The Word Counts of Some Popular YA Novels

We often go around thinking that fat, thick books with huge word counts are the best. But the thing is, that thick book that you see in a bookstore may actually contain fewer words than you think. For example, Twilight is around 120,000 words. I won't mention the Harry Potter or Inheritance series, because Harry Potter breaks the rules as it's so popular and hence word count doesn't matter, and Christopher Paolini could shave off 200 or 300 pages off of any of his Inheritance books and they'd still tell the same basic story.

But anyone, here, I'm going to go to a page in various YA books, count the number of words on one page full of text, and then multiply it with the number of pages. The result will probably be higher than the actual number, because I'm not considering the fact that pages that end when a chapter ends and begin with the beginning of a chapter have less words since the chapter name is usually spelt out, but still, as estimated word count is higher anyway, and that's what we're calculating, so these are a bit higher than normal.

1. Goosebumps: Escape From Horrorland- I know this book isn't technically YA and more qualifies as middle age, but I decided that I'd mention it anyway. But, as you're probably thinking, the Goosebumps books are usually pretty thin anyway.
Words per page: 120
Number of pages: 132
Approximate Word Count:  15,840
And another thing, R. L. Stine writes over hundreds of books in a series, so a low word count is actually acceptable.

2. Animorphs: The Revelation- Another book that's pretty thin, and it's part of a series of over fifty books, and each book was written in under a month anyway.
Words per page: 193
Number of pages: 136
Approximate Word Count: 26,248

But let's get on to some of those thicker books that you might see.

3. Sir Thursday, Fourth Book in the Keys to the Kingdom Series- Now, this book is actually the second largest of the series, with only Drowned Wednesday being thicker, but if you've seen it in your local bookstore, you'll notice that it's one of those books that make you think, 'Wow. What a big book.' Well, let's see exactly how many words it seems to have.
Words per page: Around 240 on the pages with large amounts of text.
Number of pages: 343
Approximate Word Count: 82,320
Do note that this is probably higher than what it actually is. Also note that this book is the fourth in a series by a well-established writer, and also that it is a fantasy novel, which generally adds around 14-20,000 words to any story anyway.

4. Gregor the Overlander, First Book in the Underland Chronicles: Some of you may know this book's author a bit better than the book: Suzanne Collins, the same person who wrote The Hunger Games trilogy.
This is book is also pretty large, though not as much as Sir Thursday.
Words per page: 200
Number of pages: 310
Approximate Word Count: 62,000
This is a debut novel, so something that you might want tot keep in mind.

So that's that for now. Please don't take any of the above values too literally. The point of this blog is to show that not necessarily all YA books you see have larger than life word counts. The fact is that an average of 55-65,000 words is probably a good choice. Of course, there are always exceptions, and if you think your longer novel is worth it with each word being important, than, well go for it. Unless a publisher tells you to trim it down so it can be published. In that case, cut it until it matches their standards.

The thing is, don't write a long novel just for the sake of writing a longer novel. That's the thing that you want to avoid, which is what this post is about.

Six Things the Teen Writer Must Do

There are a lot of pages that list six things that writers should do to get published. But this is a page listing things that teen writers should do in addition to those. Most of these are things that I learned myself through trial and error, but hopefully you won’t have to go through that.

1.       Will my age matter?

If you’re wondering if publishers will reject your book based on your age, well, the answer is no. I’ve only seen one publisher that specifically mentioned that it didn’t want authors under the age of eighteen to submit, and that was just one small publisher. There are hundreds who will still accept your work.

However, do not bother to mention your age in any of your query letters to publishers/agents. There’s no point in doing so. For one, they won’t care. Secondly, if you’re worried that people are going to discriminate against your book because you’re a teen, then why do you mention it? Also, never put things like ‘this is my first book’ or things that devalue your book like ‘I know it may not be perfect’.

2.       Don’t Be Impatient

Sure, even adults can be impatient, but waiting is unbearably agonizing for a teen writer. I know how it feels. You want stuff to happen right now, but unfortunately the publishing industry is slower than the Internet Explorer browser. 

And, if you’ve done the math, I’m guessing that you’ve realized that you’ll probably end up being published when you’re twenty or twenty-four. I know, that seems like forever at this point, but that’s just the way it is.

3.       Take Everything You Read With a Grain of Salt

There’s lots of information out there on the web for writers. So much that most of it directly contradicts one another. 

The most important thing to remember in this regard is that writing is an art. Every book is different, and the method you will want to choose to get it published will also be different. Never follow anything completely to the letter, always remember to experiment and add your own style to what you do.

4.       Take Your Work Seriously

If you don’t take your own work seriously, how can you expect someone else to? What this means is if you want to be taken as a writer seriously, like an adult, then you have to do things professionally. That may seem a bit vague, and the best way to illustrate it would be with an example.

Write your query letters like a pro. Get people to proofread them. If you can tell a teen wrote them just by reading your letter, then it’s time to change your strategy. Also, like I’ve mentioned before, don’t mention your age. Ever. Until your publisher comes out with a contract, then it’s not a problem saying you’re underage. (And all it means is that your parents will have to sign, not you.)

