 Short Stories: April 23, 2025 Issue [#13098] |
This week: Names and Numbers Edited by: Legerdemain  
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This newsletter aims to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. I would also like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.
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Names and Numbers
After my newsletter question "Do you watch your word count as you write?" last month, I got an email response asking "What is the required amount of words to be written in that short story?" (Thank you, Irene  .) The answer varies. For the author, my opinion is you write until the story is done. If it fits into the parameter of a contest, awesome! If not, the edit process begins and you add or subtract to make it fit. I always save a copy of the original, to track where I began.
Google gave me some answers, take them as a reference, not written in stone:
Flash fiction, short stories, novellas, and novels represent a spectrum of narrative length in fiction, each with its own approximate word count guidelines. Flash fiction typically falls under 1,000 words, emphasizing brevity and impactful storytelling. Short stories generally range from 1,000 to 10,000 words, offering more room for character development and plot exploration. Novellas, bridging the gap between short stories and novels, typically fall between 17,500 and 40,000 words. Novels, the longest form, can range from 50,000 to 90,000 words or more, depending on genre and narrative complexity.
These word count guidelines are not rigid rules but rather general benchmarks for each form. Flash fiction prioritizes conciseness and often employs surprising twists to create a lasting impact. Short stories can explore a wider range of themes and characters within their shorter word count, while novellas offer a more in-depth narrative than a short story but less complexity than a novel. Novels allow for extensive character development, world-building, and multiple subplots.
Ultimately, the length of a piece of fiction should be determined by the story it tells and the desired depth of exploration. While these word count guidelines provide a general framework, the best length for a narrative is the one that effectively conveys the story and its nuances.
Throw in a few more like novelette (7,000-17,500) and micro-fiction (less than 100 words) and the water gets muddier. Every publisher and contest host has their own opinion of what they are looking for. Make sure you read the rules.
In all of this, enjoy the process and of course, Write On!
This month's question: What is your typical story size? Why do you enjoy that size? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback! |
WDC April Site Contest
Genre Prompt for April 2025: Detective
Our classic daily prompt contest...great prizes!
| |  | Higher Power (E)
I created this piece because I was inspired after re-reading one of my favorite authors.
#2338906 by Just John  |
Excerpt: "So, a deity or something is in charge of everything."
Excerpt: As he sloshed through the puddles, water soaked his suit pants up to the knees. For a businessman, this should have been the worst thing that could happen in the middle of a workday. But people have secrets. Some are even willing to die to keep them that way.
Excerpt: “What is the problem here?” Prefect Maximus demanded, hiding his fright.
“We don’t know, sir. The sky suddenly darkened, and the wind is roaring.”
Excerpt: I'd seriously thought those guys were doing a flash mob in the food court. Turns out they were actually real zombies instead of dancers. Damn you, Michael Jackson! You lied to us in that music video.
Excerpt: "What do you think?" the first one asks.
"I don't like it," the second one grumbles.
Excerpt: His gaze shifts from car to car, but it's the people he's really observing. The way they move, their reactions to the machines. For someone who has always been around racing and speed, there's something oddly captivating about the people who admire the cars just as much as he does.
And then, there's her.
Excerpt: Kreesh grinned down on her green skinned, pig-nosd reflection in the pool, and wondered whether the fey little man she met found her exotic or monstrous. After a moment, she corrected her brother. "I did too. Right on the nose. Then, he lowered his weapon, and looked in my eyes instead."
Excerpt: “Three-thousand years ago…yet it seems like so recently,” Ifria said, sitting at a large, round table, alone. He sighed and there was a knock at the meeting chamber door, where he was.
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This month's question: What is your typical story size? Why do you enjoy that size? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (March 26, 2025)" question: Do you watch your word count as you write?
dragonwoman  : I don't watch my word count while writing any more. I slash or dash after I'm finished.
Amethyst Angel 💐  :  perfect timing, because I just spent an hour or two or most of an evening fretting about word count for my Short Shots entry. I wanted to ask a Mod how the judges verify that all contest entries have obeyed the word count: do they take our word for it at the bottom of the item, or do they check it? Do they have the power to use the WdC word count checker on everyone's items? Or do they have to use a different one, which brings the potential for tremendous discrepancies 
Thanks for writing this newsletter, it's greatly appreciated!
JCosmos  : Regarding word count issues I write it first then check to see if I am under or over. I have found that AI tools can help with the word count but AI word count sometimes differs from Word so I use the word word count function I have never used the WC word count can you provide me and others with a simple how to guide on how to use WC word count and what word count feature is the definitive one for WC contest rules? I have use other word count programs but I think that word or Co-pilot works best Co-pilot also does a great job at identifying meter and syllables and I used it every day to refine my work.
