z

Young Writers Society


First serious attempt at a novel...



Random avatar


Gender: None specified
Points: 1211
Reviews: 6
Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:55 pm
Maisie says...



And if I may say so myself, I'm doing pretty well, I have 75% of the first chapter done and I'm planning out the rest as we speak and then putting them in some sort of outline for when I actually sit down and write. I just wanted to ask, do you think 324 pages is a decent sized first-time novel? Because I plan on finishing this one sometime...not soon, but eventually. :)

Thanks in Advance!
- Maisie
8)
  





User avatar
1272 Reviews



Gender: Other
Points: 89625
Reviews: 1272
Tue Dec 21, 2010 11:14 pm
Rosendorn says...



I remember hearing something about the "reasonable" wordcount being 120,000 for a first-time novel. No idea how many pages that translates to, but that's thin enough to not cost a lot printing, which is an important consideration for publication. Printing cost can be astronomical, and that's where most of the cost of a book comes from.

But, really, it's up to an agent/publication house to determine what's "reasonable." When you get closer to finishing the story (page/word counts tend to run away with you as you write, either forward or backwards), start asking around as to what's considered a "good wordcount" for a first-time novel.

Also, don't consider a story "finished" until at least draft three. It takes that long to find errors in plot, character, ect. I'm on draft 11 on my novel (written over the past 5 years) and it's still not consistent, character-wise. So it can take a long time.

Hope this helps!

~Rosey
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





Random avatar


Gender: None specified
Points: 1211
Reviews: 6
Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:32 am
Maisie says...



Thank you :)
  





User avatar
36 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 4562
Reviews: 36
Thu Dec 30, 2010 5:18 pm
MadameX says...



120,000 words is a really big novel, somewhere on the lines of an epic fantasy. YA is usually 60-75,000, romance is around there, mystery is 70-90,00 and both fantasy and sci-fi tend to run longer, say 75-95,00 words. Most publishing houses don't like novels over 100,000 words from a first-time novelist.
[url]thelibrarygirl.blogspot.com[/url] Everything Weird Happens at the Library
  





User avatar
101 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 492
Reviews: 101
Thu Jan 13, 2011 11:53 pm
WritersUnleashed says...



For a debut novel, it should be 70000 words to about 110000 words. Over that it is generally considered an epic, and puplishers do not usually accept epics as a debut novel (because of the financial risks)
  





User avatar
5 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 1212
Reviews: 5
Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:47 am
pandacary says...



If the stories for NaNo are 50,000 words, translating into 175 pages (a novella), then I'd supposed that anything around the range of... like everyone else said, about 90-100,000 words, if you're keeping it around the 300 range.
Nerdfighters UNITE! DFTBA!
  





User avatar
522 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 7715
Reviews: 522
Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:19 pm
canislupis says...



Here´s another idea: Don´t worry about the length till after you´re done editing it. Definitely not before you finish a first draft. :D
  








“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
— L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables