book length essay

What are the six different essay lengths?

This is the second of three chapters about Essays . To complete this reader, read each chapter carefully and then unlock and complete our materials to check your understanding.   

– Discuss why essays might vary in length

– Outline the six major lengths of academic essay

– Provide defining features for each essay length

Chapter 1: What is an academic essay?

Chapter 2: What are the six different essay lengths?

Chapter 3: What are the seven different types of academic essay?

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The length of essay you’re assigned will likely depend on where you are exactly in your academic course. Generally, assignments at the start of a bachelor’s degree will be shorter than those required in a student’s final years, just like master’s  and doctoral-level essays will continue to increase in both length and difficulty.

1. The One-Paragraph Essay

Generally about 150 to 250 words in length, the one-paragraph essay may be assigned by academic tutors simply in order to practise the basic concepts of paragraph writing, or it may also be used for specific purposes such as to practise summarising an article that’s been read in class or to write an extended definition of a concept. Additionally, one-paragraph essays may also be used as a diagnostic to quickly determine the level of a student’s writing. Unlike other essay lengths, for the one-paragraph essay, you’ll need to include at least some introductory, body and conclusive elements within the same paragraph.    

2. The Three-Paragraph Essay

Usually around 500 words in length, the three-paragraph essay is generally used to introduce students to the concept that all essays should maintain an introduction , body section and conclusion if the writer wishes to produce cohesive and a logical writing. The introduction and conclusion will be the first and last paragraphs and tend to be a little shorter in length, while the central body paragraph will contain the essay’s content or argument. A simple table explaining the balance of content in a three-paragraph essay has been provided below:

3. The Five-Paragraph Essay

Around 1,000 words in length, the five-paragraph essay is generally set by tutors who are content that their students understand the introduction-body-conclusion essay  structure and wish to allow more freedom to expand the ideas and arguments presented by the writer in the body section of the essay. This length of essay still only dedicates one paragraph to the introduction and conclusion , but allows three paragraphs to be dedicated to the exploration of the theme in the essay’s body. At this length, certain essay types such as cause and effect essays or compare and contrast essays may now be utilised. The following is a simple diagram of the balance of paragraph lengths in a five-paragraph essay.

4. The Extended Essay

The extended essay is the most common type of essay that’s assigned during a bachelor’s or master’s degree , and it may be of any length – although it’s unusual for such essays to be above 5,000 words. The most common lengths for an extended essay are 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 words, with a word count allowance of plus or minus 10%. Such essay types will most certainly require research and referencing skills , and may also begin to follow more complex structures such as are found in dissertations and theses rather than simply following the introduction-body-conclusion structure of shorter essays.

5. The Dissertation

Generally assigned as the final project for both bachelor’s   and master’s degree , the typical length of an academic dissertation is 10,000 or 15,000 words. Unlike shorter essay types , dissertations have more complex structures and are almost always based around primary research (original research that the writer has conducted themselves). The following table demonstrates some of the key parts of a dissertation as well as the rough word count  percentages for each section:

6. The Thesis

Finally, the thesis is the longest academic essay type and the one that’s reserved for doctorate students studying PhDs. Generally between 40,000 and 60,000 words in length, the doctorate thesis may contain all the elements of a dissertation but in much more detail and with more careful investigation. Such essays  are almost certainly original and are based on primary research , with a larger focus on the accuracy of the literature review , data collection and data analysis . Many students will never encounter this essay type. 

Once you can recognise which essay length you’ve been assigned, the next question covered in Chapter 3 is about determining the type of essay you have to write. This is because each essay type will require particular styles, structures, foci and language.

To reference this reader:

Academic Marker (2022) Essays . Available at: https://academicmarker.com/academic-guidance/assignments/essays/ (Accessed: Date Month Year).

• Harvard Writing Center
• Leeds University Library
• Purdue Online Writing Lab

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Friday, February 19, 2010

The book-length essay, 8 comments:.

Have you read Maggie Nelson's *bluets*? I'm just wondering how you might categorize it, given the parameters that you're thinking about. I'd be interested to know what you conclude. It's a great read. I taught it in my Graduate Poetry course and my undergraduate Advanced Nonfiction Theory course.

To my mind, one of the classic book-length essays is the James Agee / Walker Evans text, /Let Us Now Praise Famous Men/. For a book to qualify for this reader there has to be a real sense of book as its own project, with its own sense of structure. Far too often writers seem happy to just throw together a bunch of essays and call it a collection, as if there's not art in the compilation, the ordering, and the editing that should talk place after you assemble essays. I read John's book as a book-length essay, albeit, yeah, it's divided into sections/chapters. It doesn't really read as a memoir in any real way, though there's memoir components working in it. And polemic. I haven't read that Maggie Nelson book though this is the second time this week somebody's mentioned it which suggests it's about time to pick it up. Does the book-length essay have to be short in order to consider it an essay? The one thing I like about this discussion is that it seems like, for a lot of mfa types and other students of writing (esp nf) the options appear to them to be (1) memoir; (2) collection of essays; and (3) uhhhh... so thinking about book-essays is helpful.

Oh, I think I'd argue for a couple of Lisa Robertson's books (particularly THE WEATHER) being pretty good examples of the book-length essay, albeit on the lyric side of the tracks, which we all know is the uncool side of the tracks.

John was in town last night. We decided "font size."

J- Excellent, I haven't read this yet, but I just ordered a copy (I'll probably report back on here with some thoughts). A- It's funny you mention /Let us Now Praise Famous Men/, as I started re-reading it about a week ago. I don't think it necessarily has to be short, but I do think it needs to read like it's short, if that makes sense. I think the essay, despite it's ability to meander, still feels more focused in the moment than memoir. You don't see as much set up/exposition ("Looking back, I...") in an essay, for example. Agreeing with the 3rd point as well: my thesis is a collection of essays that feel connected to me, but apparently they don't read that way to anyone else. I've been thinking a lot about book-length essays lately, mainly because I'm trying to figure out the best way to weave my shorter works into something that better accumulates. N- bigger=better? I'll start submitting work in 36-point!

Why does it have to read like it's short? Do you mean that it should have some kind of formal element that unifies it? Or that it simply has to read like a /project,/ and not a bunch of projects stuck together?

Yeah, mainly I think it has to read like a project. I fear I may be venturing into more of an essay/memoir comparison, but the essay (including book-length) usually feels like a series of events that gradually build in some unexpected fashion. Memoir, although also a series of events, typically seems to build toward a foregone conclusion. For example, I can read the first 15 pages of /The Duke of Deception/ and tell you, regardless of any surprises along the way, that I'm going to be reading primarily about a complicated father/son relationship. I think it's the essay's ability to jump around that makes it "read like it's short," since individual scenes/sections tend to feel more self-contained.

I'm thinking it has to do with the capacity of a brain, too. And the essay has a lot to do with brain, in that it is the form that most accurately models the way in which we think (or maybe I should say it most accurately simulates the way that a particular essayist's brain does its thinking thing). So if we think of a book as an essay we might want to think of it as (possibly) being held within one brain, possibly in one sitting, possibly in one movement. Which is why it's easier for this reader anyhow to track some more poetic essays, since the style can act as a clear formal unifier. I agree with you that the movement of an essay is different than the movement of a memoir. That it is more brainlike. Which means probably (or apparently) unpredictable. Which makes stream of consciousness as a fictional technique a very essayish move.

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The Memoir in Essays: A Reading List

Elizabeth kadetsky on the multiple ways we can look at the self.

While the personal essay has enjoyed continued popularity, a book-length collection of linked essays, centered on an author’s self or life, is less common than a traditional memoir or novel. A truly successful essay collection can reveal the author processing experiences at many different points in time and through many different lenses. As a writer, I’ve always been drawn to the essay as a form, for its concision, for its ability to highlight an intriguing gap between author and narrator that lends an inherent tension and self-questioning. A collection of essays treating the same or related inquiries multiplies this effect.

The distance afforded by those multivalent lenses can allow an author to regard one’s younger self as a different character, a different persona. This can create an unease or uncertainty that is exciting, and also very relatable to the reader. An author’s ability to forgive that earlier version of herself is especially prevalent in the memoir-in-essays, perhaps because of the extended time period covered as a writer composes essays across years or even decades.

