Word count
The word count is the number of
Software
Modern
In fiction
Novelist Jane Smiley suggests that length is an important quality of the novel.[2] However, novels can vary tremendously in length; Smiley lists novels as typically being between 100,000 and 175,000 words,[3] while National Novel Writing Month requires its novels to be at least 50,000 words. There are no firm rules: for example, the boundary between a novella and a novel is arbitrary and a literary work may be difficult to categorise.[4] But while the length of a novel is to a large extent up to its writer,[5] lengths may also vary by subgenre; many chapter books for children start at a length of about 16,000 words,[6] and a typical mystery novel might be in the 60,000 to 80,000 word range while a thriller could be well over 100,000 words.[7]
The
Classification | Word count |
---|---|
Novel | 40,000 words or over |
Novella | 17,500 to 39,999 words |
Novelette | 7,500 to 17,499 words |
Short story | up to 7,500 words |
In non-fiction
The acceptable length of an academic
See also
- Flash fiction
- Twitterature
- Word lists by frequency
References
- ^ The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America suggest 6 chars to a word
- ^ Smiley, Jane. 2005. Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, p. 14.
- ^ Smiley, 2005, p. 15.
- ^ Edge, Tom, "Does Size Matter?" The Guardian (UK), Booksblog, Nov. 2, 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2006/nov/02/doessizematter
- New York Times,
A novelist doesn't write to space, of course; 80,000 words, 100,000, it is up to the writer to say when the story is done.
. - ^ Lamb, Nancy, Crafting Stories for Children. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, p. 24
- ^ Thurston, Carol (August 3, 1997), "Agents give writers the book on what's hot and what's not", Austin American-Statesman,
no one wants more than 60-80,000 words in a mystery, 110,000 for a thriller
. - Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Americaas follows:
- ISBN 978-1-4039-1191-9.
Sources
- DeRocher, James E.; Miron, Murray S.; Patten, Sam M.; Pratt, Charles C. (1973), The Counting of Words: A Review of the History, Techniques and Theory of Word Counts with Annotated Bibliography (PDF), Syracuse University Research Corporation, p. 302, ED098814.
- Rothman, Chuck (2005), Word Counts: What Is a Word?, Science Fiction Writers of America. An article on various word count methods in fiction publishing.
- Michaels, Melisa (2005), Focusing on the Wrong Things, Science Fiction Writers of America, archived from the originalon April 17, 2009 An article on the relative importance of various word count methods in fiction publishing.