Does Word Count Really Matter? By Denice Whitmore, Director of Editing for Mystic Publishers, Inc.

As a writer, I worry about word count. I want to meet my writing goals for the week. I want to create a vivid picture for my readers. And, publishers have minimum word count requirements for each genre. So as I’m writing, I keep these things in mind.

But as an editor, the last thing on my mind is word count. As a matter of fact, I frequently remove words. A lot of words. Sometimes I feel as if I have two personalities as writer and editor. I have to remember which hat I’m wearing at any given time.

When I have my writer’s hat on, I love to free write. I let the words flow on the page making all the same mistakes I would edit out of someone else’s work. Getting my ideas on the page and to a place where I can flesh them out is my goal. I don’t worry about rules or word count when I write a chapter for the first time. I may have some bullet points jotted down of things I need to accomplish in the chapter but quite often as I free write a better idea will come to me. Something that never occurred to me in my pre-write process will manifest itself on the page leaving me staring at the screen in wonder. It sometimes changes the direction of my story or develops a character in ways I hadn’t thought of. For me, it’s where the creativity happens. If I rigidly worried about writing rules or word count, I don’t believe I would have the same outcome.

I recently finished the first draft of my first book. My word count fell around 45,000 words. That’s about 10,000 words short of a minimum requirement for my genre. I am working on my second draft. I am adding scenes, changing one character’s personality, adding a character earlier in the book and giving him a bigger part in the plot and cleaning up the narrative. I am also changing from third person to first person point of view so my readers can better relate to my main character.

So now that I have my editor’s hat on, what has changed? I will look for unnecessary words like, that, and had. I will look for weak verbs like was, and replace them with stronger verbs. I will remove ‘ly’ words or adverbs and if necessary replace them with stronger verbs. I will look for passive phrases and make them active. And many other things that an editor should do. It is not uncommon for me to open a chapter that is 20 pages and whittle it down to 18.

It’s not that I am looking for words to delete. That is not the purpose of editing. My job as an editor is to make sure you have clear, vivid sentences that create a picture in the readers mind. To make sure the writing is concise and easy to understand. That the writer doesn’t bog down the story with author intrusion explaining things to the reader. To make sure that the ups and downs flow with the right amount, and right kind, of tension in each scene. That there are no unanswered questions (unless it has a sequel. Spoilers!) and a feeling of resolution at the end of the story.

Editing is so much more than just content or grammer. A good comprehensive editor can take your manuscript and enhance it to be your best work.   They can maintain your voice, identify plot holes, identify character inconsistencies and help build tension in your scenes. A good comprehensive editor wants you to succeed because in turn they succeed.

So in your process, don’t be so concerned about word count. Yes, you want to meet your publisher’s word count requirements. Yes, you want your editor to have some wiggle room because they will cut your word count down. But you don’t want to sacrifice your creativity to meet someone else’s standard. Create the best work you can do. Push the limits, try new things in your writing. Don’t be so worried about details like word count that you stifle your creativity to make it fit in the perfect word count box. Be the best writer you can be and the rest will fall in place. But most important don’t forget to have fun!

Keep writing!

For more information on standard word counts for different genre’s, check out the link below and read Chuck Sambuchino’s article in Writer’s Digest.

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/word-count-for-novels-and-childrens-books-the-definitive-post

Mystic Publishers Employee Bios: RICHARD DRAUDE, DIRECTOR of GRAPHICS & IT

My first dabble into writing happened in the fifth grade. While riding the school bus, I heard my classmates talking about their book reports. I realized I’d ignored the assignment and was in a lot of trouble. Arriving on the playground I pulled out my binder and penned a fictional book report about a set of twins and called the fictitious book Double Trouble. I added a couple of short paragraphs about the problems they created and handed it in. I don’t remember the grade, but I did complete the assignment.

By eighth grade I was deep into the Hardy Boys. I never read the entire series, having a mild form of Dyslexia, (discovered later in my life, the main reason I did things backwards) Also I probably would have fit today’s definition of a child with ADD. Never-the-less I finished high school. My stint in the Navy was my first contact with Science fiction, E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith’s Skylark series. I devoured it and a lot of other book in the same genre. I also kept up with my love of mysteries. Another series I followed is the Travis McGee series, John D. McDonald.

In 1991 when Jo Wilkins approached me with the idea of co-authoring a science fiction book, I jumped at the chance. (I had to relearn how to write properly, but I did, with a lot of help. We’ve reissued our first book after a complete rewrite. The first book in my new series The MacKenna Saga is out. The second is due to be released in November.

The Adverb Crutch by Richard Draude

Amateur writers wind up succumbing to at least one major pitfall, the use of adverbs in dialogue tags.  Adverbs are those pesky –ly words that modify verbs.

