Writing Tip: The Fictional Word Count of Books

Posted August 18, 2020 by kddidit in Author Resources, Writing


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It’s all about the word count.

Lol, and your genre and target audience. Never let it be said that writing a book isn’t complicated.

What started this post off — and has it ever evolved! — was whether a short story‘s title was put in quotes or in italics. That slid into what the difference was between a short story and a novella and how to format their titles.

A short story is a peek into another’s world and doesn’t necessarily have an ending. A novella is longer and has a beginning, middle, and end.

That opened up the novelette and flash fiction, which of course, needed examples. Hey, a girl’s gotta satisfy her curiosity! Which meant I needed to be “fair” to short story and novella as far as examples went.

Yeah, it became something like looking in the encyclopædia, snowballing into the basic structure of each, what their focus was, word counts on long or popular novels . . .

So much for a quickie post on styling a title, lol. And remember, it’s all about the word count.

Word Count

The average page (double-spaced* using 1″ margins and 12 pt Times New Roman) is between 250 and 300 words.

* Single-spaced, it’s ~500 words.

Ebooks come out at 1kb to ~500 words.

While there is a reasonably wide range allowed for the number of words in most stories, each genre (and some sub-genres) has its limit. Those genres which require more extensive worldbuilding do allow for the extra, but if you want to be published, be careful to stay within industry-accepted lengths.

Title Styling

Whether the title of a tale is in quotes or italics depends on how long it is and/or if it’s part of an anthology, collection, or omnibus.

That said, italicize any reference to the title if the story was originally published as a standalone.

You’ll want to read about “Target Audience” as well.

Writing is . . .

. . . a lot of work . . . yeah, you already know that one, lol. What the posts on “Writing” are intended to do is explore the various mechanics of writing from plots to points-of-view to structure to character development to genres to voice to target audience to book types to character or story arcs to back stories to plot devices to themes to diction to copyright to flashforwards to flashbacks to framing the story or devices to memes to tropes to pace to perspective to settings to show versus tell to social context to continuity to storyboards to style to language to style sheets to syntax to tone to tropes and more . . .

It’s an evolving conversation, and sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. Heck, there’s always a better way to explain it, so if it makes quicker and/or better sense, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on some aspect of writing with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.

If you found this post on “Fictional Word Count of Books” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Story Length(s)
Part of Writing: Process
Definition: The process of writing involves:

  1. Research in which you plan out your story, gather ideas, determine your genre and target audience, and outline it
  2. Writing the first draft
  3. Re-writing, revising, rearranging, and modifying the content to relate better to your target audience and genre
  4. Editing to improve style and clarity, proofread for errors


POST CONTENTS
FLASH FICTION Definition: An umbrella term that encompasses a range of extremely short, short stories, that are usually 1,000 words or less (it does sometimes go up to 2,000 words), that still have a plot with a beginning, middle, and end, character development, and usually a twist or surprise ending.

It can also encompass nonfiction.

A.k.a. immediate fiction; micro fiction; nanotales; napkin fiction; new sudden fiction; postcard fiction; quick fiction; short, short stories; short-short; sudden fiction

New Sudden Fiction Definition: More akin to the traditional short story with character development and with a beginning, middle, and end.

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
Averages 1,500 words Use quotation marks ??
Focus is on:
  • Start at the moment of conflict
  • Very few characters
  • Maximize the impact by showing, not telling
  • Brevity but with tension
  • A great ending
Examples of New Sudden Fiction
Robert Shapard and James Thomas’ New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond. W.W. Norton & Company: 2007.
Sudden Fiction Definition: A long tale of flash fiction that evokes a single moment, or an idea, and still with a beginning, middle, and end.

A.k.a. short short story

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
750 to 1,000 words Use quotation marks N/A
Focus is on:
  • Very few characters
  • Maximize the impact by showing, not telling
  • Brevity
  • A great ending
Examples of Sudden Fiction
Joyce Carol Oates’ “Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear”

Sherrie Flick’s “How I Left Ned”

MICRO-FICTION Definition: An umbrella term for shorter forms of flash fiction.

Includes forms such as:

Yes, there is also micro-nonfiction.

You can find a huge variety of ##-word story categories out there . . .

A.k.a. microfiction, nanofiction

Postcard Fiction Definition: A story inspired by an image that could fit on a postcard. An image often accompanies the text to create the feeling of looking at a postcard, with the reader turning it over to read the inscription on the back. And with a beginning, middle, and end.

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
25–500, and typically around 250 words Use quotation marks N/A
Examples of Postcard Fiction
“The Watchers” Boston Literary Magazine 2014

“The watchers are watching the watchers. I watch from my bedroom window.

Alpha watchers are being watched by Bravo watchers. I don’t see anyone else
watching Bravo so I must be the Charlie watcher.

That means there’s a Delta likely watching me. Why? How could they possibly
have found out?

“Don’t Mess With Mom” Window Lit Magazine

“There had been a series of break-ins in the projects. Crazy people — poor stealing from poor. No one had alarms except my mother. Every night after putting us kids to sleep and reading she loaded up the Ouija board with glasses and carried it around placing glasses on top of the lower window frames.

“The Road Runner and Yosemite Sam went on the kitchen window while Davy Crockett, 2 Yartzeit glasses, and Snow White went on the two living room windows. After that, a chair tilted under the door knobs front and back, and upstairs mom went with the bread knife, a broomstick, and her Pall Malls ready for anything that might get through her perimeter defenses.”

“Downsizing” Boston Literary Magazine

“Monday they took the coat rack and love seat from my office.

“Tuesday it was my lamp and bookcase.

“Wednesday my L desk was replaced with a metal one and my swivel chair with a piano stool. I sat while they took my walls and my office became a cubicle.”

Source: Beckman; MADemerswriter; Carson
Twitterature Definition: A story that fits in a tweet. The early stories were 140-characters long; now they’re 280.

That includes the title if you choose to have one.

A.k.a. 280-character story, nanofiction, twiction, Twitter fiction

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
Up to 280 CHARACTERS Use quotation marks — and yes, the punctuation and title characters are included in the character count! N/A
Examples of Twitterature
“‘It’s no big deal,’ he told the boss. ‘When I make a mistake no one dies.’
‘Yes,’ said the boss. ‘But that’s not the point. You’re an executioner.'”

Credit to: Twitter Fiction

@VeryShortStory‘s
“My father came to live with me. It was my turn to say ‘my house, my rules’. I took away his glass and made him drink from the milk carton.”

Credit to: Twitterature

James Meek’s
“He said he was leaving her. “‘But I love you,’ she said. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘Thanks. It’s what gave me the strength to love somebody else'”.