We are lucky enough to be in the middle of a renaissance. Several recent and upcoming memoirs-in-essays use the inquisitive essay form to tell life stories from different vantage points and make the reader question and revel in unreliable narrators and new perspectives. The more traditional memoir focuses on seeking and attaining redemption. The nonlinear structure of an essay collection reveals that there is never easy redemption, never clear resolution: bad things happen for no reason; overcoming one trial does not lessen the need to adapt in the next.

These new, enchanting and powerful collections are a welcome reminder that in our collective state of unrest and unknown futures, there is a comfort in knowing that there is an inherent uncertainty in having the answers.

Emily Arnason Casey, Made Holy: Essays (University of Georgia Press)

In beautiful, scenic prose, Emily Arnason Casey probes her middle American childhood from the stance of different venues, times of life, and primary characters—a family cabin and repository for memories both happy and sad; a little sister who grew up and wasn’t a sidekick anymore; a mother who didn’t reveal the family propensity to alcoholism until it was too late; an aunt who succumbed to the illness’s lure. In a spiral-like structure that keeps returning to a central and unanswerable question—how, and why, must this family battle the draws and effects of alcohol addiction—Arnason Casey tells a poignant story of a “normal” family that through its quirks and desires must find a path to survival. The author finds solace in nostalgia and a way forward by examining the errors of the past and by embracing, as a mother, the promise of the future generation. Her probing and compulsive need to question reminds us that alcoholism has no simple etiology, and that its cures are as individual as they are elusive.

Sonja Livingston, The Virgin of Prince Street: Expeditions into Devotion } (University of Nebraska Press)

At a time of dwindling religiosity, Livingston finds herself wishing for greater connection to her Catholic roots while also exploring the physical space of the church in upstate New York that made memories for her as a child. Because of religious attrition, the church that she grew up in becomes the gathering space for dozens of rescued saint statues deaccessioned from other churches nearby. Livingston embarks upon a quest to find a missing Virgin Mary statue, that moves not in straight lines but elliptically, following a parallel physical and emotional journey that is an exploration into faith, Catholicism, and a desire for spiritual connection on modern terms. In examining the sustained power of a central icon of the Catholic church and an object of personal, sentimental attachment, Livingston’s linked essays highlight the irresolvable paradox of modern religiosity—that the seeker must follow an uncharted middle pathway when the old texts and their tropes, their patriarchy and their strictures, necessarily fall away.

Amy Long, Codependence (Cleveland State University Poetry Center)

In this haunting and troubling book, Long revisits scenes and anecdotes from her  boyfriend’s heroin addiction and her subsequent dependence on opioids for chronic pain. Formal experiments such as essays disguised as lists, prescription forms, and medical reports are interspersed among scene-driven recollections from different points in time: the author’s first introduction to the drug; the allure of an older addict; attempts at recovery. The grounding presence of the author’s supportive mother is offset by the narrative’s tragic other constant—the euphoria and escape offered by the drug. By eschewing a linear narrative structure, Long illustrates the difficulty of achieving recovery and puts lie to the myth that addiction is a logical disease that naturally ends with a cure. In its very form, this memoir undermines the narrative so prevalent in media treatments of this illness—that in order to trounce the beast, the individual suffering from addiction need only attend a recovery program. Having written about and witnessed my own sister’s decades’ long struggle to overcome opioid addiction, I was drawn to Long’s wisdom in portraying addiction not as a problem to be solved so much as a complexity to be observed and penetrated.

Sejal Shah, This Is One Way to Dance (University of Georgia Press)

The Indian-American author continually revisits her troubled relationship to her American identity through layered essays treating her bifurcated Indian and American past. Exploring her family’s immersion in Gujarati subculture when she was a child growing up in Rochester, New York; her experience as one of few people of color in her MFA creative writing program; and many family weddings in which she must confront her presumed future as a desi bride, Shah questions her place in both American culture and the thriving American-Gujarati subculture. By placing dates at the ends of the essays, it is suggested that her complicated and lifelong conflicts about race and cultural identity can be told chronologically. But, as she explains in her introduction, many essays had multiple end dates after having been revised and reconsidered as time moved forward. The multiple end dates elegantly upend the notion that a rational, hypothesis-thesis-synthesis structure can encompass the complexities of identity and belonging. Shah’s choice to write non-narratively about her conflicts of identity provide insight for anyone raised with a dual or multiple cultural identity—anyone who may, at different points of time, feel a greater allegiance to one culture, another, or a never straightforward amalgam of many. Who we understand ourselves to be, Shah’s book tells the reader in subtle ways, is not a fact so much as a moving target, an unending query.

Sue William Silverman, How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences (University of Nebraska Press)

Silverman is the author of three previous memoirs. In How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences , she tells her life story through the lens of an obsession with death and the desire to come to terms with the inevitable but often avoided reality that in the end we are mortal. The essays begin with a chronological life story of growing up in New Jersey and encountering American culture’s death-avoidance, but then take a swerve when several brief but elusive mentions accrue into an account of a rape at a young age and a discovery that her memory of the event connects to her fixation on death. A chronological structure gives way to a thematic plot, in which Silverman seeks to confront her topic through reporting, immersion, and reflection—for instance by visiting a morgue, exploring mythological figures associated with death, and recollecting a family funeral. The sophisticated writing and structure make the whole greater than the sum of its many fascinating and worthy parts. Silverman’s essays continually reveal the irrational functioning of memory and how it connects our pasts to our worldviews. Honoring subconscious logic, How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences makes the gambit that the mysteries of the self are both keys to understanding and uncertainties to be celebrated. We become who we are without being fully conscious of our choices—probing those choices won’t give us easy answers, but the discoveries along the way will be illuminating and well worth the necessary befuddlements.

__________________________________

Elizabeth Kadetsky’s memoir , The Memory Eaters, is available now from University of Massachusetts Press.

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• How long is an essay? Guidelines for different types of essay

How Long is an Essay? Guidelines for Different Types of Essay

Published on January 28, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The length of an academic essay varies depending on your level and subject of study, departmental guidelines, and specific course requirements. In general, an essay is a shorter piece of writing than a research paper  or thesis .

In most cases, your assignment will include clear guidelines on the number of words or pages you are expected to write. Often this will be a range rather than an exact number (for example, 2500–3000 words, or 10–12 pages). If you’re not sure, always check with your instructor.

In this article you’ll find some general guidelines for the length of different types of essay. But keep in mind that quality is more important than quantity – focus on making a strong argument or analysis, not on hitting a specific word count.

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Table of contents

Essay length guidelines, how long is each part of an essay, using length as a guide to topic and complexity, can i go under the suggested length, can i go over the suggested length, other interesting articles.

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In an academic essay, the main body should always take up the most space. This is where you make your arguments, give your evidence, and develop your ideas.

The introduction should be proportional to the essay’s length. In an essay under 3000 words, the introduction is usually just one paragraph. In longer and more complex essays, you might need to lay out the background and introduce your argument over two or three paragraphs.

The conclusion of an essay is often a single paragraph, even in longer essays. It doesn’t have to summarize every step of your essay, but should tie together your main points in a concise, convincing way.

The suggested word count doesn’t only tell you how long your essay should be – it also helps you work out how much information and complexity you can fit into the given space. This should guide the development of your thesis statement , which identifies the main topic of your essay and sets the boundaries of your overall argument.

A short essay will need a focused, specific topic and a clear, straightforward line of argument. A longer essay should still be focused, but it might call for a broader approach to the topic or a more complex, ambitious argument.

As you make an outline of your essay , make sure you have a clear idea of how much evidence, detail and argumentation will be needed to support your thesis. If you find that you don’t have enough ideas to fill out the word count, or that you need more space to make a convincing case, then consider revising your thesis to be more general or more specific.

The length of the essay also influences how much time you will need to spend on editing and proofreading .

You should always aim to meet the minimum length given in your assignment. If you are struggling to reach the word count:

• Add more evidence and examples to each paragraph to clarify or strengthen your points.
• Make sure you have fully explained or analyzed each example, and try to develop your points in more detail.
• Address a different aspect of your topic in a new paragraph. This might involve revising your thesis statement to make a more ambitious argument.
• Don’t use filler. Adding unnecessary words or complicated sentences will make your essay weaker and your argument less clear.
• Don’t fixate on an exact number. Your marker probably won’t care about 50 or 100 words – it’s more important that your argument is convincing and adequately developed for an essay of the suggested length.

