Why Word Count Isn't (Always) King

by Becky Wade

  

Becky Wade

        I started writing in '94, published three novels, then hung up my computer for many years to take care of my babies.  When I re-entered writing circles in 2010 I did so with a personal writing process circa 1994 that hadn't changed a bit.  I found myself befuddled by a landscape in the world of writers that had changed a lot.

          Blogs?  Facebook?  Twitter?  Scrivener?  NaNoWriMo?

          None of these existed during my first carousel ride as a novelist.  I've made friends with blogging and facebook and twitter.  I haven't yet plunged into Scrivener.  And, to be honest, I'm leery of anything that defines word count as the goal of this writing life. 

          Almost every day writer friends of mine post updates along the lines of, "I wrote 2K today!" or "Sat down at Panera this evening and pounded out 4,137 new words!"  Which has made me realize that there are some generally accepted ideas about word count these days.

          Generally Accepted Idea #1: Writing as many books as you can per year is great.  Why?  Because each book is (hopefully) worth money.  The more books you write in one year, the more you make.

          But I wonder...  What if a writer pens four books in a single year and none of

them are actually any... good?  Has her word count served her?  Has she bettered her chance at achieving publication?  Has she done anything to assist her family's long term financial stability?  Has she caused herself stress and anxiety by driving herself and her creativity too hard?

          Generally Accepted Idea #2: It's best for writers to release books close together for marketing reasons.  Authors who do so will build a bigger readership.

          But I wonder... What has a greater impact on author loyalty?  One book in a calendar year that a reader really, really loves?  Or three books in the same calendar year that a reader finds mildly enjoyable?

          Generally Accepted Idea #3:  The secret key to writing is to 'get something down' quickly in rough draft form.

          But I wonder....  Is there really a secret key?  We're all extraordinarily diverse.  Is a single method going to assist us all?  Might one draft, carefully added to and edited as an author progresses, perhaps achieve the very same (or better) result in the end?

          Don't get me wrong.  Output is a wonderful thing to celebrate.  It's not easy to get new words onto new pages.  Without amassing some level of word count, none of us will complete a single manuscript in the next twelve months.

          And yet, amid all the word count hub bub I think it's helpful for a writer to ask herself, "What's my true goal?"

          What is it for you?  What's your goal?  Why are you doing this work?

          Is it to write a lot of stuff?

          Or is it to write something beautiful?

          Novels are meant to be entertainment.  More than that.  Because our novels

are Christian fiction, they're meant to be entertainment and ministry both.  Our books should charm.  They should stir the emotions and draw readers in and make them care and fill their eyes with tears and keep them turning the pages.

          For some of us, that goal may have nothing at all to do with speed.

          The trick here is to KNOW THYSELF.  For many, daily/weekly/monthly word count deadlines are a helpful tool.  For the rest of us, not so much. 

          In my case, I've always been a one book a year writer.  Even before I had kids, one book a year was my wheel house.  Since I'm not much of a plotter, I spend a fair amount of my writing time staring at the wall and thinking.  I don't like to pull my ideas out by their roots.  I prefer to coax them to grow slowly, to see where they lead.  I do not write an extremely rough first draft.  I write a first draft that's as fleshed out and full as I can make it.  And then, on top of that, I still need a minimum of two months to rewrite and revise the thing. 
          All that to say, I want to encourage those of you who are NaNoWriMo drop-outs.  Word count isn't (always) king.  You, writer, might be the tortoise instead of the hare.  

          I'm interested to hear about your experience!  Have word count goals been pivotal to your success?  Do you believe in jotting down a fast rough draft?  Or do your manuscripts come together by another method entirely? Leave a comment to get your name in a drawing for a copy of Meant to Be Mine.
*****

Meant to Be Mine
A Porter Family Novel #2

     Ty Porter has always been irresistible to Celia Park. All through high school--irresistible. When their paths cross again after college-- still irresistible. This time, though, Ty seems to feel exactly the same way about Celia. Their whirlwind romance deposits them at a street-corner Las Vegas wedding chapel.

     The next morning they wake to a marriage certificate and a dose of cold reality. Celia's ready to be Ty's wife, but Ty's not ready to be her husband. He’s a professional bull rider, he lives on the road, and he’s long planned to settle down with the hometown girl he’s known since childhood.
     Five and a half years pass. Celia's buried her dreams so that she can afford to raise her daughter. Ty's achieved all of his goals. Or thought he had, until he looks again into the eyes of the woman he couldn't forget and into the face of the child he never knew he had.
     How much will Ty sacrifice to win back Celia’s trust and prove to her that their spontaneous marriage can still become the love of a lifetime?