Credit to: Twitter

More can be found at Tiny Fiction’s Twitter Fiction, which are primarily 140-characters long.
Drabble Definition: A story of exactly 100 words (not including the title). Just because the form is short doesn’t mean you can skimp on the basics of a good story. It should have a beginning, middle, and end, and include conflict and resolution.

A.k.a. ficlet, drabbles

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
100 Not necessarily included in the word count

Cannot exceed seven words

Use quotation marks

N/A
Focus is on:
One or more characters
Examples of Drabble
Maria Zoccola’s “Drive” A black night, a well-lit road, and the angled, striped flash of racing cars
“After the diagnosis, Aunt Jessie quit teaching and bought a racecar, oxy-white, a real hot ride. I sat shotgun down to Miami so Jessie could street-race for pink slips. You need a second in that scene, a hostage: keeps you honest with your wager. I sat on the curb with the other gal’s kid. The big man laid a gun against my skull and stared Jessie down through her windshield. The trigger pulled with a noise like Jesus come, but it was only the starting pistol; Jessie flew off down the road—engine roar, dust cloud, each moment losing ground.”

Lisa Ahn’s “Hindsight” A weathered bird house on the left and a close-up of a peak on a house in the background
“Trouble came because we didn’t waterproof the birdhouse. The paint held up, at first: a child’s pastel palette that drew sparrows and made the tree look festive. Harsh winters stripped the pinks and peeled the blues to graying wood. That’s when the yellow jackets nested. We drowned them. Tossed the house into the backwoods to decay. Now, instead of songbirds, we have spiked-toothed, bat-winged imps. They breed like mad inside the ruined house. Already, they’ve devoured our hens, the barn cats, and beehives. Still, we hear their stomachs growl. We hide behind our weathered walls, holding cleavers to the cracks.”

Credit to: 100
55 Fiction Definition: Fictional prose written in a narrative style (with a beginning, middle, and end) that uses up to 55 words.

No poetry, essays, musings, random thoughts, etc.

A.k.a. bite-sized fiction, microfiction, nanofiction, tiny fiction

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
Up to 55 words Not necessarily included in the word count

No more than seven words long

Use quotation marks

N/A
Examples of 55 Fiction
Dan Gilmore’s
“The crane’s cable had snapped. The Chinese take-out’s elegant new marquee lay completely destroyed on the sidewalk, its fall hardly cushioned by the body underneath. The investigator pulled a slip of paper from a broken fortune cookie lying next to the victim, ‘Watch for a sign from above’.”

Ellen Morrison’s “My Gucci Bag”
“He’s filthy. Baggy clothes. Mismatched shoes. Unkempt hair. He’s Black. I watch as the clerks eye him suspiciously. Customers veer around him. He strolls the aisle seemingly oblivious to their scrutiny. The front clerk calls for assistance. As the pimply assistant manager bravely walks toward him, I slip the bottle of perfume into my purse.”

Credit to: Gilmore; 55.
Dribble Definition: A type of microfiction that is told in exactly 50 words. With a beginning, middle, and end.

A.k.a. 50-word story, microstory, mini-saga, minisaga, ultra-short

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
Exactly 50 Up to 15 characters that are not necessarily included in the word count

Use quotation marks

 N/A
Examples of Dribble
Daniel H. Pink‘s:
“When I was shot, fear seized me at first. No surprise that. But once I realized I wasn’t going to die — despite the thermonuclear pain and widening puddle of weirdly warm blood — my mind recalibrated. And one thought, comforting yet disturbing, leapt into my head: I need to Tweet this.”

Paul Beckman’s “Ella Sees Something; Ella Says Something”
“Ella sees something, so she walks up to the Metro Cop in the subway, speaks to him, and points to the fire extinguisher. The cop laughs and sends her away. But, she’s seen a man off in the corner connecting wires, then hanging the extinguisher back on the steel post.”

Suvachana’s “Last Laugh”
“The coupé accelerates, braking Una crashes, tyres deflate.
“Ejected skywards, she free-falls gliding, haemorraghes infecting them, jettisons to kill, levitates. They will murder no more: nailed, obliterated.
“Politicians probe and question, revoking her license, silencing to torture, not undermining trade.
“Una vanishes, rights waived.
“Her x-rayed dentals yielded, zeroing their complicity” (Wattpad).

Credit to: Fifty
Nine-word Stories Definition: A type of microfiction that tells a complete story with conflict and resolution.

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
9 words N/A N/A
Examples of Nine-word Stories
“The balloon punctured and the world got dangerously close.”

#Gokul Nair’s
“He came back from war, some of him didn’t.”

#Shrey Kulshreshtha’s
He dreamt. They mocked. He achieved. They became jealous.”

#Suman Kotian’s
“‘All my toys are yours’ read her brother’s deathnote.”

Credit to: Nine

#Saksham Bhatnagar’s
“Two men fought, we cheered.
“They kissed, we jeered.”

Credit to: Bahuguna
Six-word Stories Definition: A type of microfiction that tells a complete story with conflict and resolution.

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
6 N/A N/A
Examples of Six-word Stories
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Margaret Atwood’s “Longed for him. Got him. Shit.”

Janet Burroway’s “All those pages in the fire.”

Credit to: Six-Word Sci-Fi

Check out Narrative Magazine‘s “Six-Word Story Guidelines”.

There are some pips on Reddit’s Six Word Stories.

Short Story Definition: Fictional prose written in a narrative style that can be read in one sitting, it may be published as part of a newsletter, in a magazine, and later published as part of a collection or anthology.

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 A short story is useful in allowing you to use that beloved scene you had to cut *sob* or in exploring a character or situation in more depth.

Short stories can be found:

  • As part of a series
  • In an:
    • Anthology – selected shorts by various authors that may be
      • same literary form,
      • of the same period, or
      • on the same subject
    • Collection – reprinted stories that are not related in interest or theme by the same author
    • Omnibus – reprinted stories related in interest or theme by the same author
  • A standalone
  • As part of a story sequence

You may want to explore “Collective Names for Short Stories“.

# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
1,000 to 7,500

3,500 to 7,500

Use quotation marks IF it is part of a collection, anthology, or omnibus.

Use italics IF it is published on its own.

No, as the short story is considered “chapter” length.

Scene and section breaks may be used.

# of Pages
Up to around 40 pages long
Focus is on:
  • A single event, scene, or episode in a larger world
  • Does not necessarily have a “beginning” or an end
    • Doesn’t need an ending. Some of the best short stories start part way through the plot, or finish at the climax and leave the reader to imagine the rest for themselves.
  • Doesn’t usually involve major twists and conflicts
  • Explores one (or a few) particular character(s)
Examples of Short Story
Aidan Moher’s “Youngblood“

The Pennington Public Library has lists of short stories you can read for free.

