Words vs. Stories

I spent yesterday editing the first fifty-three pages of my novel, distilling what I could, pouring on a few more sentiments, adding words, changing words, turning sentences around. After I let it sit for a few hours, I sat down and read it through. What I found was a story that was perhaps too tight.

As writers who are not yet considered authors, have we forced ourselves to rein in our true narratives due to an obsession with word counts, by trying to write a 250 page novel when it might need to be 295? How I long to step out a little, say another thing or two about my characters, give the reader more clues or put in more historical references. The books I’ve been reading lately are in the 400-500 page range and feel complete. I don’t put the book down and think “I wonder about X.” The author has delivered the full story, taken his or her bow and made me happy.

We’ve gone to so much trouble creating all our fictional worlds, let’s revel in them a bit longer. The publishing industry is in such a state, why should we care what their guidelines are? Are we writing pop songs or symphonies, painting Elvis on velvet or God in the Sistine Chapel?

Write for your own satisfaction, for the joy of creating something from nothing, and in the end, whatever the word count, you will have told the story you wanted to tell.

Amy