1. FireWater

    FireWater Senior Member

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    What should this story's target word count range be?

    Discussion in 'Genre Discussions' started by FireWater, Aug 8, 2016.

    What general word count range should I best shoot for in terms of the novel described at this thread?
    https://www.writingforums.org/threads/what-kind-of-internal-catalyst-would-change-this-hopeless-losers-mindset.147686/

    It's I guess "women's fiction" but not romance-focused, nothing supernatural, set in contemporary times, and the focus is about a character's internal growth of creating a life upward from her bottom-of-the-barrel hell.

    I haven't started this yet as I'm finishing my current WIP first, but I'm seeing this as a ~50,000 word story. But is that too short?
     
  2. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    What are your aims? Traditional or self-publishing?
     
  3. FireWater

    FireWater Senior Member

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    Traditional.
     
  4. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    I'm no expert, but I reckon round about 70,000 - 100,000 is the golden area for novel length. This is only my opinion and not based on any facts.
     
  5. FireWater

    FireWater Senior Member

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    I know normally 100K is the range for sci-fi, dystopian or fantasies, which is generally what I prefer to write. But I figured that since this is a simpler contemporary, it would be shorter. Maybe 50K is too short, but the 70K range would be more likely than the 100K for this type of novel I'd think.

    So I'll shoot for 70K...thanks! :)
     
  6. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    70k is a little low for the kind of book you describe. I'd go 80-90k.
     
  7. FireWater

    FireWater Senior Member

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    Really? Ok. Does 85,000 sound about right then?

    Also, what would I categorize it as in query letters?
     
  8. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    85,000 would be fine.

    Difficult to tell from a few hundred words but it sounds like women's fiction, or maybe general fiction. I'm not familiar enough with women's fiction tropes/requirements to say. It doesn't sound literary and I don't think it fits any other genre categories.
     

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