Well in my autobiography I'm going to theme it as overcoming my bullies and obstacles to live a better life. It's not just a rant about all my failures and accomplishments, but how I grew as a person. I had made a free sample on combating bullies to see if people would want to read it on Smash Words and it got 116 downloads within a week or so which makes me believe they'd want to read my full autobiography. In fact, that was the reviewer's complaint how my original test autobiography was only four pages. Thanks for the well wishes, I appreciate it. I'm definitely going to focus on one project now have been writing more words.
Hopefully they won't read it and will let people who are interested in it read it. I'm also writing my AB toward people who have a hard time dealing with bullies hopefully influencing them to ignore them, too. I've read about a lot of young teens who turned to suicide and things like that and am wanting to let people now that no one is worth that, especially hate-filled people to end someone's life over.
Dude, writing an entire autobiography as a come-back doesn't really count as "ignoring" the bullies. If you can let this go, I think you'll end up happier than if you keep picking at it.
It's part comeback, but more directed toward people with the same issues as me. I just read an article where a boy was about to bomb and shoot up his school because he was bullied so bad and the officials would do nothing to help him. I'm also reaching out to those who think violence is the answer when it isn't. I got through it and so can they.
I have the same exact issue, and my advice would be to simply write down the idea you have just come up with and dedicate a page to it and to fill in what you plan to do, the characters, etc. (Highly sophisticated advice, I know
I've only written 60k! Is this something that's happened to other people if so what do you do? Cheers, Jim
I wouldn't advocate padding it out as this will be obvious and quite tedious to read. But I often find that my plotting occurs too fast with unbelievable jumps in a character arc that might need some smoothing over. Or that there are sub-plots that are left hanging without a convincing resolution. I would go back and edit it and in so doing try to identify if it all hangs together or is rather emaciated in areas. However, if it works as 60k words then I guess that is its length.
In what genre are you writing? What is your intended market? It's possibly that 60K is a reasonable length. If you have reason to believe 60K is too short, you can read it over and make sure you've given all the necessary detail throughout - some people write short first drafts and add later, others write long first drafts and take away in editing. If you've written all you should for the story you're telling and it's still too short for your intended market, you might want to add a subplot or some other element to the story. Might be a good time to get a beta reader.
I'm with Baywriter - If you're worried about it you could have a beta reader check it out. It could have some pace issues. Or it could be at it's proper length. I don't know if padding works for everyone. Right now I'm fleshing out a short story into a novella and it's working out fine. The good thing is I'm able to introduce characters I only mentioned in passing and flesh out characters that weren't given a lot of time in the first draft.
Thanks for the advice, it's an action thriller and there's quite a parts that could do with expanding on  Bit of a daft question but what's a beta reader?
A Beta reader is a person who reads your finished piece for critique. It's a different step in the process from critiques as you go.
It's a term that gets thrown around a lot here, on the forum, doesn't it? A Beta Reader—at least how I define it—is a person who reads a finished draft of your piece and gives you feedback on it. Many beta readers are people you might know. Friends, family, etc. People who know you've been 'writing' and ask to read your stuff. They don't have to be writers themselves, although it's great if you can get experienced writers, or people who also write, to give you their perspective. But basically, you want to hear what these readers think. And you want them to be totally honest. If there is anything you're not sure about yourself, ask them to keep an eye out for these issues. Ask them to point out anything that confuses or bores them. Ask them to be as specific as they can be about what they think works or doesn't work. Then pay very close attention to what they say. And get as many betas as you can! The wider the input, the more valuable it will be. Keep in mind, you will also want betas to read 'improved' drafts you've worked on after the initial feedback, so do keep a few people in reserve. It's more helpful to get fresh eyes, rather than somebody who has already read your first draft, to get a shot at your second, etc. My feeling is the more betas the better. You'll get a sense of who your target audience actually is. And believe me, this can be surprising! Sometimes the people you think will hate it actually love your story. Some will belt through it in a day or two, and be all excited and want to talk about your characters and what happened in the story. (GREAT reaction, by the way ...these people are your target audience!) And sometimes the people you think will love it actually never get past the first couple of pages. And some will make encouraging noises because they don't want to hurt your feelings. I'd say most betas probably come across as more positive than maybe they feel, so do make allowances for the fact that they are probably trying to be nice. Pay more attention to what they don't like, than what they do! Make sure you let these readers know there will be NO HARD FEELINGS if they don't enjoy your story, or don't manage to finish it. None whatsoever. Everybody likes different things. Even your nearest and dearest might not like your stuff, so don't take their negative reaction personally. And when your betas say things you don't agree with, do try to take their point of view on board anyway. It doesn't mean you need to do what they want, but be aware that your story can have that sort of impact. You might want to consider ways to address their concerns. I've lost count of the beta readers I've had for my novel, which has taken a long time to get to the near-finished state it is now. But without their help, I'd still be a floundering wreck. One final note: along with what @GingerCoffee said, about giving a beta your finished story rather than a work in progress, I'd also add that you should make the draft the best you can before you give it out. Do your own edit. Get rid of mistakes as you see them. Give them something YOU think is finished. Then be prepared to rework large chunks of it. But don't give betas something that's just slapped together. Do a polish on your own first.