For example:

happily replied.

said angrily.

quickly asked.

pensively said.


In fiction, adverbs tend to weaken your writing. The general rule for fiction of any genre is to eliminate as many adverbs as possible, replacing them with stronger, more specific words.

What do we do with adverbs. (In a perfect world they would cease to exist.). With dialogue, you cannot just replace the adverb. An adverb in a dialogue tag means, in most cases,  you’ll need to rewrite the dialogue itself.

Here’s why:

Amateur writers (but not limited to them) often rely on adverbs in a dialogue tag to convey emotion and tone. That is wrong. A good writer will make that happen in the dialogue itself, and will not rely on the dialogue tag.

For example:

“I've had enough of this,” Karnic shouted angrily.

This tells us Karnic is angry. But that emotion isn't demonstrated through his actions or the dialogue itself.

Remember, dialogue tags have one purpose, to tell the reader who is speaking. Readers read right over them. If you want your reader to feel Karnis’s anger, you have to show them–through the dialogue itself.

Here’s how you might accomplish that:

“You disgust me. This conversation is over,” said Karnic.

Karnic’s dialogue is stronger and his emotion is clear.  Karnic’s words are angry, so you don’t need to rely on the adverb angrily to convey that.

Including some brief actions or descriptions to eliminate the adverb and convey the character’s emotion brings more depth to your story and power to a scene.

For example:

Karnic shoved his chair back and slammed his fist on the table. “I've had enough!” He clenched his jaw. “This discussion is over.”

The actions and description here help show how Kaenic feels, eliminating the use of the word angrily from the dialogue tag.

Here’s what you don’t want to do, however:

“I've had enough,” Kaenic said, angry.

This replaces the adverb, but we still have the same basic problem: You are telling the reader  instead of letting the reader feel the characters emotions through their actions. Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re all set just because you don’t have one of those pesky –ly words in there.

Adverbs become crutches, even for accomplished writers.  They're lazy writing and a huge red flag for agents and editors.

Here’s a good way to test your writing. Read your dialogue out loud without any dialogue tags. If the lines of dialogue by themselves don’t convey the emotion you’re trying to draw from your readers, that means you're relying on adverbs and your dialogue needs to be rewritten.

Every Rule has An Exception

Of course, there’s always an exception to every rule. Here’s the one for adverbs in dialogue tags (though a good editor will flag it and ask you to rework the sentence). If the tone or emotion of the dialogue is confusing or unclear to the reader, you might use an adverb in a dialogue tag. This strategy is most often used when the character speaks sarcastically or ironically, jokes, or struggles to be polite.

For example, consider this piece of dialogue:

“Maybe I should come upstairs for a while,” Martin said.

“No, thank you,” Alicia said.

Let’s assume your protagonist is at the end of an awful first date, when he suggests he should come upstairs with her. He reply of,  “No, thank you.” could be taken many ways. So in this case the “No, thank you.” doesn't tell us much, of Alicia’s emotional or mental state, does it? We’d have to assume she’s politely declining. But what if the same line of dialogue were rewritten as the example below?

 “No, thank you,” she said emphatically.

Now the reader gets there’s force behind her words, she's making sure he doesn't come upstairs.

The adverb makes her tone clearer even though her words are exactly the same.
As I said, there are other ways so as to eliminate the adverb.

“No-thank-you!” she said, then turned and stabbed the elevator call button with her index finger.

Linking the words with dashes and using the exclamation point add emotion to the sentence. The action of turning and stabbing the call button shows frustration, anger, etc.

Bottom Line

You want to use adverbs as sparingly as possible. In general, it’s better to use stronger, more descriptions and specific words to move your readers and fans.

Improve Your Writing with Readability Statistics By Denice Whitmore and Jo Wilkins

In this computer age of instant gratification, readability statistics are a great tool to keep your writing technically on track. What can this option do for you? Take a look at the graphic below:

                                               

•              The top of the chart tracks your counts

•              The middle of the chart gives the averages found in your document

•              The bottom gives the passive percentage, reading ease and grade level

The bottom is the most important. Industry standards for today are 5th to 6th grade level of writing, 5% or less passive voice (Mostly reserved for dialogue because we speak in passive voice) and a 75% to 85% readability on the Flesh reading scale. As for the grade level, keep in mind that:

o                  The Gettysburg Address was written at a 6^th grade level

o                  Hemmingway wrote at a 5^th grade level. Old Man of the Sea is at 5.3.

o                  Newspapers are written on a 3^rd grade level so everyone can understand them.