In some cases, you are allowed to exceed the upper word limit by 10% – so for an assignment of 2500–3000 words, you could write an absolute maximum of 3300 words. However, the rules depend on your course and institution, so always check with your instructor if you’re unsure.

Only exceed the word count if it’s really necessary to complete your argument. Longer essays take longer to grade, so avoid annoying your marker with extra work! If you are struggling to edit down:

• Check that every paragraph is relevant to your argument, and cut out irrelevant or out-of-place information.
• Make sure each paragraph focuses on one point and doesn’t meander.
• Cut out filler words and make sure each sentence is clear, concise, and related to the paragraph’s point.
• Don’t cut anything that is necessary to the logic of your argument. If you remove a paragraph, make sure to revise your transitions and fit all your points together.
• Don’t sacrifice the introduction or conclusion . These paragraphs are crucial to an effective essay –make sure you leave enough space to thoroughly introduce your topic and decisively wrap up your argument.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
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One Sentence Says It All

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• Dec. 24, 2010

“No book worth its salt is meant to put you to sleep,” says the garrulous shoemaker who narrates the Czech novelist Bohumil Hrabal’s “Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age” (1964), “it’s meant to make you jump out of bed in your underwear and run and beat the author’s brains out.” Thirty-three pages into what appears to be an unbroken highway of text, the reader might well wonder if that’s a mission statement or an invitation. “Dancing Lessons” unfurls as a single, sometimes maddening sentence that ends after 117 pages without a period, giving the impression that the opinionated, randy old cobbler will go on jawing ad infinitum. But the gambit works. His exuberant ramblings gain a propulsion that would be lost if the comma splices were curbed, the phrases divided into sentences. And there’s something about that slab of wordage that carries the eye forward, promising an intensity simply unattainable by your regularly punctuated novel.

Hrabal wasn’t the first to attempt the Very Long Sentence. The Polish novelist Jerzy Andrzejewski went even longer in “The Gates of Paradise” (1960), weaving several voices into a lurid and majestic 158-page run-on. (The novel actually consists of two sentences, the final one a mere five words long.) An old priest listens to the contradictory confessions of some apparently holy but actually just horny French teenagers marching toward Jerusalem in the 13th-century Children’s Crusade. A profusion of colons and dashes helps toggle among the multiple points of view, while repeated descriptions of crummy weather give the brain some breathing space. Every mention of the “long and arduous road” seems to comment on the enduring nature of the sentence itself. The descriptions of sex — e.g., “That’s why when we do it we can keep it going so long” — also gain a double meaning.

For a long time, Hrabal and Andrzejewski were the only practitioners of the sentence-long book I could find. Not many writers have had the nerve to go this route: you’re locked in, committed to a rhythm and a certain claustrophobia. But might the format also be liberating? Joan Didion told The Paris Review in 1978: “What’s so hard about that first sentence is that you’re stuck with it. Everything else is going to flow out of that sentence. And by the time you’ve laid down the first two sentences, your options are all gone.” Sticking to just one sentence, ironically, might keep your options perpetually open.

The most famous mega-sentence in literature comes at the end of the book, not the beginning. Molly Bloom’s monologue from “Ulysses” (1922) —36 pages in the thinly margined, micro-fonted 1986 single-volume corrected text (and actually two long sentences, thanks to an often-overlooked period 17 pages in) — sets an impossibly high standard for the art of the run-on. It breathlessly binds together all that comes before while nearly obliterating it, permanently coloring the reader’s memory in one final rush. It feels unstoppable, and then it stops.

Molly’s soliloquy is a touchstone for writers aiming to go long. A copy of “Ulysses” pops up in “Green Coaster,” the 33-page, single-sentence section that closes Jonathan Coe’s brilliant novel “The Rotters’ Club” (2001). (The BBC has reported that at 13,955 words, it is the longest sentence ever written in English.)

Joyce also makes a cameo in the most recent candidate for the absurdly exclusive Book-as-Sentence club, the French novelist Mathias Énard’s “Zone” (2008), just published in an English translation . At 517 pages, it’s far longer than the Hrabal and Andrzejewski combined, though its status as a true single sentence is compromised by 23 chapter breaks that alleviate eye strain. (If “Zone” qualifies, what about Samuel Beckett’s 147-page “How It Is” (1961), with its paragraphic chunks but complete absence of periods?) A bigger disqualification for Énard’s book, about a train journey, is that three of the chapters are passages from a book the narrator is reading — a mediocre short story ripe with periods. If only he’d packed some Hrabal.

Even if the World’s Longest Sentence record is fraught with asterisks — does Hrabal truly qualify, if there’s no period at the end? What about early Greek writing, which had no spaces between words? — the allure of the form is, well, longstanding. An 800-plus worder in Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables” (1862) has sometimes (erroneously) been cited as the longest in French literature; its winding description of Louis Philippe as a ruler who hews to the middle of the road in every aspect (“well read and caring but little for literature,” “incapable of rancor and of gratitude”), damns the king’s modesty with the grandness of its design. Is it coincidence that, as Roger Shattuck points out, the longest sentence in Proust — 944 words — dissects the plight of the homosexual in society? And what about the last of the six immense paragraphs that constitute Gabriel García Márquez’s “Autumn of the Patriarch” (1975), one mammoth sentence concluding with “the good news that the uncountable time of eternity had come to an end”?

For some writers, a chapter-long sentence is eternity enough. The Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt was inspired to write “The Assignment” (1986), his superbly paranoid late-career “novella in 24 sentences,” after listening to a recording of Glenn Gould playing the first 24 movements of Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier.” (At 129 pages, that’s an average of 5.375 pages per sentence.) Here, the constraint sets up the potential for improvisation off a single musical line, while also allowing for clean breaks. The American writer Laird Hunt consciously adapted Dürrenmatt’s method in “Ray of the Star” (2009), in which a traumatic episode shadows a shell-shocked man’s sojourn in an unnamed foreign city. The man suffers from restless leg syndrome, and the affliction’s self-engendering quality (“the greater his fatigue the more pronounced it grew”) finds a mirror in Hunt’s labyrinthine sentences.

The Very Long Sentence could be seen as a futile hedge against separation, an unwillingness to part from loved ones, the world, life itself. “I’m trying to say it all in one sentence, between one Cap and one period,” William Faulkner wrote to Malcolm Cowley in 1944. “I’m still trying to put it all, if possible, on one pinhead.” (Faulkner, no stranger to the mind-expanding possibilities of the very long sentence, was once credited with a 1,400-worder by the Guinness Book of World Records.) In this age of 140-character Twitter posts — not to mention a persistent undercurrent of minimalism in our literature — there’s something profoundly rejuvenating about the very long sentence. For the sake of the novel, and ourselves, let’s hope that Hrabal wasn’t being prophetic when he wrote, four decades ago, “People twitter away like magpies and don’t really care.”

Ed Park is the author of “Personal Days,” a novel that ends with a sentence over 16,000 words long.

18 Essay-Length Short Memoirs to Read Online on Your Lunch Break

Emily Polson

Emily Polson is a freelance writer and publishing assistant at Simon & Schuster. Originally from central Iowa, she studied English and creative writing at Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, before moving to a small Basque village to teach English to trilingual teenagers. Now living in Brooklyn, she can often be found meandering through Prospect Park listening to a good audiobook. Twitter: @emilycpolson | https://emilycpolson.wordpress.com/

View All posts by Emily Polson

I love memoirs and essays, so the genre of essay-length short memoirs is one of my favorites. I love delving into the details of other people’s lives. The length allows me to read broadly on a whim with minimal commitment. In roughly 5–30 minutes, I can consume a complete morsel of literature, which always leaves me happier than the same amount of time spent doom-scrolling through my various social news feeds.

What are short memoirs? 

What exactly are short memoirs? I define them as essay-length works that weave together life experiences around a central theme. You see examples of short memoirs all the time on sites like Buzzfeed and The New York Times . Others are stand-alone pieces published in essay collections.

Memoir essays were my gateway into reading full-length memoirs. It was not until I took a college class on creative nonfiction that I realized memoirs were not just autobiographies of people with exciting lives. Anyone with any amount of life experience can write a memoir—no dramatic childhood or odd-defying life accomplishments required. A short memoir might be an account of a single, life-changing event, or it may be reflection on a period of growth or transition.

