(Posts tagged ok this helps immensely actually)

On Stretching Word Counts to Fit a Genre and/or Expectations

writeworld

rukiruki asked: I’m writing a story that I really want to publish and then maybe turn it into a movie if it’s a best seller. Problem is, I think it’s too short, and I’ve imagined the whole shebang in my dreams and it was fine, but on paper, (electronic paper, that is), it seemed rather too concise. There are so far about 18,850 words and 52 pages on Microsoft Word. Should I elongate or no?

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is around 25,200 words and Will Smith stared in that movie in 2007. The Bicentennial Man by Isaac Asimov is around 14,000 words. That movie came out in 1999. Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville, a work which has two (or more?) films to its name, clocks in at a mere 14,355 words.

While there are plenty of awesome works of short fiction out there that made it to the silver screen, that doesn’t mean a novella-length story is right for you. I think this is a question that only you can answer, but there are definitely resources out there to help you make an informed decision.

Bree Ogden wrote an "Ask the Agent" post back in February, 2013 that answers this question pretty succinctly:

Other articles get much more specific on word count by genre:

Here are some more articles to read on word counts:

And, if you want more inspiration from small word counts that made a huge impact, here are a few book lists from GoodReads of great novelettes, novellas, and short novels:

Thank you for your question! If you have any comments on this post or other questions about writing, you can message us here!

-C

(Posts tagged ok this helps immensely actually)

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

On Stretching Word Counts to Fit a Genre and/or Expectations