How I Helped My Novel Lose Weight

Word count is a tricky thing. You need enough to fit the criteria of your genre and age range, yet you also cannot exceed the limit. You need to show and not tell, yet not show enough to make your book wordy and pacing slow. You need to do so many things—with limitations.

When I finished my book and saw the end word count of 112,000, I was terrified. I knew from first hand experience that having a book with a higher word count than deemed standard for the book age range and genre could severely decrease my chances of securing an agent, if not making it impossible.

I did some digging, and here's seem to be what most people believe the standards for word count should be.

* NOTE: these numbers generalize all the different opinions about what the word count for each age range should be, and may not be the exact numbers you find somewhere else *

MG	YA	YA FANTASY	NA	NA FANTASY	A
25,000 - 50,000	50,000 - 80,000	​75,000 - 95,000	60,000 - 90,000	80,000 +	​50,000 - 110,000

The reason for the differences in word count is age. Middle grade ages would most likely not want to sit through an 80,000 page book, while young adult ages would be more inclined. However, that doesn't mean that all young adults want to sit through the length of a fantasy novel, however the publishing industry acknowledges that the word count needs to be higher to give authors the words needed to stage the worlds the stories take place in. New adult has a higher word count because it targets older young adults. It is one of the newer categories established mostly to separate young adult and new adult content, as new adult tends to have more mature content that perhaps a younger young adult shouldn't read.

Now that we know the ranges our books should be in, we can start working on helping them lose weight.

My work in progress was 112,000 words. It is a YA Fantasy, so while I have more room than I would have had in a fiction YA, I still need to cut down some words. My ideal target was 99,000 words. At the time, I didn't see how on earth I could get my book down 13,000 words when everything in my book needed to be there. But as I went through my edits, I discovered something that helped me bring my book down from 112,000 words to 94,000 words.

How did I do that? Well, first I started by cutting filler and filter words. Check out my blog post about that here. As I was cutting these words, I found another trend that weighed down my manuscript. Unnecessary details, repetition, and wordy statements.

Unnecessary Details:

You know the saying "kill your darlings?" I didn't understand what that meant until editing the final draft of my book. The darlings aren't always the sentences you adore. Sometimes, they can be random sentences strewn about your manuscript, adding no real relevance other than pretty prose. Here's an example:

The panic sparking inside Thicket ceased. In a note as flat and dead as paper, she droned, "6CO2 plus 6H2O, with sunlight, makes C6H12O6 and 6O2."

"Correct." Her teacher sounded almost resentful. "And do you know what each of those elements are?"

Okay. This little exchange between my main character and her teacher is fine. There is nothing wrong with it. But when cutting words, I have to prioritize what details I add and what details I cut. For this scene, my main focus is showing my main character's struggle in school. Not academically, but amongst her peers.

Before this exchange, her mind was wandering off and she was startled by her teacher calling on her. But, after hearing the question she settled, knowing the answer by heart. Knowing my intentions, the first line is great. It establishes that the panic she felt upon hearing her name called disappears once she realizes what it was for. The next line, however, describes how she delivers the answer. While the description is fine, does it add to the story? No. Why? Because it does not help support my objective for this scene. What should I do? Cut it.

The panic sparking inside Thicket ceased. "6CO2 plus 6H2O, with sunlight, makes C6H12O6 and 6O2."

Cutting that sentence didn't change a thing. If anything, it allows the previous sentence to set the main character's tone, killing two birds with one stone. We enhance the scene's objective, therefore furthering the story, and we cut eleven words in the process.

What about the teacher's response? For him, his role is to support the objective by showing that while Thicket isn't very good in social situations, she excels in academics. If she is a model student, why would he be resentful? At the time, I think I wanted everyone to be against my main character, but that isn't helping my overall goal. So, I make a cut.

"Correct. And do you know what each of those elements are?"

Now, this reads more like an exchange one would see in a school setting and I get to cut some words in the process. Here is the whole exchange all together.

The panic sparking inside Thicket ceased. "6CO2 plus 6H2O, with sunlight, makes C6H12O6 and 6O2."

"Correct. And do you know what each of those elements are?"

In total, I cut sixteen words. In two sentences. Imagine how many words I could cut in total if I go through my book with the intention of only keeping what supports my objective and nudges the story forward. A whole lot.

So—kill your darlings.

Repetition:

Ah, repetition. I am guilty of this one. Repetition can take the form of many things.