American Literature.com has links to 100 Great Short Stories (it’s actually 160!). They also have Short Stories for Students and Children’s Stories.

The free short stories in Nalini Singh‘s newsletter are excellent examples.

Story Sequence Definition: A group of stories that are linked through the creation of a pattern of repetition and variation that may be grouped around an event, a group of characters, a place, a theme, or a perspective. Each story is complete on its own and yet contributes to a larger whole.

A.k.a. linked short story collection

Credit to: Goodman

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 Examples of Story Sequences
James Joyce’s Dubliners

Sherwood Anderson’s Winesberg, Ohio

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway’s Party

Susan Minot’s Lust

Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place

Novelette Definition: Narrative fictional prose in a less serious form that tells a highly focused and complete story with a beginning, middle, and end.

It is longer than a short story but shorter than a novella.

Novelette once referred to a romantic or sentimental story; today it can be any genre, although it’s rarely used.

Novelettes are rarely published singly and may be difficult to pitch to an agent. Consider it more as an eBook in niche genres. Or an opportunity to play with ideas.

A.k.a. long short story, short novella

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?

7,500 to 17,500

to 19,000

to 19,999

 If published with an anthology, collection, or omnibus, use quotes.

If published as a standalone, use italics.

Scene and section breaks are commonly used.

Insert chapters if you feel it calls for chapters.

If distributing as part of an anthology, scene or section breaks are probably a better choice.

# of Pages
From 40–80 pages
Focus is on:
  • More supporting information that focuses on character development, worldbuilding, and plotting than short stories
  • Still more concise and focused than a novella-length work
Examples of Novelettes
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher

Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis

H.P. Lovecraft’s

purchase by you results in a small commission to KD Did It.”>The Call Of Cthulhu

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince

Octavia E. Butler’s Bloodchild

Ted Chiang’s Hell is the Absence of God

Novella Definition: Narrative fictional prose that tells a highly focused and complete story with a beginning, middle, and end.

It is longer than a novelette story but shorter than a novel and may be in any genre, but especially in romance, sci-fi, and fantasy.

The intention is for it to be read in one sitting.

A.k.a. long short story, short novel

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
30,000 is average

17,000 to 40,000

17,500 to 40,000

20,000 to 40,000

20,000 to 49,999

30,000 to 60,000

If published with an anthology, collection, or omnibus, use quotes.

If published as a standalone, use italics.

Yes, if you feel the story calls for it AND if it’s published as a standalone.

Use scene and section breaks instead of chapters if in an anthology, collection, or omnibus.

Scene and section breaks are always acceptable.

# of Pages
Up to 160 pages
Focus is on:
  • Focuses on a particular point or single issue
  • Which often requires a singular point of view
  • Often pinpoints the protagonist’s personal and emotional development rather than a large-scale issue
  • While it has multiple sub-plots, twists, and mostly secondary characters, it does not contain the variety of subplots found in a full-length novel
  • More nuance and complication than found in a short story
  • But moves at a fast pace
  • Action is usually set in continuous time within a limited space, ideally in one location
Examples of Novellas
Stephenie Meyer’s The Second Life of Bree Tanner

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine

Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange

Novel Definition: A long narrative fiction with a complex plot, multiple major characters, sub-stories, sub-plots, multiple conflicts, twists, and themes.
# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
The average novel is 80,000 words.

40,000 +

50,000 +

40,000 to 110,000

80,000 to 120,000

Once you go over 110,000 words, consider cutting out words or scenes, breaking it up into two books, or expanding into a trilogy.

Use italics. Yes. Chapters are the length you feel is correct. They do not have to be even. I’ve read a number of stories with one-page chapters that I found very effective.

Scene and section breaks are also used.

# of Pages
Number of pages depends upon genre, and a 90,000-word book amounts to 320 pages
Different Genres Have Different Word Counts
Science fiction and fantasy tend to be longer with the need for more complex worldbuilding.

Some are longer than this, but if you are a first-time novelist, shoot for this range; otherwise, you risk the slush pile.

Discover word counts for your “Target Audience“.

Genre # of Words
Commercial, Adult Fiction 80,000 to 120,000 Try not to go higher than 100,000
Crime Fiction 90,000 to 100,000 The page-turning demands and competitive market enforce a word count to which it is advisable to comply.
Fantasy 90,000 to 125,000

Can reach the 240,000-mark

 This is due to the longer descriptions or world building. These books are generally 20,000 to 50,000 words longer than realistic novels. Despite the accepted increase in length, they must be well-edited.
Paranormal 75,000 to 95,000 If strictly paranormal, keep it concise and to the industry standard.
Historical 100,000 to 120,000 Try not to go higher than 100,000
Horror 80,000 to 100,000 Be ruthless and keep it tight to maintain the suspense for your reader. Overly long descriptions and digressions can lose the tension.
Literary 80,000 to 110,000 Try not to go higher than 100,000
Memoir 80,000 to 90,000
Mysteries 70,000 to 90,000
Cozy Mysteries 70,000 to 75,000
Historical Mysteries 80,000 to 90,000
Noir Mysteries 80,000 to 90,000
Romance 40,000 to 100,000
Inspirational Romance At least 40,000
Mainstream Romance 70,000 to 100,000
Paranormal Romance At least 40,000
Regency Romance At least 40,000
Romantic Suspense At least 40,000
Science Fiction 90,000 to 125,000 This is due to the longer descriptions or world building. These books are generally 20,000 to 50,000 words longer than realistic novels. Despite the accepted increase in length, they must be well-edited
Suspense 70,000 to 90,000
Thrillers 70,000 to 90,000
Western 50,000 to 80,000
Women’s Fiction 75,000 to 110,000 Try not to go higher than 100,000

Credit to: Bloomsbury
Word Counts for Famous Books
Lord of the Flies, 62,481 words

Brave New World, 64,531 words

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 77,325 words

The Hobbit, 95,356 words

The Hunger Games, 99,750 words

Divergent, 105,143 words

Madame Bovary, 117,963 words

Twilight, 118,975 words

Sense and Sensibility, 126,194 words

City of Bones, 130,949 words

The Fellowship of the Ring, 187,790 words

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 198,227 words

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 257,045 words

Ulysses, 262,869 words

Gone with the Wind, 418,053 words

War and Peace, 544,406 words

Check out Stacy Conradt’s “The Quick 10: The 10 Longest Novels Ever” over at MentalFloss.com will blow your mind, lol.

