How do authors know they have written enough to form a book?

Question

Is there an average number of words per page on a book that they follow? How many words are there on the average book page, and how many words are there on the average notebook page?

How long do most writers write for until they stop for the day?

Answer 1

"How many words are there on the average notebook page?" That sounds to me as though you're writing by hand. In which case I suggest you type it up asap a) to ascertain for your own knowledge (and to see if its long enough to submit to a certain publisher) the wordcount, and b) so that your story is less likely to be lost to an accident (emailing the story to yourself is a great technique for preservation).

Apart from that, I've read through the other answers and have to agree: a story is finished when it's finished; some are short stories or novellas as they can't be stretched out to novel length without deteriorating in quality.

Generally consider over 100,000 words as novel-length (this is a common number which publishers use to restrict manuscript submissions). Good luck with your writing.

Answer 2

an average 300 page book has about 100,000 words more or less. Harry potter books are up in the 250,000 word range. When i write, i am happy with 2000 words per day which usually takes me between 90 min to 3 hours to do, depending on if i can think about what to write. Sometimes though i get lazy and only write for 1 hour and maybe only get about 600 words. On MS-word 1 page is about 650 words which is like a page and a half in a real book more or less

Answer 3

No - there isnt any set number of words in a book. Most editors figure 200 - 250 words per page, but for instance James Patterson is famous for using larger fonts to make his books seem longer. An average book is probably 100 - 140 thousand words these days. You just have to know when you have finished telling the story and then stop. But be prepared. IF your book ever gets past an agent and to a publisher, an editor is going to get hold of it and start red marking it - so it will end up less words than you started out with. The number of words on a notebook page depends on your handwriting. Do you write your stories by hand? There is nothing like Word to write in - you can back up and add, cut and paste, move things around. As someone who writes probably 3 - 5 thousand words a day, I simply cannot imagine writing by hand. Learn to type and type FAST because your brain works so much faster than your fingers and it is terribly frustrating - which is why I taught myself to type about 85 wpm. My son types about 95wpm - left handed no less!! Don't worry about length - worry about content. Tell a story - if it has merit an editor will work with you later to get it in shape for publication. Good luck . C.

Answer 4

It depends on the form of publication. average notebook pages are about 25 lines and the pages of books very drastically. There's no telling the words, and I'm not stupid enough to count. But if you publish a certain way, you can have a really thick book with half the amount of content that a book half the size contains.

Answer 5

My friends are all writers and each one does it differently. About 350 published pages constitutes a novel, more or less. Your pages from the computer will be a different pagination. Everyone is slightly different and so is the writing. Font sizes make a difference as well.

Most writers write in the morning and stop either when they are tired, or when they aren't making any progress. They will go back the next day and re-read and change what they wrote yesterday and then go on from there. Some authors write straight through and then go back to make changes. I can see that it takes discipline to write regularly.

If you know an agent, the actual numbers might be easier to find. You will have an editor to make suggestions as well.

Answer 6

It depends on the type of book and the intended audience. I believe most novels are around the 75,000-100,000 word mark, but I may be mistaken. The average book page probably has 300-something words, depending. That said, you shouldn't judge how done a book is by how many words it has. The word count may change drastically during the editing process anyway, so don't stress and just write until you feel done.

Hope this helps! :-)

Answer 7

You write until the story is done. There is no set page count or word count. You have a plot and you need to get from point A to point B, and you write until you have done so.

There are not set word counts by page. It is entirely dependent on the size of the book (a pocket paperback will have less words per page that a full size hardcover book), the font style and size used (Large Print books have fewer words per page than normal size print books), and how the book is designed.

Answer 8

A writer writes until the book is finished :-)

Also, how many hours per day depends on the writer. Professional writers work/write full days (8 hours +) like any full time employee. But, if you're just starting out and can't put that many hours in you just write as much as you can in the time that you have.

I don't think there really is a hard and fast rule about it.

Answer 9

A book is created by the author. It can be of 4 /8 pages or 1000 pages. It depends upon the subject, matter and the author what he wants to give or not. It is open to the reader whether he reads or not.

Answer 10

Since there are all different kinds of books for all different styles of writing, it doesn't really matter what the length of your book is. Just make sure that you have put adequate description in and that you have created a complete story, and nothing else matters.

I only write when I am motivated. Otherwise the things I force out aren't good, they are just words. I don't even write every day. Sometimes I'm almost asleep and I think of a great idea, and I have to get up and write. Take your time, and if you can't think of anything, don't make yourself. Just don't put it off out of laziness.