Of course, when a young adult tells people she likes writing creative nonfiction—not journalism or technical writing—she hears a lot of, “You’re too young to write a memoir!” and “What could someone your age possibly have to write about?!” As Flannery O’Connor put it, however, “The fact is that anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days. If you can’t make something out of a little experience, you probably won’t be able to make it out of a lot. The writer’s business is to contemplate experience, not to be merged in it.”

Memoir essay examples

As the lit magazine Creative Nonfiction puts it, personal essays are just “True stories, well told.” And everyone has life stories worth telling.

Here are a few of my favorite memoir examples that are essay length.

SHORT MEMOIRS ABOUT GROWING UP

Scaachi koul, “there’s no recipe for growing up”.

In this delightful essay, Koul talks about trying to learn the secrets of her mother’s Kashmiri cooking after growing up a first-generation American. The story is full of vivid descriptions and anecdotal details that capture something so specific it transcends to the realm of universal. It’s smart, it’s funny, and it’ll break your heart a little as Koul describes “trying to find my mom at the bottom of a 20-quart pot.”

ASHLEY C. FORD, “THE YEAR I GREW WILDLY WHILE MEN LOOKED ON”

This memoir essay is for all the girls who went through puberty early in a world that sexualizes children’s bodies. Ford weaves together her experiences of feeling at odds with her body, of being seen as a “distraction” to adult men, of being Black and fatherless and hungry for love. She writes, “It was evident that who I was inside, who I wanted to be, didn’t match the intentions of my body. Outside, there was no little girl to be loved innocently. My body was a barrier.”

Kaveh Akbar, “How I Found Poetry in Childhood Prayer”

Akbar writes intense, searing poetry, but this personal essay contextualizes one of his sweetest poems, “Learning to Pray,” which is cradled in the middle of it. He describes how he fell in love with the movement, the language, and the ceremony of his Muslim family’s nightly prayers. Even though he didn’t (and doesn’t) speak Arabic, Akbar points to the musicality of these phonetically-learned hymns as “the bedrock upon which I’ve built my understanding of poetry as a craft and as a meditative practice.” Reading this essay made me want to reread his debut poetry collection, Calling a Wolf a Wolf , all over again.

JIA TOLENTINO, “LOSING RELIGION AND FINDING ECSTASY IN HOUSTON”

New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino grew up attending a Houston megachurch she referred to as “the Repentagon.” In this personal essay, she describes vivid childhood memories of her time there, discussing how some of the very things she learned from the church contributed to her growing ambivalence toward it and its often hypocritical congregants. “Christianity formed my deepest instincts,” she writes, “and I have been walking away from it for half my life.” As the essay title suggests, this walking away coincided with her early experiences taking MDMA, which offered an uncanny similarity to her experience of religious devotion.

funny short memoirs

Patricia lockwood, “insane after coronavirus”.

Author Patricia Lockwood caught COVID-19 in early March 2020. In addition to her physical symptoms, she chronicled the bizarre delusions she experienced while society also collectively operated under the delusion that this whole thing would blow over quickly. Lockwood has a preternatural ability to inject humor into any situation, even the dire ones, by highlighting choice absurdities. This is a rare piece of pandemic writing that will make you laugh instead of cry–unless it makes you cry from laughing.

Harrison Scott Key,  “My Dad Tried to Kill Me with an Alligator”

This personal essay is a tongue-in-cheek story about the author’s run-in with an alligator on the Pearl River in Mississippi. Looking back on the event as an adult, Key considers his father’s tendencies in light of his own, now that he himself is a dad. He explores this relationship further in his book-length memoir, The World’s Largest Man , but this humorous essay stands on its own. (I also had the pleasure of hearing him read this aloud during my school’s homecoming weekend, as Key is an alumnus of my alma mater.)

David Sedaris, “Me Talk Pretty One Day”

Sedaris’s humor is in a league of its own, and he’s at his best in the title essay from Me Talk Pretty One Day . In it, he manages to capture the linguistic hilarities that ensue when you combine a sarcastic, middle-aged French student with a snarky French teacher.

SAMANTHA IRBY, “THE WORST FRIEND DATE I EVER HAD”

Samantha Irby is one of my favorite humorists writing today, and this short memoir essay about the difficulty of making friends as an adult is a great introduction to her. Be prepared for secondhand cringe when you reach the infamous moment she asks a waiter, “Are you familiar with my work?” After reading this essay, you’ll want to be, so check out Wow, No Thank You . next.

Bill Bryson, “Coming Home”

Bryson has the sly, subtle humor that only comes from Americans who have spent considerable time living among dry-humored Brits. In “Coming Home,” he talks about the strange sensation of returning to America after spending his first twenty years of adulthood in England. This personal essay is the first in a book-length work called I’m a Stranger Here Myself , in which Bryson revisits American things that feel like novelties to outsiders and the odd former expat like himself.

Thought-provoking Short memoirs

Tommy orange, “how native american is native american enough”.

Many people claim some percentage of Indigenous ancestry, but how much is enough to “count”? Novelist Tommy Orange–author of There There –deconstructs this concept, discussing his relationship to his Native father, his Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood, and his son, who will not be considered “Native enough” to join him as an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. “ How come math isn’t taught with stakes?” he asks in this short memoir full of lingering questions that will challenge the way you think about heritage. 

Christine Hyung-Oak Lee, “I Had a Stroke at 33”

Lee’s story is interesting not just because she had a stroke at such a young age, but because of how she recounts an experience that was characterized by forgetting. She says that after her stroke, “For a month, every moment of the day was like the moment upon wakening before you figure out where you are, what time it is.” With this personal essay, she draws readers into that fragmented headspace, then weaves something coherent and beautiful from it.

Kyoko Mori, “A Difficult Balance: Am I a Writer or a Teacher?”

In this refreshing essay, Mori discusses balancing “the double calling” of being a writer and a teacher. She admits that teaching felt antithetical to her sense of self when she started out in a classroom of apathetic college freshmen. When she found her way into teaching an MFA program, however, she discovered that fostering a sanctuary for others’ words and ideas felt closer to a “calling.” While in some ways this makes the balance of shifting personas easier, she says it creates a different kind of dread: “Teaching, if it becomes more than a job, might swallow me whole and leave nothing for my life as a writer.” This memoir essay is honest, well-structured, and layered with plenty of anecdotal details to draw in the reader.

Alex Tizon, “My Family’s Slave”

In this heartbreaking essay, Tizon pays tribute to the memory of Lola, the domestic slave who raised him and his siblings. His family brought her with them when they emigrated to America from the Philippines. He talks about the circumstances that led to Lola’s enslavement, the injustice she endured throughout her life, and his own horror at realizing the truth about her role in his family as he grew up. While the story is sad enough to make you cry, there are small moments of hope and redemption. Alex discusses what he tried to do for Lola as an adult and how, upon her death, he traveled to her family’s village to return her ashes.

Classic short memoirs

James baldwin, “notes of a native son”.

This memoir essay comes from Baldwin’s collection of the same name. In it, he focuses on his relationship with his father, who died when Baldwin was 19. He also wrestles with growing up black in a time of segregation, touching on the historical treatment of black soldiers and the Harlem Riot of 1943. His vivid descriptions and honest narration draw you into his transition between frustration, hatred, confusion, despair, and resilience.

JOAN DIDION,  “GOODBYE TO ALL THAT”

Didion is one of the foremost literary memoirists of the twentieth century, combining journalistic precision with self-aware introspection. In “Goodbye to All That,” Didion recounts moving to New York as a naïve 20-year-old and leaving as a disillusioned 28-year-old. She captures the mystical awe with which outsiders view the Big Apple, reflecting on her youthful perspective that life was still limitless, “that something extraordinary would happen any minute, any day, any month.”  This essay concludes her masterful collection,   Slouching Towards Bethlehem .

Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried”

This is the title essay from O’Brien’s collection, The Things They Carried . It’s technically labeled a work of fiction, but because the themes and anecdotes are pulled from O’Brien’s own experience in the Vietnam War, it blurs the lines between fact and fiction enough to be included here. (I’m admittedly predisposed to this classification because a college writing professor of mine included it on our creative nonfiction syllabus.) The essay paints an intimate portrait of a group of soldiers by listing the things they each carry with them, both physical and metaphorical. It contains one of my favorite lines in all of literature: “They all carried ghosts.”

Multi-Media Short Memoirs

Allie brosh, “richard”.