It’s not the words you use, but the complexity of the sentences that determines grade level. A few years ago a member of the Henderson Writers' Group approached Jo and asked why his book wouldn’t sell. She took it home to read and ended up throwing it across the room during the third chapter With an average sentence length of 62 words, Jo would finish a sentence and have to go back to the beginning since it had changed directions so many times she had no idea what it was about. So, she investigated why. The back blurb ─ first sentence was 56 words, has 4 commas and changes direction after each comma.

Jo typed in the first few pages to check the readability score. It was 27% passive voice, Read on a 12.6 grade level and had scored a 36 for readability. She told him he needed to dumb it down. He said he couldn’t, his three college professors had edited it for him and he didn't want to upset them. She told him that was the only audience he would attract. A couple of years later, after he heeded her advice, he wrote a killer fiction book that fell into the proper readability scores and it sold well on Amazon.

Here is how to set up the readability statistics for Microsoft Word and Corel Word Perfect. If you would like a tracking sheet that will help you keep track of your statistics email info@mysticpublishersinc.com. 

To set up your computer to give you the readability scores for any document in Microsoft Word 2003, you need to take these steps.

Drop down the Tools menu from the standard toolbar.

Click once on Options at the bottom of the list.

When the Options dialogue box comes on the screen click on the top tab that reads Spelling & Grammar.

On the Spelling & Grammar page, go to the bottom of the page in the grammar section.  Check the boxes that say Check grammar as you type – Check grammar with spelling – Show readability statistics.

Click on the OK option at the bottom and the dialogue box will close.

After this is set up, every time you hit F7 to check the spelling and grammar, a box will come up to show you the word count and the readability scores for the document on the screen.

To set up the equivalent of this feature in Corel’s Word Perfect, there are a few more steps, and it must be done manually with every document.

Drop down the Tools menu on the application toolbar.

Click on the Gramatik option (or use Alt+Shift+F7) to open the grammar checker.

On the right hand side of the grammar checker dialogues box, tag the options button.

A square menu will come on screen.  In the center of that menu you will find the selection, Analysis    ►.

Place the mouse arrow on either the word or the arrowhead, and another box will come on screen.

In this box, scroll to the bottom of the listed features to readability.

Click once on readability and a dialogue box will come on screen.

In the readability dialogue box, you will see the scores of your document compared to a Hemingway short story.

You can change the comparison to the Gettysburg Address for speeches or to the 1040EZ instructions for an instructional document.

The Flagged button at the bottom of the box takes you to a screen that outlines the grammar rules you may have broken.

The Basic Counts button takes you to a screen where you can view the word count—Sentence structure—etc.

 To set up your computer to give you the readability scores for any document in Microsoft Word 2007, you need to take these steps. 

Step 1.            Open Word and click on the Microsoft Symbol in the upper left-hand corner.

Step 2.            On the drop down menu click on the word option button in the lower right hand corner next to the exit button.

Step 3.            In the next menu box, click on PROOFING (the third option down) in the left-hand side list of options.

Step 4.            In the next menu box, go the bottom of the options displayed and place a check in the box next to SHOW READABILITY STATISTICS.

To set up your computer to give you the readability scores for any document in Microsoft Word 2010 &2013

1.         To initiate the Readability Statistics, open a word document and clicked on FILE at the extreme left side of the screen.
2.         Scroll down the menu on the left side until you see OPTIONS. A new menu comes out.

3.         At this point in 2010, you must go into the Proofing menu to find the readability option. In 2013 just scroll to the bottom of the menu.      
4.         Check the box for readability. If the box is ghosted and will not allow you to put in the check mark, put a check in the Grammar & Spelling options and it allow you to initiate the option.

5.         Hit ok & you are done. 

Why Write? by Janelle Evans

            Someone once asked me why I choose to be a writer. The cocky answer: because I’m good at it, isn’t entirely true. I’m a writer because I choose not to ignore the seeds of imagination that are always floating around in my head. The whole “good at it” ebbs and flows, depending on the day. Sometimes way more ebb than flow, but I keep at it. That’s what catapults me out of a this-is-a-hobby mentality into serious writer. I spend time, money, and uber-amounts of effort to learn and grow in the craft.

            The world tells writers we are only successful once we’re published. Not true, and I’m speaking from experience here, my first published book came two years ago.

            Every time I find a surprising thread in my plot that keeps a story going, I’m smiling for days. Finish a book, and I’m dancing around the house. Sure they’re private victories, but they keep me coming back to write more. And coming back is more than half the battle.

