ahead. But I guarantee you the vast majority of people skim blogs that are longer than 500 words.)
Magazine articles (both print and digital): 100 to 2,000 words. (Having edited a magazine for four years, I can tell you that magazine articles are getting shorter, not longer.)
Devotionals: 150 to 400 words
FICTION
Hint: If you’re wondering about the word count for your work-in-progress (WIP) and you’re submitting to a particular publishing house, check that publisher’s writing guidelines.
Novellas: Under 50k
Romance: 85k to 100k
Mysteries & Thrillers: 90k to 100k
Literary fiction: As high as 120k
Science fiction & Fantasy: 100k
(I found these numbers on an excellent post, “The importance of knowing your story length,” over at the Write Strong blog.)
Remember: These numbers are ballpark figures to give you an idea of what you’re shooting for when you’re writing. While you can’t totally ignore word count, don’t let word count control your writing life either. Write your story. Just remember, there is some math to your madness.
Beth, Special Teams Blogger
MBT’s Skills Coach, Beth K. Vogt provides her readers with a happily ever after woven through with humor, reality, and God’s lavish grace. Her debut novel, Wish You Were Here, will be published in May 2012 by Howard Books. She’s also written Baby Changes verything: Embracing and Preparing for Motherhood after 35 for Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) International and is a consulting editor for their magazine, MomSense, and a bimonthly columnist for MOMSnext, an e-zine for moms of school-age children.