Do you guys feel intimated by the sheer amount of work you must put in your novel?

[whatswrongwithme22]

By that, I mean the sheer number of words needed to finish a novel.

For example, if you want to write a Xianxia or a space adventure novel, those stories typically require far more than 150,000 to 200,000 words. Creating an expansive world often triples that number, sometimes even reaching millions of words.

Even if for example, you write a thousand words minimum a day, provided without stop and no burn out, how long will it take to reach 1 million words?

Do you ever think about the word count required for your novel and just stop and wonder,

'How long will this take to finish? Is it even doable?'

I swear I'm enthusiastically working on a novel right now, and I just stopped because I realized how many words will it take and how long will it need to finish and what's most of all stopping me is..

"Will people even like it?"

I know people should write for themselves, that's why I do it in the first place, I want to write my stories. But I also want readers to string along the journey.

Some probably don't think about it, and just goes along and see how it goes, but for those who do, what do you think?

 

[Enkiari]

I... Hmm... No? I am a hardcore pantser.
While I generally have an idea where the story is going, I rarely think about it as a daunting task.
It's more about not being distracted by another idea 20k or 50k words in that worries me.

Granted, I write quite a lot compared to most others, having passed 1mil in a bit over 2 year long period.
So 200k words doesn't seem intimidating to me at this point. A different perspective, you know.

 

[Cipiteca396]

There's a lot of things stopping me from writing, but word count ain't one of em.

 

[whatswrongwithme22]

There's a lot of things stopping me from writing, but word count ain't one of em.

Hmm...Have you ever finished a novel that was nearly a million words or more? I don't mean the word count spreading through a couple other novels, but a single novel that reached that word count.

I... Hmm... No? I am a hardcore pantser.
While I generally have an idea where the story is going, I rarely think about it as a daunting task.
It's more about not being distracted by another idea 20k or 50k words in that worries me.

Granted, I write quite a lot compared to most others, having passed 1mil in a bit over 2 year long period.
So 200k words doesn't seem intimidating to me at this point. A different perspective, you know.

Trying to be a plotter now, I realized being a pantser, I actually never got to finish one single novel at all hahaha.
Fuck, I WANT TO FINISH A NOVEL EVEN JUST ONE! Hahaha.
I could write 70k-100k stories, but those usually aren't enough for even a volume 1. Nor the type of story I write require only those amount of words hahah.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Hmm...Have you ever finished a novel that was nearly a million words or more? I don't mean the word count spreading through a couple other novels, but a single novel that reached that word count.

Reading one, you mean? It's hard to tell because most of the stories that long end up stubbing, so you can't see their word count. Mother of Learning was 800,000 though, and it was shorter than a lot of the stories I'm still reading as they update. Also depends on what you mean by a single novel, I guess. I don't think I've encountered a story that long that didn't at least pretend to separate itself into multiple 'books'.

I could write 70k-100k stories, but those usually aren't enough for even a volume 1.

Tbh, that's enough for a decent length 'real' story. All three Lord of the Rings books took less than 500k. Theoretically, it would be best to refine your story idea to take the least amount of words possible... But web novels have the advantage that you don't need to worry about wasting paper.

 

[Corty]

No.

 

[laccoff_mawning]

Even if for example, you write a thousand words minimum a day

Rookie numbers.

I average 50 words a day.

 

[naosu]

Try not to think of the wall too much or it will put you into negative feelings and depression. :)

 

[MajorKerina]

if there's enough characters in your story and enough stuff they gotta do it tends not to be a big task to fill up a lot of words to get them from one point of a situation to another.

 

[Hoshino]

Think of it as a goal. Just another 100k words and the volume is done, just another 100k words.

 

[Terrate]

Back then, if I thought about the maximum number word count before I could finish mine, I would've think that I should be finished by 100k. But now, it's so different, I haven't even got to the main meat of my story and I'm already at 200k words! I'm just hoping that I don't need a million words to finish it, but I'm not betting on it. Because if I do exceed 1 million, that's more content for me

 

[RainyLiquid]

No.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Occasionally, but the story is in the driver's seat and I just chronicle the ride.

 

[Yairy]

If you worry about word count you tend to stress yourself out. The best stories comes from your own inspiration and heart. As clique as it may sound, I think you should enjoy the process and not worry about the final product. It's just more fun that way imo.

 

[ShrimpShady]

I'm a hardcore pantser who also takes forever to write, so I worry less about the actual length of my WIP than I do about having to go back to the beginning after a really long time and fix it up so it fits better with the latter parts

 

[Jerynboe]

You aren’t writing a million word novel. You are writing a chapter. One chapter that is planned to be part of a million word novel and slots into a prearranged outline now that you are trying to be a planner instead of a pantser, but you should still focus on the task at hand.

You can have a brain aneurism later, when you go back to do your last pass of edits on this behemoth. At that point you’ll have the sunk cost fallacy to fall back on, though.

 

[Eldoria]

Intimidated? It feels like someone is pressuring you. Well, if writing a novel is a hobby or a calling, there's no pressure. Boredom is inevitable, but you'll return to writing after you get some fresh air.

 

[Worthy39]

Yeah, the numbers can be a lot, I'm just starting to close in on 60K words, but my goal is to get about 200K by the end. I admit, it's not the longest story, but it's the one I had in mind to start. I've never written before, so I felt like 200K was a good end goal. So I guess the biggest thing is, if you don't think it's your worth your time, don't do it. But if you want to do it, even just as a hobby, then go for it, finish it, even if it takes years. What matters is you enjoy it, not what everyone else think.

 

[Puji-Maki]

It took me more than 2 years to write a novel that has 600,000 words. For me that's a long time, but it's worth it because I finished a story. A legacy for me as an author.

 

[Agdistis]

Having recently surpassed 1.5 million words... Yes. I am often quite intimidated by how much work and effort it has taken to write that much, and how much there is left to do. The whole thing is incredibly daunting.

Still fun though.