Another thing: While it’s true that your work may not be as good as it should be, there’s no reason for you to ever mention that. If you think there’s a problem with your writing, fix it; don’t mention it to a publisher. Don’t be overly humble either. If you’ve worked your heart out on a book, proofread it, and you believe that it’s ready to be published; then go for it.

5.       Do Things

What this includes is:

a. Writing every single day. This is important because you’re going to end up competing against people who are probably in their thirties and who have a lot more experience writing than you do. It doesn’t need to be strictly about your book, it can be anything. Maybe you can rewrite a passage from a book you like in your own words and see how your style comes out. Or you could keep a diary, or if you want others to read it, a blog. 

b. Going out and doing things that aren’t related to writing. Another disadvantage we have due to our ages is, as some people would say it, ‘you haven’t had enough rich life experiences yet’. 

The real question is ‘What are you going to write on?’ If all you do is write all day, where are you going to get your inspiration from? The key is to go out there and do things. Be part of a club, go camping, do chores, just don’t sit idle by your writing desk.

6.       Don’t Give Up

This is probably the most important thing. I’m guessing that even if you did everything you could, no publisher is willing to take up your book.

But here are a few stats that I’m going to throw at you. Most people don’t get their first book published. Most people are over thirty when they finally do get published.

Now, if you’ve started writing a novel when you’re 14, even though it may not sell, you can always write another. And another after that. Think about how many books you could write by the time you’re twenty-four. (Add to this fact that writing is an art that can be learned. By constant practicing, you can learn how to write a great book and get it published.)

No matter how depressing things may seem at one point, remember that it isn’t the end. If you keep trying, you will end up getting somewhere someday. Maybe not now. But when you do get your lucky break (which will come eventually, trust me), be sure to take it all the way. You can always go back and publish any manuscripts you have that have never sold right now later on. 

And, besides these six points, I’m going to add that you should probably check out these great sites for teen writers (and a few for writers in general):

1. Query Shark: A blog that's great if you want to know if your query letter is up to the standard or not. It's also great to read the posts and get to know what a good query letter should look like. (And, all of the query letters are critiqued by an agent, so I suppose you could say that you're getting very nice advice.)

2.  Teen ink: If you're aiming to be a novelist, no, this site may not help you get your novel published, but for other articles and stories, it's a great site and I think every writer under twenty should check it out.

3. Fiction press: Some people may tell you to stay away from this site, but it isn't that bad. Basically, this is a site where anyone (I mean anyone, which is why there are a lot of bad stories floating around) can post their stories (original fiction only) and anyone (once again, anyone) can review it. You may not get too many reviews, but you can also apply for a beta reader, someone who will willingly read and advise you on your story. The only thing is that it takes no training to be anyone on fiction press, so do keep that in mind. Also, many of the readers won't want to run through an entire novel which is probably around 90k+ words in length.

4. Wattpad.com: You can connect with both writers and readers from all over the globe on this site. It's very neat and this is another site you should definitely check out.

5. Worthofpublishing.com: This link is pretty self-explanatory. You can get some very useful tips from other readers.

Should I Draw A Map For My Fantasy Novel?

One of the things that's constantly bugged me when I was writing my fantasy novel was the map. You know, the maps that they publish at the beginning of some fantasy books? (Come on. Even Winnie the Pooh books have a map of the Hundred Acre Wood at their beginning.)

                                           Please use proper spelling while naming your places though.

Now, a lot of guides would tell you to stay away from making maps, mainly because they're cliched and such. That's true, but at the same time maps seem to add a depth to your novel that can't be captured with words. It adds another dimension to your work, and makes the world you're drawing all the more real. Not only that, it can serve as a template for you while you're deciding on your plot.

But no matter how nice they look at the beginning of a book, I kind of decided that I wouldn't draw one. Aside from the fact that using maps is humdrum, there's a fact that your publisher probably won't bother looking at your hand drawn map and your writing will be far more important in this regard anyway. Plus, it's your publisher who gets to decide whether or not your map will be added, and if they do, they'll probably get a professional to do it.

Also, aside from the fact that I do not have enough artistic talent to bring out a map, there are two main reasons I opted for not drawing my map:

1. It's hard keeping your map realistic. You don't want to fill it with names like 'The Forest of Doom' that no one in their right minds could possibly actually name a place. Not only that, but you have to keep the map in synch with your story. You can't have your characters traveling between two towns in one day and then suddenly traveling three times that distance in one hour. You have to make sure that the distances between locations make sense, and that geographical features do as well. (Water doesn't run uphill, and neither do real rivers.)

2. If you haven't plotted out all of your world yet, if you make the map, then you can't change it later. This is actually the main thing that kept me away from attempting to draw a map. I hadn't visualized all of the world my book was supposed to take place in, and I wanted to explore it in a bit more detail in later books. If I messed up, there wouldn't be any turning back. (If you're wondering, I have a general idea of how my world looks like, but I'm not sure about the finer details in a few places.)

So, enough of my ranting. I'd like to know what you guys have done, or what you guys think. I'm sure a lot of you are working on (or have finished) your own fantasy books. Are you considering making a map? What factors contributed to your decision? As always, I'd love to know.