Hawthorn Minehart has an organized-by-word-count “Word Count for Famous Novels” that’s interesting as well.
Focus is on:
  • Explores themes, sub-themes, and sub-plots involving multiple characters
  • Gives more characters the ability to change
  • Dives into backstory
  • Allows for multiple points of view
  • New important characters are usually introduced
  • There is a passage of time that is, eventually, united
Examples of Novels
Besides those listed above, you can also explore my own reading lists of Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, and Horror, Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller, and Romance.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for The Fictional Word Count of Books

Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.

55 Word Stories.” Tiny Fiction. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://tiny-fiction.com/55WordStories.htm>.

“[100-Word Story].” 100-Word Story.org. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.100wordstory.org/>.

Bahuguna, Ankush. “17 Riveting Stories Told in Just Nine Word Stories.” MENSXP. 8 Jan 2015. Web. n.d. <https://www.mensxp.com/special-features/today/24826-17-riveting-stories-told-in-just-nine-word-stories.html>.

Beckman, Paul. “Postcard Stories.” Paul Beckman Stories. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://paulbeckmanstories.com/postcard-stories>.

“Bite-sized Fiction.” Tiny Fiction. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://tiny-fiction.com/TwitterFiction.htm>.

Carson, Jan. Postcard Stories. The Emma Press: 2018. <https://amzn.to/3nVgvlO>.

“EBook Page Length — A Key Driver of Effort.” k-lytics.com. 10 July 2020. Web. 10 July 2020. <https://k-lytics.com/ebook-page-length/#unique-identifier> is even more fascinating for its chart on eBook lengths, how Kindle translates kilobytes into “pages”, the royalty system for Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners Lending Library, and what your Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count is.

Ferro, Shaunacy. “What Is the Difference Between a Novella and a Short Story?” Mental Floss. 7 Feb 2018. Web. 13 June 2020. <https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/526080/what-difference-between-novella-and-short-story>.

Fifty Words Stories. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://www.fiftywordstories.com>.

“Flash Fiction.” Wikipedia. 22 June 2020. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction>. Wikipedia lists a long list of authors of flash fiction.

Geist.com. n.d. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://www.geist.com/topics/postcard-story/>.

“Genre Word Count Guidelines.” Writers & Artists. Bloomsbury Publishing. n.d. Web. 8 July 2020. <https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/question/view/2497>.

Gilmore, Dan. “55 Fiction: Keep it short, keep it sweet, and if it’s good enough, you’ll read it this week.” Special Issues and Guides. New Times. 19 July 2018. Web. n.d. <https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/55-fiction-keep-it-short-keep-it-sweet-and-if-its-good-enough-youll-read-it-this-week/Content?oid=5684290>.

Goodman, Lizbeth. Literature and Gender, Volume 1. London: Psychology Press, 1996. p. 83.

Highsmith, William. “Flash Fiction FAQs.” Writer’s Digest. 25 Jan 2011. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://www.writersdigest.com/improve-my-writing/flash-fiction-faqs&lgt;.

Kianna. “Differences between Novel and Novella.” Difference Between.net. 31 May 2019. Web. 8 July 2020. <http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/differences-between-novel-and-novella/#ixzz6PGRYg21e>.

“Last Laugh [50 words].” Wattpad. <https://www.wattpad.com/366540642-snap-shorts-last-laugh-50-word-dribble>.

MADemerswriter. “Postcard Stories: Flash Fiction With an Edge.” WattPad. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://www.wattpad.com/story/27214017-postcard-stories-flash-fiction-with-an-edge>.

MasterClass. “Learn the Differences Between Novelettes, Novellas, and Novels. MasterClass. 3 Feb 2020. Web. 13 June 2020. <https://www.masterclass.com/articles/learn-the-differences-between-novelettes-novellas-and-novels#want-to-learn-more-about-writing>.

Meer, Syed Hunbbel. “Differences Between a Short Story, Novelette, Novella, & a Novel.” Literature. Humanities. Owlcation. 3 June 2016. Web. 12 June 2020. <https://owlcation.com/humanities/Difference-Between-A-Short-Story-Novelette-Novella-And-A-Novel>.

“Nine-word Stories.” Tiny Fiction. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://tiny-fiction.com/NineWordStories.htm>.

Noble, Susan Leigh. “Short Story, Novella, Novel —a What’s the difference?” 19 March 2015. Web. 13 June 2020. <https://susanleighnoble.wordpress.com/2015/03/19/short-story-novella-novel-whats-the-difference/>.

Phillips, Nathan. “What is a Novelette? And is It Worth Writing One?” This is Writing. 26 October 2018. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://thisiswriting.com/novelette-worth-writing-one/>.

“Short Fiction Forms: Novella, Novelette, Short Story, and Flash Fiction Defined.” Author Learning Center. n.d. Web. 13 June 2020. <https://www.authorlearningcenter.com/writing/fiction/w/identifying-your-genre/7125/short-fiction-forms-novella-novelette-short-story-and-flash-fiction-defined>.

“Six-Word Sci-Fi: Stories Written by You.” Culture. Wired. Last updated 4 Apr 2023. Web. n.d. <https://www.wired.com/story/six-word-sci-fi/”>.

Thomas, James and Robert Shapard. “Distinguishing between “Flash” and “Sudden” Fiction.” <http://www.ar.cc.mn.us/stankey/Literat/Fiction/FlashSud.htm>.

“Twitter Fiction: 21 authors try their hand at 140-character novels.” The Guardian. 12 Oct 2-12. Web. n.d. <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/12/twitter-fiction-140-character-novels>.

“What is Flash Fiction.” ReedsyBlog.com. 23 Aug 2018. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://blog.reedsy.com/what-is-flash-fiction/>. Makes some excellent points about writing flash fiction.

“What is Twitterature?.” TweetPals-Twitosphère. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://tweetpals-twitosphere.blogspot.com/p/twitterature-twitterature.html>.

Williamson, Jill. “Section Breaks vs. Scene Breaks.” To Teen Writers. 2 Oct 2012. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://goteenwriters.com/2012/10/02/section-breaks-vs-scene-breaks/>.

Woods, Robin. “Word Count 101: Novel? Novella? Novelette?” Robin Woods.com. 15 June 2015. Web. 14 June 2020. <https://robinwoodsfiction.com/2015/06/15/word-count-101-novel-novella-novelette/>.

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Pinterest Photo Credits:

Size Does Matter by Misha Honu is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr.