In this blog post/webcomic, Allie Brosh tells the hilarious story about the time as a child that she, 1) realized neighbors exist, and 2) repeatedly snuck into her neighbor’s house, took his things, and ultimately kidnapped his cat. Her signature comic style drives home the humor in a way that will split your sides. The essay is an excerpt from Brosh’s second book, Solutions and Other Problems , but the web version includes bonus photos and backstory. For even more Allie classics, check out “Adventures in Depression” and “Depression Part Two.”

George Watsky, “Ask Me What I’m Doing Tonight”

Watsky is a rapper and spoken word poet who built his following on YouTube. Before he made it big, however, he spent five years performing for groups of college students across the Midwest. “Ask Me What I’m Doing Tonight!” traces that soul-crushing monotony while telling a compelling story about trying to connect with people despite such transience. It’s the most interesting essay about boredom you’ll ever read, or in this case watch—he filmed a short film version of the essay for his YouTube channel. Like his music, Watsky’s personal essays are vulnerable, honest, and crude, and the whole collection, How to Ruin Everything , is worth reading.

If you’re looking for even more short memoirs, keep an eye on these pages from Literary Hub , Buzzfeed , and Creative Nonfiction . You can also delve into these 25 nonfiction essays you can read online and these 100 must-read essay collections . Also be sure to check out the “Our Reading Lives” tag right here on Book Riot, where you’ll find short memoirs like “Searching for Little Free Libraries as a Way to Say Goodbye” and “How I Overcame My Fear of Reading Contemporary Poets.”

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March 18, 2018 By Anne R. Allen 66 Comments

How Long Should A Book Be? Word Count Guidelines by Genre.

Follow word count guidelines to keep from snoozifying your reader. 

by Anne R. Allen

A constant complaint I hear from agents, editors, writing teachers , and reviewers is that they see too many manuscripts with inappropriate word counts.

If you’re getting a lot of form rejections or simply silence from agents, reviewers and editors, this may be why.

Word count guidelines have been trending down in the last decade. Most editors won’t look at a debut manuscript longer than 100K words—a little longer if it’s fantasy or a non-romance historical. They were not so rigid ten years ago.

Now publishers—and many readers—won’t take a chance on any long book by an unproven author.

While readers will happily plunk down the big bux for an 819-page book by George R. R. Martin, they’ll turn up their noses at a book that long—even if it only costs 99c—if it’s written by Who R. R. You.

I know the “accepted wisdom” in the indie world is that if you self-publish, you can write whatever the heck you want and people will buy it. But that’s no longer the case. The wrong word count for your genre red-flags you as an amateur, and most readers don’t have time for amateurs.

Not when there’s so much professional-level stuff being self-published.

A decade after the beginning of the “Kindle Revolution,” too many readers have been burned by self-published bloated rough drafts. A reader is not likely to pick up a book that screams “I’ve been writing this in my spare time for the last 8 years and I refuse to rewrite and would never let an editor tamper with my genius.”

So don’t be that guy.

Word Count Guidelines By Genre

Word counts are generally agreed to be the count provided by MS Word’s “Word Count” tool. Some extremely old-school agents prefer that you use the formula of 250 words per page (double spaced, 12 pt. font) and calculate it yourself, which seems a silly waste of time, but always check agent websites for guidelines.

For debut authors, following these rules will seriously improve your chances of traditional publication and/or establishing a readership, no matter how you publish.

In other words, get famous first and break the rules later.

If you are a household name, you can publish a compendium of your shopping lists from the past two decades and your publisher will happily promote it and people will buy it.

Unfortunately, that’s not true for the rest of us.

Here is a summary of current word count guidelines. This is a composite taken from a number of publishing industry websites, so nothing is set in stone. Take these as target word counts.  Some publishers will accept longer or shorter books, so always check the website of an agent or publisher before you submit.

Note I say these are for “debut” fiction. Once you have a loyal fan base, you can break the rules with abandon.

Word Count Guidelines for Debut Fiction

Picture Book s—text: 500-1000 words (32 pages is ideal.)

Middle Grade fiction —20K to 40K. (Yes, we all know about Harry Potter. And when you’re as famous as J.K. Rowling you can write MG tomes, too.) “Upper Middle Grade” can be a bit longer.

Young Adult fiction —25K to 80K.

Chick Lit —60K-75K.

Cozy Mysteries —55K-70K. (BTW, Agatha Christie’s mysteries sometimes came in at 40K words. I think we may be going back in that direction.)

Fantasy —90K-110K. Definitely down from the epic tomes of yore. Self-publishers can get away with more. Fantasy readers like big books and they cannot lie. 🙂

Historical fiction —80K to 110K+. (You can still wax verbitudinous in this genre.)

Literary fiction —65K to 100K, trending away from the higher numbers. “Spare and elegant” is the mark of literary chic these days.

Standard Mysteries and Crime Fiction —70K to 100K.

Romance —55K-75K. For subgenres of romance, check publishers’ guidelines. Word counts for specific romance lines can be very strict. Some historicals can be longer, although Regencies tend to be short.

Science Fiction —75K—100K. When there’s world-building involved a book generally needs to be longer.

Thrillers —80K to 100K.

Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance —70K to 90K.

Westerns —50K-80K.

Women’s Fiction —70K-100K. The women’s fiction family saga has gone out of fashion recently, but they’re generally on the longer end.

Around 80K seems to be the magic number for most adult fiction. So if your ms. goes way over that, it may be time to put on your editor hat and get ruthless.

Word Count Guidelines for Nonfiction

Nonfiction books have shrunk drastically in the last decade. A study done last spring showed that the average length of a nonfiction bestseller has dropped 42% in the last seven years.

In 2011, the average length of a best-selling non-fiction book was 467 pages, but that dropped to 273 pages in 2017.

Nonfiction books get queried in the form of book proposals, so you don’t submit a complete manuscript (except for memoir, which you query like a novel.) That’s probably why word count guidelines for nonfiction are so hard to find. I’ve also found wildly different word count suggestions between agencies.

So treat these as word count “guestimates.”

Biography —80K-110K. These can be pretty long. Especially if your credentials are good.

Commentary —40K-60K. Not much info out there about word count guidelines for political and other opinion books. If you have appeared on cable TV news, you can probably get away with more verbiage.

Humor —20K-40K. For humorous memoir, follow memoir guidelines, and for funny novels, follow fiction guidelines, but for books like John Hodgman’s  The Areas of my Expertise , Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys or the classic 1066 and All That , (only 128 pages and still in print after 80 years) keep it to 40K words or less.

Memoir and Narrative Nonfiction —40K-70K. You’ll probably want to prune a memoir if it goes over 70K. Books in this genre tend to get bloated without heavy editing. Remember you can write many memoirs about different aspects of your life.

Self-Help & How-To —20K-50K. In the age of ebooks, these are getting shorter all the time. My publisher had me cut my book The Author Blog down from 40K.  (And these days some ebook how-to’s are only 3500 words long.)

Travel and Nature —40K-70K A lot of these books blur boundaries with memoir.

What if Your Ms. Doesn’t Fit Word Count Guidelines? 

With both fiction and nonfiction, it’s best to err on the side of brevity these days. To quote Chuck Sambuchino, editor of the Guide to Literary Agents :

“Agents have so many queries that they are looking for reasons to say no. They are looking for mistakes, chinks in the armor, to cut their query stack down by one. And if you adopt the mentality that your book has to be long, then you are giving them ammunition to reject you.”

If your word count goes over the limit:

• Consider splitting it into two books.
• Or a trilogy. You’ll triple your income. 🙂
• Are the extra words in there for world-building? Consider cutting some details and putting them on your blog.
• Do some ruthless editing. Are you repeating yourself? Can you say something with one word instead of ten?
• Can you condense some of those conversations with indirect dialogue ?

If your word count is under the limit:

• For literary fiction: Flesh out characters.
• Thrillers: Weave in another subplot.
• Crime fiction: Kill off a few more victims.
• Or…maybe you’ve got a novella.

Novellas are hot.

Yes, old-school Big Five publishers (and Bookbub) still aren’t much interested in novellas, and some agents will reject on low word count alone.

But readers love them! Jane Austen fan fiction authors have been practically minting money with 140-page or less “Pride and Prejudice variation” Regency novellas in the last few years.

