Jun 16, 2011

Wannabe Writers #54 (Word Count)

Wannabe Writers is my Internet writing group. Anyone is welcome to join. It's a place to meet other writers, ask questions, and get feedback. Basically, my posts are about my current writing progress, my problems, and any questions I need help answering. If you've created a similar post of your own lately, feel free to link in the comments.

Where I am in the writing process: Unpublished! And still currently speed-writing through the first draft of the novel I'm calling ELIXIR.  I reached 48K this week.  I feel the momentum starting to fade.  Not good.  I'm trying to keep up the pace to keep myself from editting like crazy (which is probably my greatest weakness!) but it's getting tougher and tougher as I start to doubt myself with more and more words under me. 
My current problem(s): Length.  My goal is 60k.  So I'm speed writing my little heart out, right, and I'm wondering how long your typical YA novel is.  I guess you have variations depending on the novel and the author, but to be honest I think 90% of YA is too long.  I guess I prefer stuff shorter and too the point without all the added fluff.  I don't care for too much detail in writing no matter how talented the writer is. 

My question(s) this week: Length?  How long do you like your YA novels to be?

5 comments:

Miranda Hardy said...

I'm glad you mentionee "fluff" in your post. I've been writing, and will have around 60,000 words, too. I didn't add "fluff". I stuck to the action and sped it right along. Now, when I edit, I intend to bring forth excellent description, but I don't want it to be filler junk.

I think between 60,000-70,000 is long enought for a YA novel.

Jenny said...

With YA, I prefer them a little shorter. It's nice for when you're not really getting into it to know it's not horribly long or going to waste too much time. But...on the other hand, if it's good...,I could care less how long it is. Sorry, I don't know why I bother, I'm not helping. ;)

sarah darlington said...

No that helps. I'm the same way, but before I get into a novel--when I see a massive novel on the shelf--it's harder for me to want to read it in the first place if it's so long. My sister's the opposite though. She looks for the longer novels. More for her money she says.

Jessica L. Tate said...

I've made a goal of 50k for now on mine, but I'm leaving open the possibility of 55-60k, depending on where my story goes.

Here's my post this week: http://thoughtsatoneinthemorning.blogspot.com/2011/06/booking-through-thursday-6-update.html
I've got a longer answer to your question there. ^_^

Hayley said...

My WIPs tend to be a little longer. My last one came in at just over 90k, but needed some cutting (it has since been put aside for a while. My current WIP will probably be around 60 or 70k).

Word count depends so much on genre, though. A YA contemp will be shorter, but YA fantasy tends to be longer (partially because there must be some worldbuilding and because, in my experience, they tend to be plot-driven and have a gazillion more plot threads than your typical contemp). But it really depends so much on the individual book...certainly, authors of every genre should avoid fluff.