Revised as of 29 October 2024
By: Kathy Davie

nk” title=”Opens a new page” rel=”noopener”>Author Resources ➢ Writing Ideas and Resources ➢ The Fictional Word Count of Books


Pinterest pin for Fictional Word Count of Books

It’s all about the word count.

Lol, and your genre and target audience. Never let it be said that writing a book isn’t complicated.

What started this post off — and has it ever evolved! — was whether a short story‘s title was put in quotes or in italics. That slid into what the difference was between a short story and a novella and how to format their titles.

A short story is a peek into another’s world and doesn’t necessarily have an ending. A novella is longer and has a beginning, middle, and end.

That opened up the novelette and flash fiction, which of course, needed examples. Hey, a girl’s gotta satisfy her curiosity! Which meant I needed to be “fair” to short story and novella as far as examples went.

Yeah, it became something like looking in the encyclopædia, snowballing into the basic structure of each, what their focus was, word counts on long or popular novels . . .

So much for a quickie post on styling a title, lol. And remember, it’s all about the word count.

Word Count

The average page (double-spaced* using 1″ margins and 12 pt Times New Roman) is between 250 and 300 words.

* Single-spaced, it’s ~500 words.

Ebooks come out at 1kb to ~500 words.

While there is a reasonably wide range allowed for the number of words in most stories, each genre (and some sub-genres) has its limit. Those genres which require more extensive worldbuilding do allow for the extra, but if you want to be published, be careful to stay within industry-accepted lengths.

Title Styling

Whether the title of a tale is in quotes or italics depends on how long it is and/or if it’s part of an anthology, collection, or omnibus.

That said, italicize any reference to the title if the story was originally published as a standalone.

You’ll want to read about “Target Audience” as well.

Writing is . . .

. . . a lot of work . . . yeah, you already know that one, lol. What the posts on “Writing” are intended to do is explore the various mechanics of writing from plots to points-of-view to structure to character development to genres to voice to target audience to book types to character or story arcs to back stories to plot devices to themes to diction to copyright to flashforwards to flashbacks to framing the story or devices to memes to tropes to pace to perspective to settings to show versus tell to social context to continuity to storyboards to style to language to style sheets to syntax to tone to tropes and more . . .

It’s an evolving conversation, and sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. Heck, there’s always a better way to explain it, so if it makes quicker and/or better sense, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on some aspect of writing with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.

If you found this post on “Fictional Word Count of Books” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Story Length(s)
Part of Writing: Process
Definition: The process of writing involves:

  1. Research in which you plan out your story, gather ideas, determine your genre and target audience, and outline it
  2. Writing the first draft
  3. Re-writing, revising, rearranging, and modifying the content to relate better to your target audience and genre
  4. Editing to improve style and clarity, proofread for errors


POST CONTENTS
FLASH FICTION Definition: An umbrella term that encompasses a range of extremely short, short stories, that are usually 1,000 words or less (it does sometimes go up to 2,000 words), that still have a plot with a beginning, middle, and end, character development, and usually a twist or surprise ending.

It can also encompass nonfiction.

A.k.a. immediate fiction; micro fiction; nanotales; napkin fiction; new sudden fiction; postcard fiction; quick fiction; short, short stories; short-short; sudden fiction

New Sudden Fiction Definition: More akin to the traditional short story with character development and with a beginning, middle, and end.

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
Averages 1,500 words Use quotation marks ??
Focus is on:
  • Start at the moment of conflict
  • Very few characters
  • Maximize the impact by showing, not telling
  • Brevity but with tension
  • A great ending
Examples of New Sudden Fiction
Robert Shapard and James Thomas’ New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond. W.W. Norton & Company: 2007.
Sudden Fiction Definition: A long tale of flash fiction that evokes a single moment, or an idea, and still with a beginning, middle, and end.

A.k.a. short short story

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
750 to 1,000 words Use quotation marks N/A
Focus is on:
  • Very few characters
  • Maximize the impact by showing, not telling
  • Brevity
  • A great ending
Examples of Sudden Fiction
Joyce Carol Oates’ “Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear”

Sherrie Flick’s “How I Left Ned”

MICRO-FICTION Definition: An umbrella term for shorter forms of flash fiction.

Includes forms such as:

Yes, there is also micro-nonfiction.

You can find a huge variety of ##-word story categories out there . . .

A.k.a. microfiction, nanofiction

Postcard Fiction Definition: A story inspired by an image that could fit on a postcard. An image often accompanies the text to create the feeling of looking at a postcard, with the reader turning it over to read the inscription on the back. And with a beginning, middle, and end.

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
25–500, and typically around 250 words Use quotation marks N/A
Examples of Postcard Fiction
“The Watchers” Boston Literary Magazine 2014

“The watchers are watching the watchers. I watch from my bedroom window.

Alpha watchers are being watched by Bravo watchers. I don’t see anyone else
watching Bravo so I must be the Charlie watcher.

That means there’s a Delta likely watching me. Why? How could they possibly
have found out?

“Don’t Mess With Mom” Window Lit Magazine

“There had been a series of break-ins in the projects. Crazy people — poor stealing from poor. No one had alarms except my mother. Every night after putting us kids to sleep and reading she loaded up the Ouija board with glasses and carried it around placing glasses on top of the lower window frames.

“The Road Runner and Yosemite Sam went on the kitchen window while Davy Crockett, 2 Yartzeit glasses, and Snow White went on the two living room windows. After that, a chair tilted under the door knobs front and back, and upstairs mom went with the bread knife, a broomstick, and her Pall Malls ready for anything that might get through her perimeter defenses.”

“Downsizing” Boston Literary Magazine

“Monday they took the coat rack and love seat from my office.

“Tuesday it was my lamp and bookcase.

“Wednesday my L desk was replaced with a metal one and my swivel chair with a piano stool. I sat while they took my walls and my office became a cubicle.”

Source: Beckman; MADemerswriter; Carson
Twitterature Definition: A story that fits in a tweet. The early stories were 140-characters long; now they’re 280.

That includes the title if you choose to have one.

A.k.a. 280-character story, nanofiction, twiction, Twitter fiction

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
Up to 280 CHARACTERS Use quotation marks — and yes, the punctuation and title characters are included in the character count! N/A
Examples of Twitterature
“‘It’s no big deal,’ he told the boss. ‘When I make a mistake no one dies.’
‘Yes,’ said the boss. ‘But that’s not the point. You’re an executioner.'”

Credit to: Twitter Fiction

@VeryShortStory‘s
“My father came to live with me. It was my turn to say ‘my house, my rules’. I took away his glass and made him drink from the milk carton.”

Credit to: Twitterature

James Meek’s
“He said he was leaving her. “‘But I love you,’ she said. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘Thanks. It’s what gave me the strength to love somebody else'”.