And forward-looking agencies like Fuse Literary offer “assisted self-publishing” for their authors to write novellas in between big novel releases. Their Short Fuse Publishing produces digital-first novellas in a number of genres.

For more on the popularity of the novella, check out Paul Alan Fahey’s post for us on the subject. Next June we’ll have a post from actress and bestselling author Mara Purl on the difference between writing a novel and a novella.

by Anne R. Allen @annerallen March 18, 2018. Photo by Sage Ross.

What about you, scriveners? Do you have a problem keeping to word count guidelines? Do you tend to write over or under the standard word count? Have you ever turned a long book into two or three? 

On March 19th, Anne will be visiting Romance University, where she’ll be talking about the many benefits of having an author blog.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

SALE EXTENDED until March 25th!

The first three books in THE CAMILLA RANDALL MYSTERIES series :  Ghostwriters in the Sky, Sherwood, Ltd . and  The Best Revenge . Three hilarious rom-com mysteries for less than a dollar!!

99c at All the Amazons   and NOOK , until March 24th

OPPORTUNITY ALERTS

Wergle Flomp Humorous Poetry Contest   NO FEE.  The First prize is $1,000 and there’s a second prize of $250. Also 10 Honorable Mentions will receive $100 each. The top 12 entries get published online. Judge: Jendi Reiter, assisted by Lauren Singer. Length limit: 250 lines. And there are no restrictions on age or country. DEADLINE APRIL 1st

Chautauqua’s Annual Editors’ Prize. $3 FEE .  $1000 prize for winning story, essay or poem, plus publication in Chautauqua’s annual journal.  The theme is “Moxie”. Using the online submission system, submit 3 poems totaling no more than 8 pages or up to 7,000 words of prose. Deadline April 15th. 

Sixfold  Poetry and Short Story Awards.  $5 entry FEE. Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in  Sixfold  are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story. Using the online submission system, submit up to five poems totaling no more than 10 pages or up to 20 pages of prose. Deadline April 23 .

Red Hen Press annual Nonfiction Contest.    $25 entry FEE. $1,000 prize and publication by the prestigious Red Hen Press. They’re looking for an essay collection, memoir, or book of narrative nonfiction. Florencia Ramirez will judge. Using the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 150 pages.  Deadline April 30

CRAFT Literary Short Story contest. $20 FEE .  Short fiction up to 6000 words. $2000 first prize; the two runners-up will receive $500 and $300, respectively. plus publication in CRAFT  Literary Magazine. Deadline April 30th.

13 Imprints of Big 5 publishers who take unagented submissions. From the good people at Authors Publish Magazine.

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About Anne R. Allen

Anne writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. Oh, yes, and she blogs. She's a contributor to Writer's Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery RomCom Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Anne lives on the Central Coast of California, near San Luis Obispo, the town Oprah called "The Happiest City in America."

March 18, 2018 at 10:06 am

Helpful information — once again. Thanks heaps. And I think I just may have to start submitting under the moniker Who R. R. You.

March 18, 2018 at 11:22 am

I also fell in love with the pseudonym, CS, it’s perfect for my career at this point.

I was very surprised, Anne, at the lower length of lit-fic these days, I thought that was still immune. But everything else, yeah I’m hearing the same thing from all my colleagues- perfect is 10k short than what you’re looking at now.

I think there’s a lot to be said for drawing out the characters/plot lines etc and making your tale into a series. If you can pull it off without seeming trite, you’ll hit two birds with the same stone because people still love themselves a series, right?

Thanks again for another informative, fun, funny and steal-able post!

March 18, 2018 at 11:30 am

CS and Will–I’m glad you liked the RR joke. I keep thinking I should add another R to my name and be Anne R. R. Allen. Will definitely do it if I decide to write fantasy. 🙂

Will–A series is the way to go for so many reasons. They sell better overall, plus you make more money selling individual titles. Plus you can make the first one free or very cheap to draw people in.

March 18, 2018 at 10:36 am

I second csperryess on both counts: There’s a whole heap of useful, and even interesting, information here. And Who R.R. You is a hoot!

March 18, 2018 at 11:31 am

Tricia–It’s so fun when a joke just appears on the page the way that one did. 🙂

March 18, 2018 at 10:39 am

Anne—Thanks for the useful, up-to-date info on word count! Since attention spans are shorter, seems like books should be, too. Is “bite size” the next trend?

March 18, 2018 at 11:34 am

Ruth–Bite Size is definitely a trend. James Patterson is having huge success with his “Bookshots”–books of 150 pages or less. http://bit.ly/2FR20nY

March 18, 2018 at 10:53 am

This post has it all… well, except a great salsa verde recipe. Thanks Anne. I shared this with my FB group of dead serious writers.

March 18, 2018 at 11:35 am

EJ–I hope the serious writers don’t mind my jokes. 🙂 Sorry about the salsa verde recipe. Maybe next time…

March 18, 2018 at 11:08 am

Thanks for researching and posting, Anne. But, I find this kind of “guideline” to be ineffably discouraging to actual writing, writers, storytellers, researchers and others who write to create rather than to sell, or who wish to do both without sacrificing either.

Arbitrary word counts (which is what every single one of these has to be) offend me and should give us all pause. According to whom? For what reasons? Why should we go along with this?

BTW: with the option of ebooks, publishers can’t even claim cost as the reason to force books to be shorter.

Finally, “fame” is no rationale for “earning” the “right” to have longer books and have them be acceptable. The WRITING is what should convey the meaning, and the value of the writing is what should dictate which books are “too long” or “too short.”

When editors/agents/publishers and authors stand up for each piece’s having the best format and length, acknowledging the uniqueness of each creative effort ,rather than bow to some idiotic idea of what each “genre” should “allow,” THEN we will have a book-lovers’ and book-writers’ realm worth inhabiting.

I write what my books seem to require for the story/characters to be well-presented. Standards of size should no more apply to books than to paintings, sculptures or poems.

Imagine these scenarios: — “Sorry, Michelangelo: even though this painting fits perfectly on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, current standards for ceiling paintings deem yours to be too large. You’ll have to eliminate some ceiling tiles. Try making God’s and Adam’s arms shorter.” Or, — “Sorry, Auguste Rodin: We like ‘The Thinker,’ but this year’s outdoor sculptures are not to exceed these dimensions: 6′ x 3′ x 4′ , by city of Paris decree, but your sculpture’s are 6′ 2″ x 3′ 3″ x 4′ 7″. Oh, you made it ‘life-sized’? Well, use a smaller model. Scrape some bronze off, all right?” Or, — “Sorry, Judy Chicago, but the Brooklyn Museum curators have decided that you’re only allowed to have 33 place settings for ‘The Dinner Party.’ Oh, you have 39? Well, you’ll have to disinvite some guests.”

Sure. That all makes perfect sense…about as much as allowing insurance companies to dictate eligible medical procedures and treatments.

Best to you,

Sally Ember, Ed.D. author, “The Spanners Series” (utopian sci-fi/romance in which each Volume is over 120 words) http://www.sallyember.com/Spanners

March 18, 2018 at 8:28 pm

Sally–Thanks for your input. I don’t know if you noticed that I said these are guidelines to help improve your chances of publication.

Of course you can translate the Epic of Gilgamesh into Klingon and write it in Wingdings and you could have the next Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on your hands.

But I would be lying if I didn’t point out the odds would be against you.

You need to know the rules before you can break them.

As I said these are only “guestimates” and that authors should always “check agents’ websites.”

Also, “if you’re famous (like Michelangelo, Rodin, and Judy Chicago) you can break rules with abandon.”

This is simply a list of the current standards of the business and meant to be helpful guidelines for writers who are interested in becoming professional authors. If you’re writing as a hobby, or for your own therapeutic needs, you can happily ignore it all!. 🙂

March 18, 2018 at 11:21 am

Thanks for posting this. I’ve been curious. At least I know I’m doing something right now.

March 18, 2018 at 11:37 am

Ryan–It’s always good to know you’re in line with standards in the industry, even if you’re working on your own.

I have to disagree on what to do if the book is too short. That’s the most common advice, and if you’re at 50K and have to get to 90K, you ain’t getting there by slapping in a subplot. If you’re going for indie, a novella is fine, but if you’re going for traditional publishing, you’re pretty much screwed. This was a weakness i spent years trying to fix, and beating myself over it, thinking my writing was flaws. I had trouble even getting one subplot into the story.

