Benefits of Setting a Target Word Count for Writers

In today's episode, we’re going to talk through four reasons why you should have a target word count for your story. Here's a preview of what's included:

[01:50] Generally speaking, a novel is defined as any story over 40,000 words. But, the average novel is usually somewhere around 80,000-100,000 words.
[02:05] Technically there’s no maximum length for a novel, but there are guidelines you can follow to determine whether your story is the appropriate length, or too long. These guidelines are determined by the genre and the target age range you’re writing for so, it’s always a good idea to know what your genre is and what age range you’re writing for before you land on a target word count.
[03:15] Reason #1: Having a target word count can help you make a realistic writing schedule. You can break your target word count into smaller pieces and then estimate the time it will take to finish those pieces.
[05:15] Reason #2: Having a target word count can help you outline your story. You can break down your target word count into the number of words within each act, the approximate number of scenes within each act, and more.
[07:05] Reason #3: Having a target word count will help you edit your work. And that's because you can use your target word count to figure out approximately how many words you'll need to cut or add. From there, you can make a more realistic plan for editing your draft.
[08:15] Reason #4: Having a target word count will help you when it comes time to publish. If you're planning to traditionally publish, being within your genre's average word count could be the difference between your manuscript being read or not. If you're going the self-publishing route, you'll want to keep story length in mind so that you can budget properly and meet reader's expectations.
[10:00] Key points and episode recap.

Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcasts

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode! Especially because I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. So, click here to subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts!

If you're already a subscriber, and if you enjoy the show, I would be really grateful if you left a review over on Apple Podcasts, too. Those reviews help other writers find my podcast and they’re also super fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the show is. Thanks in advance!

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• Episode Freebie: Average Novel Length by Genre and Age Range PDF Cheat Sheet
• How to Choose the Best Genre for Your Story (article)

Support the show

👉 Looking for a transcript? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, scroll down below the episode player until you see the transcript.