Credit to: Twitter

More can be found at Tiny Fiction’s Twitter Fiction, which are primarily 140-characters long.
Drabble Definition: A story of exactly 100 words (not including the title). Just because the form is short doesn’t mean you can skimp on the basics of a good story. It should have a beginning, middle, and end, and include conflict and resolution.

A.k.a. ficlet, drabbles

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
100 Not necessarily included in the word count

Cannot exceed seven words

Use quotation marks

N/A
Focus is on:
One or more characters
Examples of Drabble
Maria Zoccola’s “Drive” A black night, a well-lit road, and the angled, striped flash of racing cars
“After the diagnosis, Aunt Jessie quit teaching and bought a racecar, oxy-white, a real hot ride. I sat shotgun down to Miami so Jessie could street-race for pink slips. You need a second in that scene, a hostage: keeps you honest with your wager. I sat on the curb with the other gal’s kid. The big man laid a gun against my skull and stared Jessie down through her windshield. The trigger pulled with a noise like Jesus come, but it was only the starting pistol; Jessie flew off down the road—engine roar, dust cloud, each moment losing ground.”

Lisa Ahn’s “Hindsight” A weathered bird house on the left and a close-up of a peak on a house in the background
“Trouble came because we didn’t waterproof the birdhouse. The paint held up, at first: a child’s pastel palette that drew sparrows and made the tree look festive. Harsh winters stripped the pinks and peeled the blues to graying wood. That’s when the yellow jackets nested. We drowned them. Tossed the house into the backwoods to decay. Now, instead of songbirds, we have spiked-toothed, bat-winged imps. They breed like mad inside the ruined house. Already, they’ve devoured our hens, the barn cats, and beehives. Still, we hear their stomachs growl. We hide behind our weathered walls, holding cleavers to the cracks.”

Credit to: 100
55 Fiction Definition: Fictional prose written in a narrative style (with a beginning, middle, and end) that uses up to 55 words.

No poetry, essays, musings, random thoughts, etc.

A.k.a. bite-sized fiction, microfiction, nanofiction, tiny fiction

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
Up to 55 words Not necessarily included in the word count

No more than seven words long

Use quotation marks

N/A
Examples of 55 Fiction
Dan Gilmore’s
“The crane’s cable had snapped. The Chinese take-out’s elegant new marquee lay completely destroyed on the sidewalk, its fall hardly cushioned by the body underneath. The investigator pulled a slip of paper from a broken fortune cookie lying next to the victim, ‘Watch for a sign from above’.”

Ellen Morrison’s “My Gucci Bag”
“He’s filthy. Baggy clothes. Mismatched shoes. Unkempt hair. He’s Black. I watch as the clerks eye him suspiciously. Customers veer around him. He strolls the aisle seemingly oblivious to their scrutiny. The front clerk calls for assistance. As the pimply assistant manager bravely walks toward him, I slip the bottle of perfume into my purse.”

Credit to: Gilmore; 55.
Dribble Definition: A type of microfiction that is told in exactly 50 words. With a beginning, middle, and end.

A.k.a. 50-word story, microstory, mini-saga, minisaga, ultra-short

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
Exactly 50 Up to 15 characters that are not necessarily included in the word count

Use quotation marks

 N/A
Examples of Dribble
Daniel H. Pink‘s:
“When I was shot, fear seized me at first. No surprise that. But once I realized I wasn’t going to die — despite the thermonuclear pain and widening puddle of weirdly warm blood — my mind recalibrated. And one thought, comforting yet disturbing, leapt into my head: I need to Tweet this.”

Paul Beckman’s “Ella Sees Something; Ella Says Something”
“Ella sees something, so she walks up to the Metro Cop in the subway, speaks to him, and points to the fire extinguisher. The cop laughs and sends her away. But, she’s seen a man off in the corner connecting wires, then hanging the extinguisher back on the steel post.”

Suvachana’s “Last Laugh”
“The coupé accelerates, braking Una crashes, tyres deflate.
“Ejected skywards, she free-falls gliding, haemorraghes infecting them, jettisons to kill, levitates. They will murder no more: nailed, obliterated.
“Politicians probe and question, revoking her license, silencing to torture, not undermining trade.
“Una vanishes, rights waived.
“Her x-rayed dentals yielded, zeroing their complicity” (Wattpad).

Credit to: Fifty
Nine-word Stories Definition: A type of microfiction that tells a complete story with conflict and resolution.

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
9 words N/A N/A
Examples of Nine-word Stories
“The balloon punctured and the world got dangerously close.”

#Gokul Nair’s
“He came back from war, some of him didn’t.”

#Shrey Kulshreshtha’s
He dreamt. They mocked. He achieved. They became jealous.”

#Suman Kotian’s
“‘All my toys are yours’ read her brother’s deathnote.”

Credit to: Nine

#Saksham Bhatnagar’s
“Two men fought, we cheered.
“They kissed, we jeered.”

Credit to: Bahuguna
Six-word Stories Definition: A type of microfiction that tells a complete story with conflict and resolution.

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
6 N/A N/A
Examples of Six-word Stories
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Margaret Atwood’s “Longed for him. Got him. Shit.”

Janet Burroway’s “All those pages in the fire.”

Credit to: Six-Word Sci-Fi

Check out Narrative Magazine‘s “Six-Word Story Guidelines”.

There are some pips on Reddit’s Six Word Stories.

Short Story Definition: Fictional prose written in a narrative style that can be read in one sitting, it may be published as part of a newsletter, in a magazine, and later published as part of a collection or anthology.

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 A short story is useful in allowing you to use that beloved scene you had to cut *sob* or in exploring a character or situation in more depth.

Short stories can be found:

  • As part of a series
  • In an:
    • Anthology – selected shorts by various authors that may be
      • same literary form,
      • of the same period, or
      • on the same subject
    • Collection – reprinted stories that are not related in interest or theme by the same author
    • Omnibus – reprinted stories related in interest or theme by the same author
  • A standalone
  • As part of a story sequence

You may want to explore “Collective Names for Short Stories“.

# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
1,000 to 7,500

3,500 to 7,500

Use quotation marks IF it is part of a collection, anthology, or omnibus.

Use italics IF it is published on its own.

No, as the short story is considered “chapter” length.

Scene and section breaks may be used.

# of Pages
Up to around 40 pages long
Focus is on:
  • A single event, scene, or episode in a larger world
  • Does not necessarily have a “beginning” or an end
    • Doesn’t need an ending. Some of the best short stories start part way through the plot, or finish at the climax and leave the reader to imagine the rest for themselves.
  • Doesn’t usually involve major twists and conflicts
  • Explores one (or a few) particular character(s)
Examples of Short Story
Aidan Moher’s “Youngblood“

The Pennington Public Library has lists of short stories you can read for free.

