Comments on: Length

By: Wanda B. Ontheshelves

Wanda B. Ontheshelves — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:10:53 +0000

Set it aside. Let it cool, become something separate from you. “Oh that. I’d almost forgotten about it.” Come back to it, after you’d gotten sufficient sleep. Remember all the reasons (feelings, inspiration, intuition) that motivated you to write it in the first place. Then pretend you’re a sculptor, hacking away at the excess, bit by bit revealing the true shape locked within. Ponder whether this is something Michelangelo said, and get the urge to google it. Resist the urge. Resist the urge to call a friend, to check on the peony to see if the buds are any bigger (of course they are, it just rained), to work on a poem, to paint something, or to buy more $4.99 one-pint paint samples. Then get down to business, a full hour after you’d “started.” Works every time!

By: EEV

EEV — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:16:43 +0000

When I was around my first teen years, the Public Library was a little too far from my home and Mother didn’t like me getting out too often by myself. So, every time I was allowed to go there, I’d choose the fattest book I could find, regardless of genre and etc. I ended up reading many books that perhaps wasn’t the best choice for my age, like Crime and Punishment, The Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon, Lie Down with Lions by Ken Follet and so many others I don’t recall right now. This made me enjoy “big books”, full of details and juicy stories.
When I ran into Lord of the Rings – rejoice! I found what I loved. I read everything in less than a week – Epic Fantasy! Later, when Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell came out, I devoured it in a couple of days (I couldn’t do it at once because I had papers from college to do). So, I guess yes, I do love big books. But nowadays I’ve been reading the normal-length ones, part because that’s what’s fresh on the market, part because, well, I have to write to the market, and consequently, I have to read from my market to get the feel of it.
– EEV

By: Lisa Marie

Lisa Marie — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:40:15 +0000

Books are a lot like movies, to my mind. Even the most compelling movie becomes tedious after a certain length of time — I walked out of the LoTR movies, because my attention span for that particular story was shot. If I have a long book, I know I’m not going to finish it.

I zone out at right around 90,000 words. There are a few exceptions. “Gone With the Wind” was one of the most riveting books I’ve ever read, for example. Nonfiction will generally hold my interest, too. But I find it difficult to engage in a fictional world for too long, especially if the book is extremely complex and laden with scene setting. I want variety, and I can’t get that unless I have more time to spend on other books.

By: Maril Hazlett

Maril Hazlett — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:50:54 +0000

I close my eyes and think of the trees.

Jk. Although… actually, I kind of do. I cultivate an incredibly mean, tree-protecting inner bitch that says Maril – do you really have a really good reason to tell that story in 100,000 words? Could it be better done in a blog, a tweet, an essay, a novella? Who’s your audience, what are you trying to communicate, what’s the best way to take the journey?

And then that censor evaluates every word after.

I’m also a fan of books that are around 75,000 words.

By: JP

JP — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:42:12 +0000

I actually like books around 75,000 words long (like 300 pages, ie: Sisters Red). Long books can be awesome, too, but the plot has to be REALLY driving. Like Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments. All the books in that series have absolutely thrilling plot, and, likewise, the books are quite long.

By: josin

josin — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:39:09 +0000

The novel I just sent out is at 125,000, but that’s after cutting close to 15,000 words, so hopefully there’s not much filler to be found.