 

Read more blogs by our guest blogger at authorjanelleevans.com

You’ve got a Blank Space, Baby by Mary Einfeldt

            You’ve always known you wanted to be a writer. You’ve scribbled down twiddles in notebooks and toyed with some bad poetry in your teens, but now it’s time to get serious and get the book that’s been floating around in your subconscious down on paper. Maybe it’s National Novel Writing Month and this is finally the excuse you’ve been looking for to get started. So you open your computer and stare at a Big. Blank. Screen. Now what?

            If you’re a smart writer, you’ve read enough books to know that the first page, the first sentence, is crucial. If the first page is brilliant, the reader will naturally continue on to page two and so forth. The first few lines can establish the whole tone and voice of the book. But that glaring white screen is intimidating. The pressure of putting your best self forward from the start can cause pressure on a writer that leads to frustration and ultimately self-doubt. If anything, a writer should approach a story with confidence.

            So how to begin? While starting at the beginning of the story is a good idea, this does not mean you have to start with that all-important first line. Focus instead on starting with the first third of the book. If you were to partition your story into three chunks of beginning middle and end, go ahead and start somewhere in the beginning. Work on introducing your characters and setting, hint at the conflict that is to come, and refine your unique voice. Rather than stressing out about a good first line, spend your first few days on fleshing out that beginning chunk. Chances are as you start writing, you will stumble across a line that demands to be front and center. And if you write and write for days and still nothing stands out to you as a solid opening? Remind yourself that writers have the luxury of going back and changing things that may not have worked the first time around. Lucky writers.

            If at any point you get a little stuck, try one, or all, of these go-to exercises that will help you craft a strong opening:

 

·         Grab a notebook, a pen, and your ten favorite books of all time. You don’t need to overthink this and look for the ten best or most critically acclaimed books of all time, just ten that you personally love. Read the first page of each book and jot down notes on phrases or other elements that stand out to you. Look for lines that set the tone for the whole story, or bring your favorite character to life. Taking the time to notice what you like is one of the best ways to help you create something you like. You’ll be tempted to look up famous first lines, like those from 1984 or Neuromancer, and see what smart people have to say about them. Don’t. Other people’s opinions on first lines are great but they won’t give you as much fresh insight as looking at something you love and figuring out why you like it will.

 

·         Put yourself in the shoes of your main character, then plop them into the first scene in your story. Write down the first thing they notice. Maybe it would be the first thing you as the author would notice, maybe not. If your character is particularly observant, perhaps they would notice something that was missing, rather than something present. Perhaps if they are perpetually hungry, they would notice the smell of roasting chicken and herbs in another inaccessible room. If he has put himself in a dangerous situation, would he focus on the obstacles? Or on the ultimate goal? If you don’t know your character well enough, take a break from this exercise and spend a few minutes writing just about your character on a deeper level than surface appearances and personality traits.

 

·         Write a few terrible openings. Sometimes the best way to get creative and find what works is by starting with what you know doesn’t work. Not only will this get some bad ideas out of your system to make room for the good ones, your brain may start firing in some unusual unfamiliar pathways that could potentially break you out of the deep ruts of well-travelled ideas.

 

            The most important thing to take away from this, is to just start writing. Focus more on getting that beginning chunk of story down than putting your best line down first. Keep filling up that blank space until you’ve got a mass of raw material to go and play with.

Mystic Publishers Employee Bios: Jo Wilkins, President

            I started out as a closet poet in 1972 and over the years evolved into an author of Science Fiction novels (first one published in 2003). Because of the vanity press trap my co-author and I fell into, I also started helping authors self-publish that same year. That self-publishing aid, Mystic Publishers, also evolved. By 2013, it became the parent corporation of our new company, Mystic Publishers, Inc. Under this corporate name, we organized the three divisions of the company.

            Being associated with Mystic Publishers, Inc. has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my life. The other rewarding portion of my life was starting the Henderson Writer’s Group in August of 2000. Through the group, I became dedicated to assisting writers become published authors by starting the Las Vegas Writer’s Conferences. As president and founder of the group, I discovered there are good stories that were only in need of a little help. They were passed over because they are new authors and have no established audience to automatically bring in returns for a publishing house. So why not bring the publishers here to see these talented writers.

            As a publisher now, myself, I love finding authors that are 90% ready for publication and working with them until their manuscripts are print-ready. To hold the printed copy of that book, that we all helped produce, brings on a feeling almost as good as when I opened the first box of my first novel. It is an accomplishment that all involved work very hard to bring about. 

 

            Favorite Author: Isaac Asimov

            Favorite Book: The Foundation Trilogy and the books that preceded and followed it. The story arc incorporating the robot from The Caves of Steel was truly mind-blowing.

            Writing inspiration: Science, learning new things and thinking how they could be used in the future, the stars, creating future societies that have no biases against their fellow man.