Sometimes I angst about word count.
The way I see it, most people take forever to say absolutely nothing, so a novel with 90,000 words is going to be mostly rambling — it really shouldn’t take 1,000 words to say something that can be expressed in 10, but people do it anyway. I don’t read epic novels because of this.
I’m naturally a straightforward and concise person, so how people manage to put out so much filler leaves me baffled. How on earth do they manage to avoid getting to the point for so long?
However, reading is like listening to music, in the sense that it possesses a rhythm and flow. Sometimes I worry that my blunt phrasing leaves others feeling that the experience was too short for their liking. Yes, I made my point and told the story, but maybe I should have lingered on a few particular scenes purely for the sake of making them longer and more satisfying.
Like sex, for the analogy. Sometimes you want to play around and draw things out, instead of just getting right to the orgasms. Of course, sometimes its been a long day and while you want sex, you also want to get off quickly so you can fall asleep wrapped in post-coital bliss. Too long, and you start to go numb.
Though, I did read that intercourse lasts for only 6 minutes on average, so maybe that’s a bad comparison. I’m also deliberately trying to ramble, to see how it feels. It’s chaotic. Can’t say I enjoy it.
Maybe I should make my characters stupid, so they get into more trouble and generate more drama. And side plots. Hilarity ensues, and all that jazz. To help the readers feel like they’re hanging out more.
Or sex scenes. Because sex, lol.
I dunno.
I don’t want to be the sort of person who churns out epic novels, but I worry that I tend to under do it. I hope the fact that I’m focusing on e-books for cheap/free helps compensate for my blunt personality, though maybe it doesn’t matter as much as I fear.
I’m still not at 400 words. Good god, how do people do it? I made my point ages ago, came up with a titillating analogy, and now all I’ve got to go on is repetition.
Repetition.
Pointed repetition.
Reeeepeeetiiitiooooon.
Meh, I’ll never get there.
By Autumn Rain 