American Literature.com has links to 100 Great Short Stories (it’s actually 160!). They also have Short Stories for Students and Children’s Stories.

The free short stories in Nalini Singh‘s newsletter are excellent examples.

Story Sequence Definition: A group of stories that are linked through the creation of a pattern of repetition and variation that may be grouped around an event, a group of characters, a place, a theme, or a perspective. Each story is complete on its own and yet contributes to a larger whole.

A.k.a. linked short story collection

Credit to: Goodman

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 Examples of Story Sequences
James Joyce’s Dubliners

Sherwood Anderson’s Winesberg, Ohio

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway’s Party

Susan Minot’s Lust

Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place

Novelette Definition: Narrative fictional prose in a less serious form that tells a highly focused and complete story with a beginning, middle, and end.

It is longer than a short story but shorter than a novella.

Novelette once referred to a romantic or sentimental story; today it can be any genre, although it’s rarely used.

Novelettes are rarely published singly and may be difficult to pitch to an agent. Consider it more as an eBook in niche genres. Or an opportunity to play with ideas.

A.k.a. long short story, short novella

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?

7,500 to 17,500

to 19,000

to 19,999

 If published with an anthology, collection, or omnibus, use quotes.

If published as a standalone, use italics.

Scene and section breaks are commonly used.

Insert chapters if you feel it calls for chapters.

If distributing as part of an anthology, scene or section breaks are probably a better choice.

# of Pages
From 40–80 pages
Focus is on:
  • More supporting information that focuses on character development, worldbuilding, and plotting than short stories
  • Still more concise and focused than a novella-length work
Examples of Novelettes
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher

Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis

H.P. Lovecraft’s

purchase by you results in a small commission to KD Did It.”>The Call Of Cthulhu

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince

Octavia E. Butler’s Bloodchild

Ted Chiang’s Hell is the Absence of God

Novella Definition: Narrative fictional prose that tells a highly focused and complete story with a beginning, middle, and end.

It is longer than a novelette story but shorter than a novel and may be in any genre, but especially in romance, sci-fi, and fantasy.

The intention is for it to be read in one sitting.

A.k.a. long short story, short novel

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# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
30,000 is average

17,000 to 40,000

17,500 to 40,000

20,000 to 40,000

20,000 to 49,999

30,000 to 60,000

If published with an anthology, collection, or omnibus, use quotes.

If published as a standalone, use italics.

Yes, if you feel the story calls for it AND if it’s published as a standalone.

Use scene and section breaks instead of chapters if in an anthology, collection, or omnibus.

Scene and section breaks are always acceptable.

# of Pages
Up to 160 pages
Focus is on:
  • Focuses on a particular point or single issue
  • Which often requires a singular point of view
  • Often pinpoints the protagonist’s personal and emotional development rather than a large-scale issue
  • While it has multiple sub-plots, twists, and mostly secondary characters, it does not contain the variety of subplots found in a full-length novel
  • More nuance and complication than found in a short story
  • But moves at a fast pace
  • Action is usually set in continuous time within a limited space, ideally in one location
Examples of Novellas
Stephenie Meyer’s The Second Life of Bree Tanner

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine

Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange

Novel Definition: A long narrative fiction with a complex plot, multiple major characters, sub-stories, sub-plots, multiple conflicts, twists, and themes.
# of Words Title Info Chapter Breaks?
The average novel is 80,000 words.

40,000 +

50,000 +

40,000 to 110,000

80,000 to 120,000

Once you go over 110,000 words, consider cutting out words or scenes, breaking it up into two books, or expanding into a trilogy.

Use italics. Yes. Chapters are the length you feel is correct. They do not have to be even. I’ve read a number of stories with one-page chapters that I found very effective.

Scene and section breaks are also used.

# of Pages
Number of pages depends upon genre, and a 90,000-word book amounts to 320 pages
Different Genres Have Different Word Counts
Science fiction and fantasy tend to be longer with the need for more complex worldbuilding.

Some are longer than this, but if you are a first-time novelist, shoot for this range; otherwise, you risk the slush pile.

Discover word counts for your “Target Audience“.

Genre # of Words
Commercial, Adult Fiction 80,000 to 120,000 Try not to go higher than 100,000
Crime Fiction 90,000 to 100,000 The page-turning demands and competitive market enforce a word count to which it is advisable to comply.
Fantasy 90,000 to 125,000

Can reach the 240,000-mark

 This is due to the longer descriptions or world building. These books are generally 20,000 to 50,000 words longer than realistic novels. Despite the accepted increase in length, they must be well-edited.
Paranormal 75,000 to 95,000 If strictly paranormal, keep it concise and to the industry standard.
Historical 100,000 to 120,000 Try not to go higher than 100,000
Horror 80,000 to 100,000 Be ruthless and keep it tight to maintain the suspense for your reader. Overly long descriptions and digressions can lose the tension.
Literary 80,000 to 110,000 Try not to go higher than 100,000
Memoir 80,000 to 90,000
Mysteries 70,000 to 90,000
Cozy Mysteries 70,000 to 75,000
Historical Mysteries 80,000 to 90,000
Noir Mysteries 80,000 to 90,000
Romance 40,000 to 100,000
Inspirational Romance At least 40,000
Mainstream Romance 70,000 to 100,000
Paranormal Romance At least 40,000
Regency Romance At least 40,000
Romantic Suspense At least 40,000
Science Fiction 90,000 to 125,000 This is due to the longer descriptions or world building. These books are generally 20,000 to 50,000 words longer than realistic novels. Despite the accepted increase in length, they must be well-edited
Suspense 70,000 to 90,000
Thrillers 70,000 to 90,000
Western 50,000 to 80,000
Women’s Fiction 75,000 to 110,000 Try not to go higher than 100,000

Credit to: Bloomsbury
Word Counts for Famous Books
Lord of the Flies, 62,481 words

Brave New World, 64,531 words

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 77,325 words

The Hobbit, 95,356 words

The Hunger Games, 99,750 words

Divergent, 105,143 words

Madame Bovary, 117,963 words

Twilight, 118,975 words

Sense and Sensibility, 126,194 words

City of Bones, 130,949 words

The Fellowship of the Ring, 187,790 words

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 198,227 words

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 257,045 words

Ulysses, 262,869 words

Gone with the Wind, 418,053 words

War and Peace, 544,406 words

Check out Stacy Conradt’s “The Quick 10: The 10 Longest Novels Ever” over at MentalFloss.com will blow your mind, lol.

