Free writing tip: “My first draft is too short!”

A reader’s question, and standard lengths for fiction: flash to novel.

BUT FIRST: My multi-award-winning novel, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back is now available at Target and Walmart..

Now, on to the reader’s question:

I finally finished a draft but it is too short. How can I fix this? Should I pad it?

Alle sez:

There was an instance when I was privileged to ask The Great Goddess Amy Bloom how she knew if the piece she was working on was a short story or a novel.

She replied that when she stopped having questions about the characters, she was done. And when she was done, it was either a short story or a novel.

Love that. Write what you want to write. Then find publication.

I advise against padding simply to reach a longer word count. When I finish a draft — novel-length to a post, here — it is good to give it some time. For the projects I see as having more of an impact on the life of the reader — say, a novel or essay rather than a Medium post — I let the work sit anywhere from a few days to several years.

(The sit-length is determined by how much I cannot keep the piece out of my head.)

When I re-read with revision in mind, I am most interested in what type of questions emerge. Invariably, those question light the fire I need to drive the project forward.

INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR LITERARY FICTION

• Micro 50–500 words
• Flash: 500–1000 words
• Short: 750–2500 words
• Short story: up to 5000 words
• Novella: 40,000
• Novel: 50,000–100,000

BY BOOK GENRE

• Sci fic/fantasy: 90,000 to 120,000 words.
• Historical: 100,000 words.
• Romance: 50,000 words (beach reads) to 100,000 (up-market).
• Thriller: 70,000 and 90,000 words

You are free to write to whatever word length the goddess gifts you. However, it is a challenge to publish work that does not fit easily into the above categories.