Photo Credit: Lívia Cristina via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Olivander via Compfight cc    

Becky makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband, three children, and one adoring (and adored) cavalier spaniel. Her CBA debut, My Stubborn Heart, was a finalist in both the RITA and INSPY awards.  Undeniably Yours kicked off her Texas-set Porter Family series.  Her newest contemporary romance, Meant to Be Mine, has just hit shelves!   

Welcome our Guest Becky Wade

The Art of Incorporating Detail

by Becky Wade

    I read two types of novels:  

         I read novels about characters. 
    

         I read novels that are so powerfully authentic that I become the characters.  Magic happens for me within the pages of the second type of book.  I feel the emotion, I see the setting, I hear the dialogue, I smell the air.  Whenever a story comes alive like this for me, I first wonder how the author managed it.  Then I begin to wonder how I can write one.     

            The answer is mysterious and something I expect to spend my whole career chasing.  But I think one facet of the answer is this:

            Before a reader can BE in it, she has to SEE it. 

            And in order to see it, our readers need detail.

            I've read several books lately that were, in my opinion, too vague.  I couldn't visualize the hero's face exactly.  I didn't know what the room  the character were standing in looked like.  I had no idea what the heroine was wearing.  Many of us authors are impatient with detail.  We'd rather keep our stories lean and focus on plot and dialogue.  But it's a mistake to veer too far to that extreme because without description our books won't feel real to our readers. 

            Have you heard the expression, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader."?  For my purposes today, I'm changing it to, "No details in the writer's imagination, no details in the reader's imagination."

            Here are some practical ways to add detail to your novel:

Before you begin writing a character, ask them a long series of questions.  Maybe you already have a character 'interview' you use.  If not, and if you'd like to try the technique, you can visit my web site here and check out the questions I ask each of my characters before I begin writing them.

Spend time at the outset of every scene sinking into the setting.  What does it look like precisely?  What does it smell like?  Sound like?  What's the temperature?  Time of day?  Season?  Does your hero have a five o' clock shadow?  Does your heroine have bags under her eyes?  How are they both dressed?

Now view the same setting through your POV character's eyes.  If you're about to write a scene from a male's POV, remember that he'll notice fewer details than a woman and he'll think about what he's seeing in blunt, common sense terms.  This is not the time to wax eloquent.  A man is not going to think, for example, "The moonlight slid lovingly over the stately old elm tree before bumping and unfurling like a ribbon into the meadow."  A much more realistic way for him to note the same detail, "Through the dark he could make out a tree and behind it some open grass."

Once you have the external landscape firm in your mind, investigate the internal landscape of not just your current POV character but the other characters in the scene.  Make sure you understand exactly what they're feeling, down to the smallest degree.  Only then can you honestly transfer their reactions onto the page.  If you'd feel envious in the situation you're about to write, then don't blot envy from your character's reaction.  Your character's envy is a detail that makes your story more authentic. 

Beware of inserting chunks of description into your scene in unnatural ways. 

1.  Think for a moment.  When do you notice detail about a room or about a person?  Likely, it's when you first walk into the room or first meet the person.  Then, as you stay in the space or study the other person, your brain may catalogue additional small bits and pieces of information. 

2.  Alternatively, you are likely to notice details during a time when you're idle.  For example, when you're waiting in line, when you're left alone in a room, during a pause in conversation, or when the person you're with turns away to greet someone else.  All these realistic breaks give your POV character natural opportunities to take in more elements of setting.

3.  Use detail sparingly during dialogue.  Consider the following (terrible) example:

            Her small hands fisted.  She stamped a foot covered in a brown high-laced leather boot.  "I'm furious!  How could you do this to me?"

            His gaze took in her hair, falling in loose curls down to the middle of her back.  Streaks of pale honey marked the blond locks. A small silver comb studded with diamonds held back a strand over her right eye.  "I did it because you deserved it."

            She frowned, furrows creasing her forehead.  Angrily, she walked to the window and back.  Her hand raised to her lips.  She chewed on the fingernail of her pinky finger.  "I did nothing to deserve this."

Do you see the problem, authors?  Too much description between spoken words suffocates the scene and refuses to let it live.  If these two characters are in the middle of a fight, your hero is going to have his hands full just processing (mentally and emotionally) what your heroine is saying to him.  If he notices anything about her appearance, it'll be in flashes.  Far better in this situation to keep the dialogue as the hero of the scene and the details spare.

            You'll know you're beginning to master The Art of Incorporating Detail when you the author know far more about your character and your setting than you show your reader.  Your story world needs details in order to come alive!  Have an arsenal of them ready but don't use them all.  Lace them in as naturally as you can, from your character's unique POV, choosing only the most powerful.

Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for a copy of Undeniably Yours.

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Becky Wade makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband, three children, and one adoring (and adored) cavalier spaniel. Her CBA debut, My Stubborn Heart, has been named a finalist for Romance Writers of America's RITA Award.  Her new contemporary romance, Undeniably Yours, is available now!

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