Damon Nomad  : Not for novels but for short stories I am writing for a commercial submission call or a contest. I have a rough idea of what a 2000, 5000, and 10,000 word story feels like. So I roughly gauge for a target as I write and then deal with the actual WDC as I begin editing.
S 🤦 : No. A story is as long as it needs to be. I get an idea and write it. If it's close to 100 words, I'll edit to be a drabble, otherwise, I just let the story itself dictate. Could be 500 words, could be 150,000 words - the story is as long as it needs to be. If I am going to submit and there is a word count limit, then if I can't edit it down cleanly, I won't submit.
Howl  : No, absolutely not. the days of "write an essay of 300 words to talk about summer vacation" are sooo done and you have no idea how i hated them XD. unless the situation explicitly calls for it: i'm letting my brain decide how long a sentence is, and i think i made that clear here by writing both short and long poems. this kind of freedom is just priceless.
StephBee  : When I was a younger writer, I wrote like no tomorrow. Then I learned how to edit and write. Nowadays, I get pretty much get a story told in a word count, honestly, getting a story to fit a word count is a skill.
John & James Wegner : Only if we have to have a certain number of words. Otherwise, we're not sticklers for that. It's fun to see what it turns out to be though.
H. C. Blakemore : I don't watch my word count as I write. However, I do keep track of it all. As far as I understand it, word counts are close to being unimportant—at least for writing. Sure, word count goals can help some people to stay motivated. I keep track of my word count for that purpose. And yes, publishers would want to make sure the word count in a novel fits within market expectations for the genre. However, I have never—as a reader—cared about the word count of a novel. The same thing goes for when I'm writing. As was said above, the story dictates the word count.
Editing though? I'm always cutting words when editing—due to my style. After all, getting the concept across in fewer words leaves more attention for the really important things.
Just my two cents. Great question by the way.
N.A Miller : I get carried away and twist the plot and put in a lot of action packed stuff... so I don't watch my word count as I should. Won't get published like that... trying a new approach and set a word count to about 15000 words. (novella) 2500 words for a short. or try to adhere to what the magazine or publisher is looking for.
Hopefully someone might notice and I'd be published someday. never can tell in the market place.
Bilal Latif : Only if writing for a contest with a word limit. Otherwise I just write the story, although I'm getting better at estimating what the final length of a given story will be. For example, I'm working on one which will probably be about 6k ish on completion of the first draft.
kimauge : I don't count word in Korean or English, too.
Indelible Ink : No. My word count is pretty bashful, and gets embarrassed if it knows I'm watching...
Normally I whistle, look the other way, and sneak a peak only when I think I can get away with it.
I had to explain myself to the cops one time, and it wasn't pretty.
Mousethyme : No. That's one of the reasons my word counts are always off.
Pensivity : A much higher word count than a blind estimation to me is encouraging.
A word count check is in a different category than a word count verification.
Wordsmitty ✍️  : Don't have the time. Like most writers, I have to watch the clock.
Why do we always complete things at the last minute? 
Rick Dean : I actually do. Hemmingway used to set a goal of 500-700 words/day. He'd write until he reached his objective and then go out and experience life. I don't have that same goal and I don't have specific word counts in mind for a story, but I do like to look back afterwards and see that growing number as a measure of progress.
Dad : Oh, good Lord no! I write stories, not numbers!
jackson : From time to time, I look at the word count.
Humble Poet PNG still humble : I never set word or time limits or goals on my writing, but I do check word count occasionally just to amuse myself.
Yesterday aftnoon, I worked a couple hours on the story I'm writing for my wife. I only work on it sporadically, but since I stopped work this evening, the total word count stands at just over 14,000. That's not a lot of words. When talking, I can usually get out that many words while a person I'm conversing with is drawing a breath. 
deemac  : These days I mostly write for contests because sadly I find that's pretty much the only way I can get reviews. Contests usually means word counts. And word counts mean judgement and discipline.
In practice I start with a rough idea of the length of story I'll need (that's where the judgement comes in) and spend my final edit honing (that's when the real discipline is needed).
HollisFrances : Yes, on my first book, Willy's Accident. I knew I was going to have a line editor work on my final draft, and the cost went up significantly after 5,000 words.
TheBusmanPoet : No. I write until I'm finished. Some have few words, others have a few stanzas.
Tannus : Not for pleasure writing. However, for research, yes, I do.
JACE  : I never think about Word Counts when I write. And until Writing.com, I never posted a word count whenever I wrote anything. Now at the end of each story or poem written for WDC, I add that line Word Count: with the appropriate count using the WDC counter.
My foremost thought is to be sure to include a final word count for anything being submitted to a WDC contest, official or member-run, to avoid being disqualified.
keyisfake : No. The story will end when it ends.
Thank you all for your responses, your feedback is much appreciated! L~
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