A better option first is to add setting and five senses into every scene. If it’s from the opinions of the character, it’s going to add characterization and keep the reader immersed. Many places don’t recommend doing it because writers do it badly, instead of trying to figure out how to do it right. I read Michael Connelly all the time, and he pulls me in with this no matter where I am in the book.

Also, a better understanding of what secondary plotlines are. Craft books generally do not describe them very well, and I suspect those writers may not understand them very well either. I just took a very eye opening course on it. As a result, I’ve come up with at least six secondary plots in my story, including two I would not have thought of as such.

March 18, 2018 at 11:45 am

Linda–I did suggest for literary books, fleshing out characters is the best way to expand a book. I’m not sure that adding a bunch of description will work for a thriller, but it can help with a literary novel.

But good subplots are the best way to flesh out a book. I do wish there was more info on subplots out there. My problem was always too many subplots. The course you took sounds great.

I think trad pub is going to be downsizing books as well. I read a Canadian writer whose trad publisher publishes her novellas. As I said in my response to Ruth, James Patterson is having a huge success with books under 150 pages. So if you’re querying right now, yes, you have to get over 50K for most genres but I think that will change.

March 18, 2018 at 11:40 am

Linda, that’s an interesting point about secondary plot lines. Maybe we can talk Anne or Ruth into writing a post about it–or maybe they’ll invite you to guest post it! I’d love to learn more about the subject.

March 18, 2018 at 1:09 pm

Tricia–We’ll have to look into that. 🙂

March 18, 2018 at 12:30 pm

I’m one of your readers who errs on the side of brevity, Anne, as you know. I adhere to Elmore Leonard’s response: “I leave out the parts I think readers will skip.” If you are going to do that, you need a LOT of plot to get to 80,000 words. More plot points, not just more description (in my opinion, and Leonard’s – grin). I think a lot of crime writers pad their novels these days. If you look at many good movies – the Great Gatsby comes to mind – they were sourced from novellas.

March 18, 2018 at 1:14 pm

Melodie–I love your short books. (I like the longer fantasy ones too) but I think your latest Goddaughter book is the future of books. It’s novella-length and just the right size to stick i a pocket and read on the bus. (In a font that is big enough to actually read.) Your publisher seems to be in the vanguard of publishing shorter books, and I’m sure the Big Five will follow eventually, especially with the huge success James Patterson is having with them.

And you’re right that it’s not just short-attention span syndrome that’s pushing this. The film industry is too. The novella is the perfect size to convert to a screenplay.

March 18, 2018 at 1:35 pm

Thanks for the kind words, Anne! I think you’ve said a bundle in the last line of your comment. We should probably all be writing screenplays if we want to be part of the future of ‘story’. 44 pages for one hour television show. 120 pages for 2 hour full length picture. Wish I had gone this route when I was a young thing 🙂

March 18, 2018 at 1:08 pm

This is so helpful! And for picture books I’ve heard they’re shying away even from 1000. I’ve heard under 500 is even better. But I’m particularly interested in this list of non-fiction. I’ve never seen word counts for nonfic before, and this is so helpful!

March 18, 2018 at 1:16 pm

Sarah–I think everything is downsizing, so those top numbers may not apply much longer for any genre.

The nonfic numbers really surprised me. I started looking when my publisher told me my ms. was too long for my Author Blog book. I had feared it was too short.

March 18, 2018 at 1:23 pm

Thank you, Anne, this is great information. I’m kind of okay with books getting a bit shorter–at least as a reader. And after having written my first novella, I find I like writing that length and plan to do more of it.

March 18, 2018 at 1:44 pm

Eve–I feel the same way as a reader. I like ones I can read in a few sittings. Congrats on your novella! I haven’t done one yet, but I want to.

It’s always good to be reminded of these. I read a lot of fantasy and yes, I love those long, long, big, heavy books. LOL

March 18, 2018 at 1:46 pm

Susan–Some agents are still willing to look at those 110K fantasy manuscripts, because they know fantasy readers love long books. But others want a standard 80-90 K for everything because they don’t want to read that much of a debut novel.

March 18, 2018 at 2:39 pm

More kismet in this post! In the past week I’ve had 4 authors, querying me for an edit, ask if their book is too long or not long enough. These are authors with a first book, who expect to self-publish.

I decided to do some research and found contemporary advice was to ‘go shorter’, so urged the 160k authors to start thinking about splitting their book, while telling the 120k authors to wait for an edit, since they just might have heavy-handed material, which could be tightened down by 20k or more.

So — really fun to hear your thoughts on this dilemma.

oyes — have encountered more novellas in the past year than in the 5 years prior, with authors apologetically noting that ‘this was all the story needed’ — and after their edit, I had to agree. Hoping publishers start to wake up to this shorty ‘trend’, cuz I don’t care whether people prefer long or short, just so they read. :O)

Thanks for sharing stuff that seems to always be ‘right in time’. Maria D’Marco

March 18, 2018 at 2:56 pm

Maria–Serendipity indeed! I think you gave them great advice.

It’s silly that novellas have been so out of favor for the past 50 years, so it’s time for them to make a comeback. Especially since they’re so perfect for adapting to film.

March 18, 2018 at 3:00 pm

The majority of my stuff clocks in at roughly 52k, give or take 2k. Very rarely do my stories get into that “rarefied” atmosphere of 70k+ words. Whenever a story of min hits that level, my first thought is “why did I pad out my story so much?”, which of course is a bunch of bull crap, but that is the end result of trying to follow the rules about word count.

I actually have a novel/novella that the reverse needs to be done, in that it clocked in at 52k, but a beta reader told me the chapters were too long, so I’ll have to spend some time turning 8 chapters into at least 15.

As a reader, I definitely balk at reading a 100k+ word tome, no matter what the genre. I’m sorry, but any book that clocks in @ 500+ pages gets the clove of garlic and the cross of silver pens thrown at it.

March 18, 2018 at 3:15 pm

G.B.–I’m reluctant to pick up a big book these days too. I’m not sure I rank them up there with vampires on the scary scale, but I know what you’re talking about. 52K would have been fine for a novel in the 1920s and 30s. I don’t know when things got so rigid about word counts. Probably the 1950s. Conformity ruled. 🙂

March 18, 2018 at 3:05 pm

Thank you, Anne. In this fast paced world, it seems that “less is more.” As for myself my nonfiction picture books all fall under 1000 words, but most fall within 500 to 700 as I am hitting the upper range of that audience. It’s a challenge to say a lot more with fewer words. I must say, however, that I find myself limiting the word length in the historical articles that I write for adults as well.

March 18, 2018 at 3:17 pm

BA–Writing picture books must be like composing a poem. Short word count takes more time.

It’s true that most news articles and features have shrunk considerably. People are on the go, reading on their phones and don’t have time to settle in for a “long read” article. Even the New Yorker has mostly short articles now.

March 18, 2018 at 4:10 pm

GREAT POST AS USUAL, ANNE! I just sent it to a friend who’s writing a self-help/memoir. Looks like she’s right on target for length. I’m looking forward to reading Mara Purl’s post next week. She’s a woman with a ton of talent and an amazing life story.

March 18, 2018 at 4:20 pm

Sandy–Good to see you here! *waves*. Self-help and memoir are much shorter than I realized, so I was glad to find this information on several agent websites.

Mara won’t be here until June. But I’m really looking forward to her post. She’s a lovely person. We got to do some readings together last September and it was great fun.

March 18, 2018 at 4:18 pm

Thanks for the information. The counts have changed down a bit since the last time I checked. My YA novel isn’t 5,000 words short anymore! Yahoo!

Oh and I love the cat sleeping on the hefty book picture!

March 18, 2018 at 4:30 pm

Christine–Yay! Of course not all agents have updated their requirements, so always check their websites before you submit.

I loved that kitty picture too. That cat looks just like my cat Marco I had back in the 80s. 🙂

March 18, 2018 at 5:35 pm

Hi Anne – I thought I’d put my 2 cents in from experience around the crime thriller genre. I’ve got 2 series building, one is crime fiction with the debut tome going out at 115K. Common critique was it was way to long. I did a sequel at 80K and it was better received as for length – content was a different matter 🙂 I also have 3 true crime books at 50K each and they seemed to hit the eBook sweet spot bang-on. But, a few regular readers told me they don’t gauge a book by the word count. As long as it keeps them in the story, then time flies and they’re happy. Now I have a historical non-fiction underway -it’s at 65K and halfway through first draft – not sure how I’m gonna cut it. Maybe I’ll just rewrite history and turn it into fiction. Thanks for the great info, as usual!

