9 Ways to Lessen Your Word Count

*Insert a useful intro here that is not just me screaming.* AAAAAAAAAAH! *Oops, I failed.*

Anyway, today I want to talk about word count! Yay! (Specifically for fantasy, sci fi, or speculative fiction novels, yay…)

The general suggested word count for a YA fantasy novel is something between 75K and 110K words. Pretty nice range, huh? However, if you’re reading this, it’s quite possible that you are working toward being a debut—never before seen—author. If you’re not already an established author, you’re gonna want to aim for the lower end of this spectrum in order to get sales or an audience. Not easy when working with a world and magic system that you have to build, explain, and use well! And then if you tend to overwrite anyway? Yikes.

Sure, some debut authors can get away with higher word counts. Twilight, for example, was 118,975 words by then-debut author, Stephanie Meyer. Still, this is usually because the book was really well written for its audience (Don’t come at me, Twilight haters), and sometimes it’s really just luck. Agents and publishers typically don’t want to risk investing effort or money into a larger project if it is not guaranteed to sell and give them a profit back. Longer books cost more to print. (See also: Should I do print on demand or offset printing?)

Disclaimer: Now, that’s not to say you should be overly concerned with word count when you start out. No, no. This post is for those who’ve already written and revised their WIP (Work in Progress) a few times and are looking closer at publishing road. If you’re writing your first draft, please consider ignoring all the rules and write from your heart instead! You can’t polish what isn’t there. 😉 For editing and revising, however, it’s important to know the rules so you can break them effectively. *cough* Grammar *cough*

This is also more focused on those who tend to overwrite (I’m still learning how to deal with underwriting XD). And at the same time—sometimes a novel really is at its best with a higher word count. Still, it’s worth it to make sure it can’t be better shorter.

My own first novel keeps hovering around an annoying 103K-106K words. My last draft was draft 7, and through my edits and beta reads, I’ve considered many ways one might cut their novel down (and probably stubbornly ignored some, against my better judgement, grumble grumble).

Here are 9 things you might try in order to shorten your word count to the sweet spot you so crave!

1. Avoid redundancy (Telling, then showing/showing, then telling. Redundant prepositions.)
2. Split the book in two! (Find the hidden climax!)
3. Cut a scene / subplot / chapter (Kill your darlings~)
4. Combine characters / Delete a character (Kill your darlings!)
5. Delete Unnecessary Exposition (KILL YOUR DARLINGS, CLEMENTINE.)
6. Tell, don’t show! (Is it really possible to show too much?!)
7. Filler words (There are a lot of words that seem to really take up unnecessary space in sentences…)
8. Metaphors (Getting lost in the metaphor)
9. Definitions (“there’s a word for that!”)

Each of these deserve further explanations, so be sure to check out the links in the list to find out what I mean!

Am I missing something in this list? *Throws the comment section below at you.* Have fun!

Good luck out there! ❤