Definitely go over and see if there's areas that are thin that can be added to - but added to organically. Padding it out just to get out a certain word count isn't advisable and it really doesn't add anything to the story.
Finished as in finished the first draft or finished the novel with rewrites and edits and all? The first draft of my second novel was 62K but after it came back from the beta readers and I'd fixed the things the pointed out plus the problems I spotted myself, it was 75K. I tend to write lean first drafts and ALWAYS have to add a lot afterwards. I don't see a problem with a novel being 60K though. It'll be a shorter book, but it's still a novel.
When you set out to write a story you should never decide how long it will be. You may guess at a certain length, but ultimately it should be the story itself that decides how long it will be. As others have suggested you can look for things to improve or see if there is something you can add that will give the story more meaning or a new dimension, but don't ever force the story to a certain word count. Forcing it will do more harm than good.
You don't mention where you are in the process. Have you finished the first draft? Done extensive editing? Final draft? A lot of things can change in editing. A good deal of my own editing has been drawing out scenes with greater detail (increasing word count).
There was a book with so big a reputation, I assumed it was some heavy 1,000 page tome. I stayed away from it until... The book was slipped under my door. I reached down and picked it up. Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse. Oh, okay, this isn't so bad. Of the great books I've read, Frank Herbert's Dune would probably be the thickest (at 185,783 words). Siddhartha, (at 39,111 words), is definitely on the thinner end of the bookshelf. Your 60,000 word draft could very well be just fine. (Depending, of course, on whether you gauge it complete). - Dave Olden
Never be tempted to pad a story simply to meet some word target, unless it is a publisher/competition requirement. If after editing you are satisfied that the story is told the way you want, then that's it.
I honestly wouldn't recommend that either. A story is done when it is done, and forcing it to a certain length will most probably harm more than help.
Padding a story just to make it longer is probably a bad idea. However, if you are new to writing, you could be rushing through the story. And, then, if you go back and add relevant details and showed emotion, the story could improve. I tend to rush when I write and I don't even notice at the time. When I read it later, I see places where I should have slowed down or offered some insight. I also find areas where I briefly describe something. Turning that into a scene where the reader instead experiences it would be more powerful.
However, if you are new to writing, you could be rushing through the story. And, then, if you go back and add relevant details and showed emotion, the story could improve. I think that's what's happened, I've not wanted to break the flow of writing and just kept on going. its only when I've stopped that I've thought "oh bugger!" and started to go back through it.
Hi everyone just curious to know how far away you are all from finishing your book/books? I've reached 76,000 on my first draft of my Serial Killer Story, and 34,000 on my Sci Fi Story. Just need to get busy and keep writing Also just a side question here: How did you all come up with the title of your book/books? I have a title for my Sci-Fi but I'm not able to settle on one for my Serial Killer Story. Mostly because everything I like is already either a book or TV or Movie, I want to come up with something short and Unique but yeah a little stuck, so thought I'd ask how you all figured out your titles?
