  Short Stories
This week: Word Counts May Vary Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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An Elf (written) Short Story Newsletter
Word counts for story lengths vary based on a few factors and this newsletter explores a few word count lengths along with why they vary. |
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Ah, the short story. In many ways, the word count is very important to the short story because it's part of what defines it as such: a short story. If you're just getting started with the story, I say don't even bother worrying about word count unless you are writing for a contest because it can be tough if you have to cut out thousands of words cause you went over the limit. Like I do whenever I try to write for the site official contests. Anyways, the word count can be important for a number of reasons but it shouldn't deter you from writing the story either. First, let's look at some of the different word count options and story lengths.
General Word Counts
Flash Fiction - less than 1000 words
Short Story - 1000-7000 words
Novelette - 7500-17500 words
Novella - 20,000-50,000 words
These are general counts in part because not every place agrees on the word counts for the different story lengths, which is why it's good to check with the publisher's guidelines before submitting.
Take novelettes for example. These are longer stories that aren't quite novella range but that tend to exceed some requirements on short story lengths. However, not every publish has the same view on what qualifies as a novelette. The Writers of the Future Contest, for example, considers novelette length to be between 7,500 and 17.000 words. Similar to this is the requirements for novelettes with both Asimov and Fantasy & Science Fiction magazines, which view a novelette as 7,500 to 17,500. However, the magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies has on their guidelines that they accept novelettes from 7,500 words to 10,000 words. Bit of a difference. Yet, all of them accept speculative fiction, which is why it's good to check specific guidelines before submitting any stories to them, as there are many factors that will differ. And other places will just call those counts as really long stories, not even use the term novelette.
The counts for short stories in general, flash fiction and even novels will vary depending on genre, publisher, reader age and even formatting as e-books have also affected overall length. I've seen some freelance postings and they will call anything a book. 20 pages = book... Which annoys me to a small degree but that's a different ramble. Back to main topic, so why are word counts important?
If you're just writing to write and get the stories down, then they aren't really. When readers are involved, then it starts to come up a bit more. Here on WDC, some find it's harder to get longer stories read and reviewed because they do in fact take more time. Then there are the contests, which will often have word count requirements. And yes, please if submitting a story try to follow the contest word count requirements. It doesn't matter what the prize is, if you enter then try your best to follow the rules laid out by the owner and judges. If the story exceeds the limits, do a shorter version for the contest or find a longer contest to enter. There are options besides just "this is what I have so take it" approaches. Finally, if you are going to submit the stories to publishers, it will do well to pay attention to their specific guidelines for the word counts. Some aren't even hard lines, they will state if there is any room beyond their general listed word counts, but don't just send a 17,000 word story to a place that doesn't accept anything above 10,000 unless you really want to see that rejection email, cause that will probably be the result as they won't even read most submissions that don't follow their listed guidelines so doesn't matter how amazingly awesome the story might be if it's that far off the listed word count expectations. But it's not all negative, word counts can actually be quite fun to try and develop a story within. It will help you work not only on pacing, characterization, and plot but also with editing and crafting to get the story well within the structure that each range allows.
Try out the different counts and see what you work well within, is my recommendation. Me? I'm more of a novelist but I've written from microfiction to novella lengths and still do. In fact, I'll be writing a novelette this month and hope others give it a try as well. It's quite fun even if the ideas always end up as novels later on when I'm the writer. Try it out and you might surprise yourself when you work within a different word count range.
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Contests and Such
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Which is your favorite word count range? Is there one you haven't tried yet?
From last time I edited Short Stories newsletter, where I talked about keeping track of contest and publisher submissions, here are a few of the great comments sent in:
Comment by Patrece ~ 
A very helpful article! I have at times found myself hunting through my port trying to recall which contest a piece or two had bee entered into. Then I go on a wild goose chase from bookmark to bookmark to see which contests I have marked, and check to see if I had an entry in it. Then I have to see if it has been judged yet.
It takes a lot of extra time and effort, which could be better spent doing other things. It would be so disappointing to go back and make an edit to a story only to realize you have disqualified yourself from the contest. I haven't done this yet, but have come close!
Thank you for the words of wisdom!
- Thank you for the kind words on the newsletter I did back in January. That is true on the edit issue, because some people do check the items when judging and it could get a story disqualified. Best to try and keep track when entering contests as not everyone can judge right away.
Comment by mblank
Great newsletter topic! I keep an excel spreadsheet for my submissions to literary magazines, as well as keeping track on Duotrope, but hadn't thought of doing that for WDC contests. Not a bad idea, especially when entering the monthly ones. Also, thank you for featuring my story in your newsletter 
- Glad it helps. The monthly ones are fun but yeah, sometimes you forget so it's good to keep track. The excel spread sheet had been the easiest so for for tracking submissions for me too, though I use Grinder as well (cause I can't afford Duotrope yet).
Comment by vada 
I keep track the old-fashion way. I have a black notebook with all my submissions, when they go out and where, as well as rejections or sales
- Blank notebooks are useful too, just don't lose one.  I like notebooks but hand writing tends to hurt, so I don't do as much of it any more, but they can definitely come in handy.
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Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
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Short Stories: August 06, 2014 Issue [#6477]
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