gettin published??
Tue, 2005-03-08 19:50
#1
gettin published??
Weeeell...I started a book a while back...maybe last year I think...and I'm hoping to turn it into a good sized novel eventually, and I was wondering if you guys could give me like a number of words that would be your standard novel...
I also need like some pointers, if you would, on plot development. I've been having some real trouble with actually connecting my beginning with my end...usually what I do is just keep writing and most come up with stuff as I go, but the problem that I'm having is straying from the main point of the story, which keeps the beginning and end linked. If you would, just give me like anything that you can. Maybe personal experience with writing novels and such, and maybe some advice. That'd be pretty cool =)
-Raven-
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just living
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Foxy
All the advice that I've read from various sources, states that eighty-five thousand words is the preferred word count by publishers. It's got something to do with cost efficiency when printing the book apparently.
Also, the word count is calculated at 250 words per page (I think) for each full page of text and 125 words for each partial page using a uniform font such as Courier at 12 points. So don't rely on your word processor's word count tool to calculate the total.
If I am wrong about any of the above I'm sure one of the more experienced members will correct me.
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Cam F
"Also, the word count is calculated at 250 words per page (I think) for each full page of text and 125 words for each partial page using a uniform font such as Courier at 12 points. So don't rely on your word processor's word count tool to calculate the total."
Sorry Foxy but am I missing how word is totaling the number of words in my novel?
Yes if you are going by pages then of course there is a huge difference depending on the layout of your word processor when you are writing, but the word count seems about right to me.
Juice i'd say aim for near 100,000 words for your novel as you will likely cut out a whole bunch in the editing process.
Good Luck!
Foxy
Hi Cam F
On the word count thing, I was just repeating advice I'd read on the BBC Writer's Room web site. I have read similar advice elsewhere in other publications but I found the BBC's explanation the easiest to understand.
It states that in publishing terms one 'word' equals six characters including punctuation and spaces and that each line must allow for 60 characters, which, apparently, assumes an average of 10 words to a line. Multiply this by 25 lines to a page and you end up with 250 words per page. All partial pages are counted as 125 words except for a new chapter page (where the chapter number should be a third of the way down the page) which are counted as 250 words. The editor then counts pages to calculate the word count and rounds up to the nearest 1000 words.
It all sounds a bit archaic to me and I'm guessing that it has it's roots in the printing industry, but it's the method that I am going to use when I finally stop wrestling with my synopsis and actually send my novel out to agents. Being an unpublished, unknown writer I want to maximise my chances of being taken seriously by potential agents and editors and one way to do this, I feel, is to conform to industry standards. Once I'm established though, it'll be a different story; I'll be sending out manuscripts with hexadecimal word counts and the page numbers in binary.
If you'd like to read the article that contains the information just look here:
Pat
Mike Coombes
Foxy is perfectly correct on word count - 250 words per page.
If you're having trouble connecting the front to the back of the novel, maybe you have the wrong end?