• Repetitive use of the same word throughout your novel

• Repetitive use of the same word within a few sentences or paragraphs

• Repetitive use of the same word back to back to back (as I have just done)

• Repetitive use of the same phrases or metaphors

• Repeating sentences (for emphasis)

• Etc.

There are so many ways to be repetitive—especially in YA (mostly repeating sentences for emphasis). I see it so much in books, and do it a lot myself. Some people like it, others don't.

The first two are pretty easily fixed. As you edit, make note of words you see a lot of in your manuscript and then go back and change them out with another word you use less frequently. The same can be said for repetitive use of phrases and metaphors.

Repetitive use of the same word back to back to back and repeating sentences, however, can be trickier. While some people don't like this approach, others use it to show their character's thoughts and emotions. Repetition is an excellent tool in this case for emphasizing, however when overused can make people think that your character is malfunctioning. Here is an example of what I mean.

Thicket shrunk into herself, praying she'd vanish. Poof out of existence.

These two sentences basically say the same exact thing. By repeating the idea presented in the first sentence in the second, I am emphasizing my main character's embarrassment and her desire to flee from her current situation. This is not wrong. I can't say that enough. But when I do it on every page for every thought, it becomes too much. Repetition is all about picking and choosing and follows the same "kill your darlings" motto.

In this example, my main character's problem isn't as big as others I would rather use repetition for, and the second sentence is nearly the same thing, so having it doesn't even help my objective that much. The first sentence gets the feelings across perfectly—so perfectly that the second sentence can almost be passed over. At this time, I should cut it.

What about when to keep repetition? Here's an example of when repetition could be kept.

She barely registered anything beyond that. Not finishing dinner. Not picking at the muffins. Not cleaning up and sliding into bed. She'd been too focused on holding back the tears pricking the depths of her eyes.

In this case, the repetition comes from dragging out the first sentence, which is generic enough to encompass everything that follows. I could just say:

She barely registered anything beyond that. She'd been too focused on holding back the tears pricking the depths of her eyes.

But... where's the drama? This is an emotional moment for my main character. I want to emphasize how numb she is feeling. How she goes through the motions, holding back the feelings trying to burst their way out of her. In this case, I made the decision to have repetition because it suits my purposes. If I chose to keep the example above, I could. But when you are trying to cut your story down to the purest moments—the things you want to shine—you have to pick and choose what to keep. Not pick and choose what to cut, because in actuality you can cut it all, but pick and choose what to keep. That decision will either help your story flourish, or overburden it.

Wordy Statements:

This one is probably the most simple yet one of the most effective. It is kind of hard to explain, so let me give you a few examples first.

Wordy
...she treaded on.	TO	​...she walked.
...she kept her eyes trained straight ahead and away from...	TO	​...she kept her eyes down and away from...
...draping it over the back of a kitchen chair.	TO	...draping it over a kitchen chair.
Her hand itched to jump up, knowing she could end the torture. But she kept her head bowed, eyes down, and hopes deflated.	TO	Her hand itched to jump up, knowing she could end the torture, but refrained.

Do you see the trend?

Each of these sentences / sentence fragments is perfectly okay. However, with a little alteration we have turned it from something wordy to something much simpler. Especially the last one. 'But refrained' encompasses everything the whole eleven word sentence stated, but in two words. It harbors her disappointment as well as her decision to not answer the teacher's questions.

A piece of advice that has stuck with me is:

"Reader's aren't stupid. Don't hold their hands. Let them think for themselves."

Sometimes, a lot can be said by what is not said. Yes, sometimes complex words are better than using the same basic word over and over again, like for the 'walked' example. However, if you use the same descriptive word over and over it can also lose its meaning. Use those words when you want to emphasize something. I could use 'treaded on' to help me describe the feeling of what my main character is treading on, or transition from one setting to another, or provide sensory details, etc. I shouldn't waste it when 'walked' does the job better.

As you are going through your edits, see if a sentence or group of words can be simplified to either one or a few words. Details are great, but details don't need to be wordy to be good. In fact, having wordy details is mostly a hinderance because it makes the description hard to follow. Use details in a simple, cohesive way, and save your favorite words or phrases for things that really matter.

Those are my three tips on how to cut more words from your novel. It took a little bit of practice for me to see trends in my writing, however once I got the hang of it I was cutting sentences out of my book, knowing based off one glance that it had no purpose.

I hope these tips help you in your editing! As always, feel free to ask me any questions in the comments, or share some tips and tricks that have helped you.

Until next time!