Hey Folks,
Just a touch-up on yesterday’s topic re Lee Child and his buddy, Jack Reacher….
It occurred to me last night that some of the (what I saw as) excess description and unnecessary repetition might well be the result of his publisher’s prodding.
After all, the novel length guidelines we’ve heard about all our lives are the direct result of traditional publishers needing to make a price point. To hit a particular price point, they need a certain number of folios. They tell the agents, and the agents push the writers to fill a certain number of pages.
Many, many writers have padded stories on their agent’s or publisher’s “recommendation” to reach an artificial word/page count so the publishers could reach their price point.
Unless things have changed in the past 20 years or so, the minimum for a novel via traditional publishing is 80,000 words. They prefer 100,000 to 120,000.
Novellas, by definition, typically run from 20,000 to 50,000 words when you can find a publisher who’ll touch oen. Yet anywhere else in the world, and even here in the States before traditional publishing stood up in the 1950s, 25,000 words or longer is considered a novel.
So just something to think about.
I did notice Lee Child’s second book was MUCH shorter than his first and — so far, at least — without so much excess baggage. I also noticed the pages (the actual paper sheets) are slightly thicker. The font might even be slightly larger, though I haven’t yet made that comparison.
I mention all of this because the books of my favorite (current) thriller writer, Jack Higgins, don’t have any of that excess. No unnecessary description, no deep internal psychological stuff, etc. And his books move much more quickly.
I should also note that this is an apples-to-oranges comparison, since I’ve read only the first two novels Lee Child wrote and am comparing them with novels Higgins wrote after he was well-practiced.
***
Thus far I’ve had a bit of an odd day, writing wise.
I went out to the Hovel at a little after 3 expecting to play a game or two of cards to siphon my brain into working, then launch into the Stern Talbot WIP.
But as I sat down, an idea crawled up and grabbed me. I didn’t even open a Word document. I opened Notepad and started writing the “introduction” for a new series.
It was more of a rationale than an introduction. It’s nonfiction, and novels very rarely have introductions.
Likewise, this one might or might not end up in the first novel of the series. But it will end up either there or on a series-introduction page on my website. And it’s intended for the first novel, so I’m counting it in the fiction total below.
Now for a brief break up to the house. Then we’ll see what the rest of the day holds.
By the way, the Stern Talbot novel is NOT on hold and I don’t plan to shove it to the back burner or anything like that.
If anything, this new idea creeping along my spine might cause me to press ahead with Talbot and finish the story sooner than I might have otherwise. So a win-win.
But I had to get the intro down. I’ll try not to write the actual opening for the novel (and series) until later. But we’ll see about that too. (grin)
***
I got only one good (long) session on the novel thus far for just under 1700 words. I think that will be it for today.
Back up to the house for a break and a few chores (helping with laundry, cleaning cat boxes, shaking rugs etc.), shopping, and watching The Crown with my wife. Great show.
Back soon.
Of Interest
For any who missed it yesterday, to see what Lee Child does, see “The man with no plot: how I watched Lee Child write a Jack Reacher novel” at http://theconversation.com/the-man-with-no-plot-how-i-watched-lee-child-write-a-jack-reacher-novel-51220.
Fiction Words: 2995
Nonfiction Words: 660 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 3655
Writing of Stern Talbot, PI—The Early Years: The Case of the Sliced-Up Secretary
Day 1…… 3207 words. Total words to date…… 3207
Day 2…… 3079 words. Total words to date…… 6286
Day 3…… 3870 words. Total words to date…… 10156
Day 4…… 2481 words. Total words to date…… 12637
Day 5…… 3164 words. Total words to date…… 15801
Day 6…… 3140 words. Total words to date…… 18941
Day 7…… 1145 words. Total words to date…… 20086
Day 8…… 1656 words. Total words to date…… 21742
Writing of Novel 1, New Thriller Series
Day 1…… 1339 words. Total words to date…… 1339
Total fiction words for the month……… 43544
Total fiction words for the year………… 94849
Total nonfiction words for the month… 7410
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 26740
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 129609
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 2
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 29
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 4
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………………… 182