Why You Should Plan Your Word Count
Planning your word count.
Exciting, right?
Yeah, I know. It’ not as exciting as beat sheets, or as serious as story outlines, but word count planning can work magic for your current writing project.
I’ve seen it happen.
Stick with me here…
Why Plan Your Word Count?
Reason #1… Your Big-Picture Publishing Goals.
Did you know that every genre has an acceptable word count range?
It’s based on things like reader expectations (or tolerance, as it were) on length, book sales, and even the price of paper.
And it can mean the difference between your book getting published, or languishing indefinitely on your desktop.
When you get the word count wrong, it can be a sign (fairly or unfairly) to agents and editors that you don’t understand the business of books. Bloated word counts signal that you haven’t learned to edit yourself yet. Anemic word counts, that you haven’t learned to fully flesh out a story yet.
By planning your word count, you’re being realistic about how long, or how short, your book will be, based on the marketplace.
Reason #2: The Power of Creative Constraints
When you plan your word count, you are applying a creative constraint - a choice that establishes boundaries for your project and for yourself.
You could write on and on and on… there’s nothing stopping you. But that can, and often does, lead to wandering, unfocused stories and frustrated writers unable to see their story forest for the trees.
Boundarylessness (is that word?? I going to say it is…) can also be overwhelming, even crushing, triggering writer’s block as you face that endless stream of blank pages Microsoft Word so kindly offers you.
Word count planning helps you put a limit on your project, which in turn helps you to keep it focused. (Read more about the power of creative constraints in my October Substack post - Writing in Blue: Five Things Writers Can Learn From Visual Artists)
Think of word count planning as making a frame to hold your story.
It can help you track your manuscript as you draft, by keeping you on pace with your story. It can also help you in revision, by helping you “see” the shape of your story and find where it’s bloated and where it’s coming up short.
This is the method I use when I’m in the planning stages of a new project. Once I have my word count plan, I use it to keep me on track. Or to get myself back on track, if I’ve lost control of my story. (It happens to everyone...)
Step 1: Know Your Word Count Range Learn the acceptable word count range for your genre. I like this source for researching genre word counts.
Step 2: Pick a Word Count Limit Let’s say you’re writing a contemporary novel, which has a word count range of 70,000-90,000. Pick a number to aim for - for example’s sake, we’ll say 80,000 words. This will give you some wriggle room either way as you draft.
Step 3: Break It Down Next, break those 80,000 word down by act. A general guideline here is, Act 1 is usually around 20% of the story, Act 2 is about 60%, and Act 3 is about 20%.
That means Act 1 will be around 16,000 words, Act 2 will be about 48,000 words, and Act 3 will be about 16,000 words.
Remember - these are just guidelines, not hard and fast rules! Act 1 might run a little longer, with Act 3 running a little shorter. Or vice versa. Every story is different. The point here is to use these guidelines in the planning stages to help us begin to build the flexible frame of our story, not a rigid framework we must adhere to. Hold it loosely.
Step 4: Break It Down Again The average chapter is chapter is about 2000 words. Any shorter, and the chapter will feel quick. Longer, and the chapter will feel long. Again, just a guideline, not a rule.
If Act 1 is about 16,000 words, that means it’ll have about 8 chapters. Act 2 will have about 24 chapters, and Act 3 will have about 8 chapters.
Again, every story is different. You may write in quick scenes and short chapters. Or you might write long chapters with multiple scene breaks. The point isn’t to create a rigid number you have to hit. It’s to keep building the frame for your story, finding its edges. Take your own style into account here.
Step 5: Use This Frame To Track Your Story
If you’re working on Act 1, and your word count is at 30,000 instead of 16,000, then you’re likely overwriting that act (and on track for a 150,000 word manuscript, instead of 80,000!) If your Act 1 is only 8,000 words, then you may be underwriting it. Either way, it’s a sign that Act 1 likely needs more development work to get it on solid ground.
It’s unlikely that, in the end, your draft is a perfect 80,000 words - and that’s okay! As long as you’re landing in the acceptable word count range for your genre, you’re good.
Again, the point here isn’t to create a rigid framework you must adhere to. Hold this story frame loosely, be willing to make adjustments. Be open to the discoveries, insights, and surprises that come with drafting, while also being thoughtful of the boundaries of your story.
Till next time…
Happy Writing,
Erin
