Getting to The End, Part 1
Most writers measure their daily progress either by page count or word count. I seem to be in the minority as a page-counter, based on an unscientific survey of authors who brag/moan about that day's accomplishments on their blogs.Counting pages is less precise than counting words--after all, should a half-page at the end of a chapter really have the same weight as a full page? What about a page of dialogue versus a page of description?
No! the word-counters cry. That's cheating! Get back to work before I rap your knuckles!
To which I say, it's a novel, not the SATs. Assuming you're not plagiarizing (and who would have the stones to plagiarize a novel? hee hee), there's no such thing as cheating. As long as you get the job done in the end, who cares how you do it?
Besides, once you reach a certain point in the manuscript, you're just trying to finish the story. It's only at the beginning when the discipline of a page/word count is needed.
Doing a word count involves math, and the obsessive use of the Word Count feature (Alt-F, I, Statistics tab), whereas a page count involves glancing at the number at the bottom of the screen. Anything that can streamline the process for me gets my vote. I know that in the end, if the manuscript is between 500 and 650 double-spaced pages, it's the right length for most publishers.
That's about 100K-125K words, by the way. In case anyone's interested, I try to reduce the size by about 10% from the first draft to the final. Eyes of Crow went from 124K to 112K. Bad Company went from 108K to, uh, 107.5K. (I had to add a few scenes to develop a subplot.)
Big caveat: I discovered last year that focusing on the daily volume of writing, rather than the story itself, can lead to time-chomping pitfalls. So I've come up with a third way. I hope it works.
Stay tuned tomorrow.
Labels: Voice of Crow
8 Comments:
-Catie
Posted by:
CE Murphy at 5/10/2006 1:12 PM
I can't remember who said it was cheating to do pages instead of words. Maybe it was just the evil taskmaster superego in my head. I just tried Googling "word count versus page count cheating" and found nothing.
I also found that word count is calculated at 250 words/page, not 200. But my current WIP is 50 pages and about 10K, according to the computer's word count, which I know is different than what publishers use. But still, why would it be off by 25%?
I really should write shorter books. But I loves my subplots.
And my verification word is nearly a novel in itself.
Posted by:
Jeri at 5/10/2006 1:34 PM
Okay. Now I am going to check out how many pages I actually have.
And does it matter if you're using Courier or Times?
I just think Courier is ugly. Hate it.
Posted by:
moonhart at 5/10/2006 3:30 PM
Many genre books, including mysteries and category romances, fall between 65K and 80K. To me as a writer, that seems luxuriously short, BUT it can actually be tougher to write a shorter novel than a longer one. The plot has to be ultra-streamlined, like in a movie.
Posted by:
Jeri at 5/10/2006 3:31 PM
Funny, while you were posting that comment, I was posting the Rothman article in my own comment. He explains that there is a difference between Times and Courier in terms of word count, because Times is a proportional font and Courier is fixed-width (i.e., every letter takes up the same amount of space). He explains it better than I do.
I used to hate Courier, too. I would write my mss in Times Roman, single spaced, with a break between paragraphs. Then when I was ready to submit I had to change the formatting. Finally I decided it wasn't worth the pain. Now I write in Courier, double-spaced, even for the first draft.
Posted by:
Jeri at 5/10/2006 3:35 PM
I swear I get chills.
;)
Posted by:
moonhart at 5/10/2006 3:36 PM
Double-spaced, right? 'Cuz if it's 455 pages single-spaced, you have yourself a duology.
Posted by:
Jeri at 5/10/2006 4:07 PM
Yippeeee!!!
See? Exclamation points.
;)
moon
Posted by:
moonhart at 5/11/2006 10:28 AM
Post a Comment