5000 word tip for your 50,000 word novel

5000 word tip for your 50,000 word novel

As far as writing your first novel goes, a lot of people are concerned about length.  Let's admit it's mostly men.  A lot of men are very obsessed with length.  Maybe it's a competitive holdover from caveman days when Grog would glance over to Og and grunt, "My novel is bigger than yours."  Ugh.

So let's get it straight.  Length does not matter in indie publishing.

It's all about the story man.  Be fun, be fast and be interesting.

That's the way to get it done.

Make your first page a page turner, build little story arc's into each chapter, add some cliffhanger situations so folks will want to keep reading and you've hit upon the golden formula.  Oh yeah, your hero needs to be redeemed, and learn something and be kinda likable, and your bad guy needs to have more than one dimension.  

Unless your bad guy is the kind of villain where only one dimension is needed.  Pinky and the Brain only had one objective, "Try to take over the world."  Pinky was an evil genius.

But just in case you want to hit that amazing 50,000 word mark, there are a couple of shortcuts you can use that are going to serve you well especially if you are writing a series of novels.

Have you ever watched a series marathon on Netflix?  Hunker down on a rainy soaked down and just veg out?

I just did that for a week only it was with books, the Dresden files and the Iron Druid series.  I wanted to brush up on little details before any other books are released.

Here's what I noted:  In the first book, Butcher describes Dresden so the audience knows what he looks like.  Tall, dark, angular cowboy in a duster with a staff.  It's roughly 1000 words.  

Then he proceeds to describe him in every subsequent novel, with subtle changes, but the overall effect is the same.  He spends about 1000 words describing what Dresden looks like in each of the novels.

He does it well, and adds little details to show how the wizard ages over the years through each book.  It will take a practiced hand from you to do the same, but once you have your character down in your head, now you can describe them to your reader in 1000 words.

You can do the same for each supporting character who shows up in the novel series.  Butcher does it for Murphy, and Thomas once he was introduced, and for Michael, and Lea.  You get the idea.  Each supporting character that made a lasting impact on the overarching story line contributed 1000 words to that story.  They were all described in the same method, brilliantly I might add, in each novel.  Book One: Murphy is just over five feet tall, cute blond with an upturned nose and big blue eyes.  Book Two, Murphy's still the same height, got the same eyes, but now her hair is cut in a pixie cut, and she's got circles under her eyes, bags and she's tired.  Still 1000 words, (not mine, his) but you get the idea.

When you have someone important who's going to spend some time in your story, spend some time talking about what they look like.

Harry's apartment in the basement?  1000 words, every time.  His office? 1000 words.  Lab?  1000 words.  Villain?  1000 words.

Now what Butcher does really really well is between those 1000 word descriptions he weaves together a very compelling story line.  Who doesn't love the evolution of Toot Toot?  Or the wizard's tortured relationship with the White Council?  Or how the conflict keeps getting piled on and on until at the very last moment, the Wizard wins out and learns something.

What does this mean for you?

If you think length matters, write out a description for your main character and each subsequent character in your story.

Or you could break the rules like I do.  Most of my main characters end up looking like Bruce Willis in my mind, and I want my readers to make up their own pictures in their head.  So I don't describe, and consequently my stories are shorter than your average novel.

I think that's ok too because length doesn't matter to me.  But a big thick plot that makes you want more, well that's just damn sexy.