Keep It Short or Not
Although I am a writer and have been for many years, I spend much of my time editing manuscripts for other writers. So many times my clients tell me they "need" to add 10,000 or 30,000 words. Or 2973 words! Why? What does the word count matter if the story is complete and the manuscript is polished?
Unfortunately, word count does matter to literary agents and publishing houses. Many will only accept for review manuscripts that meet certain length requirements. This means authors are shaping their stories to fulfill the current size guidelines.
I think this is a shame. Your story is your story and should take up the space it needs and deserves. A novel is a novel if it tells a complete story, has depth of character, and sweeps the reader along for a full ride. That ride may only take a reader a single afternoon, or it can last for months. There are great stories that fill thick volumes, others that fill only a hundred pages.
To share an example, I edited a manuscript for a client who has written an engaging story about a man who faced and surmounted some difficult odds. It's a story of triumph of will. The manuscript was well written and together we edited and polished it until it shone.
Then my client attended a writers conference where he met with two literary agents. Both told him the manuscript was too short and would need to be 100,000 words. He returned with his hopes for publication crushed. His choices appeared to be to write a new book, expand his story with fluff, or give up.
I have gently suggested trying elsewhere first. He could show his manuscript to the agents and small presses that do not require such a large word count. However, his passion for the work has been squelched. He is inexperienced and does not understand how you have to pound on a lot of doors before one opens.
Some of my favorite novels are short. The Great Gatsby. The Postman Only Rings Twice. The Old Man and the Sea. Animal Farm. The Outsiders. The Giver. Would these books be published today by the big American publishing houses? Probably not. Would we have missed out on some of the best literature ever written? I think so.
Unfortunately, word count does matter to literary agents and publishing houses. Many will only accept for review manuscripts that meet certain length requirements. This means authors are shaping their stories to fulfill the current size guidelines.
I think this is a shame. Your story is your story and should take up the space it needs and deserves. A novel is a novel if it tells a complete story, has depth of character, and sweeps the reader along for a full ride. That ride may only take a reader a single afternoon, or it can last for months. There are great stories that fill thick volumes, others that fill only a hundred pages.
To share an example, I edited a manuscript for a client who has written an engaging story about a man who faced and surmounted some difficult odds. It's a story of triumph of will. The manuscript was well written and together we edited and polished it until it shone.
Then my client attended a writers conference where he met with two literary agents. Both told him the manuscript was too short and would need to be 100,000 words. He returned with his hopes for publication crushed. His choices appeared to be to write a new book, expand his story with fluff, or give up.
I have gently suggested trying elsewhere first. He could show his manuscript to the agents and small presses that do not require such a large word count. However, his passion for the work has been squelched. He is inexperienced and does not understand how you have to pound on a lot of doors before one opens.
Some of my favorite novels are short. The Great Gatsby. The Postman Only Rings Twice. The Old Man and the Sea. Animal Farm. The Outsiders. The Giver. Would these books be published today by the big American publishing houses? Probably not. Would we have missed out on some of the best literature ever written? I think so.
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Thanks for the reminder. We gotta believe, we gotta believe, we just gotta believe.