41
votes
How can I add more fluff to my stories?
Don't.
Having enough material that your readers "can read all day and still have more to read" should not be your aim when writing. Your aim should be to write something good enough that they will ...
- 11k
37
votes
Is it time to start closing up my novel?
Finish the story. Don't worry about the word count. When it comes time to do revision, rewriting, and editing you can look at ways of possibly splitting it into two or more volumes.
Stories need ...
- 1,125
35
votes
Accepted
A children's book that takes 25 minutes to read out loud - is it too long?
If anything, I'd say your book is too short for that age. 3rd grade is 8-years-olds, right? At that age, 25 minutes to read out loud is closer to one chapter of a book they'd be reading.
At 8 years ...
25
votes
Accepted
How to add depth to writing - turn a story into a book
You definitely don't pad. If you are starting with plot, it sounds as though you may not be getting into the characters as much as you might need to.
Here's an idea: Take your favorite Crichton ...
- 23.8k
19
votes
Accepted
Is there a method to estimating the length of a work before writing it?
The main problem with trying to estimate something like this is that, even if two writers used the same very detailed plot summary to write a novel, they might produce works that aren't close to being ...
- 9,557
17
votes
Accepted
Is it time to start closing up my novel?
Remember your goal: you have set out to tell a story. So tell the story. Forget the wordcount. You feel the story needs more meat, give it more meat. You feel you need to explore more themes, go ahead ...
16
votes
A children's book that takes 25 minutes to read out loud - is it too long?
The audiobook for Winnie the Pooh is 2 hrs and 46 minutes (although admittedly it is episodic in nature rather than a single story.)
I was first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone around the ...
- 11.4k
13
votes
How can I add more fluff to my stories?
Add "fluff" which actually adds to your work:
Add "fluff" which helps the reader to learn more about your characters. Who they are, where they are from, how their life situation looks, etc.
Add "...
- 6,324
10
votes
How to add depth to writing - turn a story into a book
If it is your first time writing, then I would not recommend starting with a novel, as a video game character advised to me. I'll put the full quote here if you want.
Here's Monika's Writing Tip of ...
- 201
10
votes
How do I make my book longer?
Write the length you need to tell your story.
If it turns out to be a short story or a novella, so be it.
Instead of taking longer to tell the story, maybe what you need is to tell a story that ...
- 32.4k
9
votes
Accepted
I am losing significant word count in the second draft of my novel. How might I use that space to deepen the characters and story?
First, 90K is a very respectable word length for a novel, so make sure you're not just trying to meet an artificial goal when your book is already complete. Personally, I much prefer books lean, and ...
- 56.5k
8
votes
Is it time to start closing up my novel?
I am a discovery writer; and one that completes novels.
The key here, I think, is to remember you are discovering the story. If you are in the middle of the second act, then you have discovered half ...
- 104k
8
votes
How can I add more fluff to my stories?
If you think the reader will want to read more, give them substance, not fluff. Instead of (as F1Crazy said) bloating a 50,000 word book to 250,000 words (without really saying much more), try ...
- 2,261
7
votes
Am I Breaking Too Many Rules?
Finish the story.
Finish it whether it's one book, two, or five. Writing is practice for writing; editing is practice for editing. No effort is wasted.
If you have two or three really good books, ...
7
votes
Is there a method to estimating the length of a work before writing it?
I am a writer and a knitter. It occurs to me that you could create the equivalent of a knitting swatch: which is a square of fabric to let you know how many stitches your work contains in 4 square ...
- 146
7
votes
Is it time to start closing up my novel?
Writing typically has two phases: Writing and editing. A lot of writers mess themselves and their work up by trying to prematurely combine the two. Write expansively right now, as much as you need ...
- 56.5k
6
votes
Is it time to start closing up my novel?
Word count is a useful tool, but to feel compelled to cram an ending in when you are still in full stride with much of the story as yet unrealized is folly.
Your story will take as long as it takes ...
- 12.3k
6
votes
Is it time to start closing up my novel?
Length and Writing
What are you going to tell? Is it a (maybe short) story that has everything told by now or do you still have 3 acts to tell? Let your tale guide your writing, then use the Red Ink ...
- 1,078
6
votes
How can I add more fluff to my stories?
In good writing, there is no fluff. Everything is there for a reason. Like yours, my writing always used to be too short. But then I learned that for a lot of readers, the details are the whole point, ...
- 56.5k
5
votes
Is there a practical time limit on a children's book meant to be read out loud?
I'd say parents might not buy an 8-year-old a book for reading it out loud at all. Regardless of length. An 8-year-old can read, and read well. He has no need for someone to read a book out loud to ...
5
votes
How do I make my book longer?
A shepherd boy was bored of just watching sheep, so he cried out that
there was a wolf, and the people from the nearby town came running to
save him, but were angry when he laughed at them and ...
- 8,677
5
votes
Is 126 pages a good book size?
We don't do that in the industry, everybody measures by word count.
Typically, depending on the publisher, there are about 250 to 300 words per page, but do not measure in pages.
I am guessing 127 ...
- 104k
4
votes
Is there a method to estimating the length of a work before writing it?
I am not a writer, but I do have some experience with tackling significantly larger projects than ever done before. In my experience, when I've tackled a huge project without intermediate measurable ...
- 179
4
votes
Is there a method to estimating the length of a work before writing it?
For what it's worth, novelist and short story writer Mary Robinette Kowal has a mathematical formula she uses to get a ballpark figure for a story's likely word count:
Add the number of characters ...
- 364
4
votes
Accepted
Am I Breaking Too Many Rules?
Yes, I was breaking too many rules.
It's over a year later. I finished the book based on advice here, largely sticking to my original timeline and expected word count. The novel has been placed in a ...
- 7,610
4
votes
Accepted
Is "Publishable" 1st Book Word Count still 75,000-125,000?
Yes, but as you said it also depends on the genre. Here is an article, why a first author should write to word count.
Basically, science fiction and fantasy (your main genre) is 110,000 words, and ...
- 104k
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