New writers often ask how many words their book should contain. That answer is not as easy as it used to be. Times are changing and people are busier and attention spans seem to be shorter. The old norms no longer apply.
The epic War and Peace (1869) by Russian author Leo Tolstoy is 565,146 words in the English edition. American author John Steinbeck used 179,148 words to craft the classic Grapes of Wrath (1939). The Di Vinci Code (2003) by Dan Brown is 138,380 words.
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No matter how advanced you may be as a writer, no matter how many articles or books you may have had published, you can benefit from the feedback of their peers, colleagues, friends, and sometimes even family.
Why? Your point of view on your work is always going to be extremely subjective; that subjectivity is bound to cause you to overlook basic things in your work—facts, form, and function can suffer because your focus might be on some detail of the work. I suggest you seek the opinions of others about your work, and for you to read the work of other writers and offer them your perspective. This exchange is a tried and true method of improving your writing. [Read More]
Author Denis Waitley said, “The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.”
The ability to set goals is an important skill for writing success. Once you have a goal, you can establish the intermediate steps (sub-goals) required to achieve it. Goals have a way of bringing order and purpose to your writing life. There is hidden power in setting and achieving goals.
Why do some writers avoid creating goals? Let’s examine some causes and cures.
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