Hawthorn Minehart has an organized-by-word-count “Word Count for Famous Novels” that’s interesting as well.
Focus is on:
  • Explores themes, sub-themes, and sub-plots involving multiple characters
  • Gives more characters the ability to change
  • Dives into backstory
  • Allows for multiple points of view
  • New important characters are usually introduced
  • There is a passage of time that is, eventually, united
Examples of Novels
Besides those listed above, you can also explore my own reading lists of Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, and Horror, Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller, and Romance.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for The Fictional Word Count of Books

Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.

55 Word Stories.” Tiny Fiction. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://tiny-fiction.com/55WordStories.htm>.

“[100-Word Story].” 100-Word Story.org. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.100wordstory.org/>.

Bahuguna, Ankush. “17 Riveting Stories Told in Just Nine Word Stories.” MENSXP. 8 Jan 2015. Web. n.d. <https://www.mensxp.com/special-features/today/24826-17-riveting-stories-told-in-just-nine-word-stories.html>.

Beckman, Paul. “Postcard Stories.” Paul Beckman Stories. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://paulbeckmanstories.com/postcard-stories>.

“Bite-sized Fiction.” Tiny Fiction. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://tiny-fiction.com/TwitterFiction.htm>.

Carson, Jan. Postcard Stories. The Emma Press: 2018. <https://amzn.to/3nVgvlO>.

“EBook Page Length — A Key Driver of Effort.” k-lytics.com. 10 July 2020. Web. 10 July 2020. <https://k-lytics.com/ebook-page-length/#unique-identifier> is even more fascinating for its chart on eBook lengths, how Kindle translates kilobytes into “pages”, the royalty system for Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners Lending Library, and what your Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count is.

Ferro, Shaunacy. “What Is the Difference Between a Novella and a Short Story?” Mental Floss. 7 Feb 2018. Web. 13 June 2020. <https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/526080/what-difference-between-novella-and-short-story>.

Fifty Words Stories. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://www.fiftywordstories.com>.

“Flash Fiction.” Wikipedia. 22 June 2020. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction>. Wikipedia lists a long list of authors of flash fiction.

Geist.com. n.d. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://www.geist.com/topics/postcard-story/>.

“Genre Word Count Guidelines.” Writers & Artists. Bloomsbury Publishing. n.d. Web. 8 July 2020. <https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/question/view/2497>.

Gilmore, Dan. “55 Fiction: Keep it short, keep it sweet, and if it’s good enough, you’ll read it this week.” Special Issues and Guides. New Times. 19 July 2018. Web. n.d. <https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/55-fiction-keep-it-short-keep-it-sweet-and-if-its-good-enough-youll-read-it-this-week/Content?oid=5684290>.

Goodman, Lizbeth. Literature and Gender, Volume 1. London: Psychology Press, 1996. p. 83.

Highsmith, William. “Flash Fiction FAQs.” Writer’s Digest. 25 Jan 2011. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://www.writersdigest.com/improve-my-writing/flash-fiction-faqs&lgt;.

Kianna. “Differences between Novel and Novella.” Difference Between.net. 31 May 2019. Web. 8 July 2020. <http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/differences-between-novel-and-novella/#ixzz6PGRYg21e>.

“Last Laugh [50 words].” Wattpad. <https://www.wattpad.com/366540642-snap-shorts-last-laugh-50-word-dribble>.

MADemerswriter. “Postcard Stories: Flash Fiction With an Edge.” WattPad. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://www.wattpad.com/story/27214017-postcard-stories-flash-fiction-with-an-edge>.

MasterClass. “Learn the Differences Between Novelettes, Novellas, and Novels. MasterClass. 3 Feb 2020. Web. 13 June 2020. <https://www.masterclass.com/articles/learn-the-differences-between-novelettes-novellas-and-novels#want-to-learn-more-about-writing>.

Meer, Syed Hunbbel. “Differences Between a Short Story, Novelette, Novella, & a Novel.” Literature. Humanities. Owlcation. 3 June 2016. Web. 12 June 2020. <https://owlcation.com/humanities/Difference-Between-A-Short-Story-Novelette-Novella-And-A-Novel>.

“Nine-word Stories.” Tiny Fiction. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://tiny-fiction.com/NineWordStories.htm>.

Noble, Susan Leigh. “Short Story, Novella, Novel —a What’s the difference?” 19 March 2015. Web. 13 June 2020. <https://susanleighnoble.wordpress.com/2015/03/19/short-story-novella-novel-whats-the-difference/>.

Phillips, Nathan. “What is a Novelette? And is It Worth Writing One?” This is Writing. 26 October 2018. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://thisiswriting.com/novelette-worth-writing-one/>.

“Short Fiction Forms: Novella, Novelette, Short Story, and Flash Fiction Defined.” Author Learning Center. n.d. Web. 13 June 2020. <https://www.authorlearningcenter.com/writing/fiction/w/identifying-your-genre/7125/short-fiction-forms-novella-novelette-short-story-and-flash-fiction-defined>.

“Six-Word Sci-Fi: Stories Written by You.” Culture. Wired. Last updated 4 Apr 2023. Web. n.d. <https://www.wired.com/story/six-word-sci-fi/”>.

Thomas, James and Robert Shapard. “Distinguishing between “Flash” and “Sudden” Fiction.” <http://www.ar.cc.mn.us/stankey/Literat/Fiction/FlashSud.htm>.

“Twitter Fiction: 21 authors try their hand at 140-character novels.” The Guardian. 12 Oct 2-12. Web. n.d. <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/12/twitter-fiction-140-character-novels>.

“What is Flash Fiction.” ReedsyBlog.com. 23 Aug 2018. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://blog.reedsy.com/what-is-flash-fiction/>. Makes some excellent points about writing flash fiction.

“What is Twitterature?.” TweetPals-Twitosphère. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://tweetpals-twitosphere.blogspot.com/p/twitterature-twitterature.html>.

Williamson, Jill. “Section Breaks vs. Scene Breaks.” To Teen Writers. 2 Oct 2012. Web. 7 July 2020. <https://goteenwriters.com/2012/10/02/section-breaks-vs-scene-breaks/>.

Woods, Robin. “Word Count 101: Novel? Novella? Novelette?” Robin Woods.com. 15 June 2015. Web. 14 June 2020. <https://robinwoodsfiction.com/2015/06/15/word-count-101-novel-novella-novelette/>.

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Size Does Matter by Misha Honu is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr.

Revised as of 29 October 2024
By: Kathy Davie

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