March 19, 2018 at 9:35 am

Garry–Definitely 80K is a much more popular length for fiction, as you discovered.. Nonfiction can be shorter. If you have longer nonfiction, you can always cut it into two books.

I think one factor in the change in reading habits is that percentage line at the bottom of your e-reader. If you’ve been reading for hours and that percentage doesn’t budge, you can feel sort of defeated. A big jump in the percentage gives a reader a feeling of accomplishment.

March 19, 2018 at 9:07 am

What a wonderful, helpful post – I’m definitely bookmarking it! Prior to this this, the best idea I had was “50K is a novel, epic fantasy can be longer.”

March 19, 2018 at 9:37 am

Irvin–I wrote this because so many people on Facebook seemed to be confused about lengths. 50K is considered “a novel” by the NaNoWriMo people, but most publishers want something longer for adult fiction.

March 19, 2018 at 10:45 am

Thanks for the update. There are posts with word counts out there but they are old (like 10 or more years). It’s great to have an update especially in this industry. Many of the numbers are the same but some have subtle shifts and trends are always good to know.

March 19, 2018 at 2:21 pm

My novels tend to be on the longish side, between 100 and 120K… they’re suspense, paranormal suspense and historical suspense. I’ve yet to have anyone tell me they’re too long. Personally, I hate the trend to shorter books… I love to wallow in whatever world the writer has created, and, being a fast reader, a shorter book doesn’t give me enough time in that world.

But I did split a fantasy/scifi novel into at least two, probably three volumes, after the first volume got close to 200K words and it wasn’t even half done! Yes, fantasy can handle a longer length, but 200K? No way. So, now I’m working on the third volume of what will be a trilogy… or maybe a quadrilogy… who knows? Only the writing will tell…

March 19, 2018 at 3:33 pm

Susan–Everybody has their own reading habits and of course some people will prefer the big books. My sister does. A trend is just that–a way things are leaning. But that doesn’t mean every book has to be the same. Also, you’re an established author, so these *debut* fiction guidelines don’t apply.

But when you can break that big book into three (or four or five) you not only please more people, but you make more $$. Never a bad thing. 🙂

March 19, 2018 at 9:55 pm

Great post! It’s hard to stick to the limit but sometimes you might find that the book is far better than when you had those extra bits.

March 20, 2018 at 9:18 am

MariaJohn–Yes, very often word count problems can be solved by a good editor. Writers almost always say things with more words than we have to in a first draft.

March 20, 2018 at 8:47 am

Hello Anne, I have one question: What would be the word count for creative non-fiction, Ex: a collection of essays or for a memoir? Thank you!

March 20, 2018 at 9:19 am

Nadia–I haven’t seen any word count info on collections–either of stories or essays. But since your essays form a memoir, I’d go by memoir word count guidelines.

March 20, 2018 at 11:25 am

Anne, you bring some of the most helpful information to the screen! Thank you for this post on word counts. I’ve recently switched from nonfiction/memoir to historical fiction. Found my word count limits and am happy I can write veritudinously. 🙂

March 20, 2018 at 2:21 pm

Sherrey–Good to see you here *waves*. Yes, historical fiction can still be pretty long, so have fun!

March 20, 2018 at 1:46 pm

Anne, thank you very much! I had no idea those word totals had dropped that much! I guess I need to get to work. My paranormal romance is 106,000 words. No wonder I’ve received form rejections from all the agents I’ve contacted. I need to try to cut it down to 90,000 or less. And then I need to decide whether to self publish, or try other avenues. As for your question, I wrote a romance/adult fiction novel that was originally over 300,000 words. I split into two novels and cut about 100,000 words…which really hurt. Thank you again.

March 20, 2018 at 2:25 pm

Fred–That’s the thing–a lot of agents don’t post desired word counts, but they reject if you don’t follow them. So it’s good to know the standards. Many, many agents reject on word count alone. Cutting your romance to 90K would give it a better chance.

It is wrenching to cut a big book into two or three. You always end up having to lose some of your favorite passages. Killing our darlings does hurt.

March 21, 2018 at 7:41 am

I am relieved to know that my books are in the correct word count for their genre. I did do some research on this first though. A useful post.

March 21, 2018 at 9:56 am

Robbie–It’s nice to know you’re doing it right. 🙂

April 10, 2018 at 1:16 pm

Thank you for this oh-so-helpful information!

And I’m so glad to read that many manuscripts are too long because there’s nothing I hate more than slogging through a wordy non-fiction book that over-explains a concept or idea or repeats itself over and over!

I’m writing my soon-to-be self published debut non-fiction book and have tried to find any information on appropriate word counts. I don’t want it to be too short, and I don’t want to add unnecessary fluff just to make it longer. My rough first draft is at just under 22K words, so it appears I may be right on track in the self-help/ how to genre.

April 10, 2018 at 2:22 pm

Chrysta–This information is hard to find partly because Google isn’t chronological. You get 10 year old information on the top of the SERP and have to go digging to find the current stuff. But nonfiction has shrunk by almost 50% in the last decade, so your 22K words is probably just fine. I agree that nonfic is often bloated by “fluff” and repetition, and it’s great that it’s being cut down to “just the good stuff.”

April 22, 2018 at 7:30 am

Most helpful. Thanks for that. On the subject of splitting a book, I’ve done that on twos accasions. One on my publisher’s advice and one I decided was going to be far too big. (possibly a George R.R. Martin sizes book).

April 22, 2018 at 9:26 am

V. M.–I’m glad it’s helpful. And thanks for the testimony that splitting a book works!

April 24, 2018 at 5:59 am

Thanks for this helpful information, Anne. 🙂 — Suzanne

April 30, 2018 at 9:25 pm

I don’t see my comment!

March 28, 2019 at 1:19 pm

Thank you for helpful information I really enjoyed reading this article even though it wasn’t so satisfying for my Ms. But, as you had written, I’ll just kill off more victims 😉

March 28, 2019 at 2:58 pm

Lenka–I think it’s much easier to make a short book longer than the other way around. In fact, it can be fun. Good luck with it!

March 28, 2019 at 4:42 pm

Lenka—here’s Ruth butting in and politely disagreeing. Please see my post about the power of the delete button and Stephen King’s 10% rule. http://annerallen.com/2019/01/stephen-kings-10-rule/

Hope Anne and I have helped.

March 28, 2019 at 4:51 pm

Ruth–Lenka’s problem is a book that’s too short. That’s why adding another subplot/dead body helps. And it can be fun for the writer. Readers do have expectations about novel length. But that doesn’t mean Lenka can’t publish her book as a novella!

November 2, 2021 at 2:27 pm

In many cases, adding “five senses to each scene” is only going to read like the filler it is. You need “more story”, not “more words”. The story is there to write. Reveal more character with more dialogue, add interesting or amusing incidental action, give interesting information about your setting (within sensible limits), and yes, add some description here and there WHERE it benefits the story, not just a word count.

Plus, add more story. It doesn’t have to be subplots … expand your character’s journey. But it has to serve the story and be interesting, and after all, we’re writers … that’s what we’re supposed to be good at.

November 2, 2021 at 4:12 pm

Brent–Great tips on keeping your word count down. Newbie writers often write more description than necessary because they’ve been taught to add “all the senses” to every scene. But as you say, story trumps everything else. If it gets in the way of the story, cut it.

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How Long Is an Essay? The Ultimate Essay Length Guide

It’s safe to say that most students struggle with the word limit within an essay. Sometimes, it’s hard to find ideas for a text and meet the word requirement for every part of the paper. With so many factors influencing essay length, it’s easy to get confused.

Luckily, our custom-writing team has your back. In this article, our custom-writing experts will answer all your questions regarding essay length. We will also help you write papers with an ideal number of words!

📜 Is Essay Length Important?

📏 essay parts: recommended length.

• 🤔 How to Make Essays Shorter or Longer
• 📑 Essay Length & Formatting
• ❓ Different Academic Levels FAQ
• 📚 Essay Length: Different Types
• ⭐ Other Aspects
• 📝 Essay Examples

🔍 References

Often, the phrase “word limit” causes panic among students. After all, if an essay is too long or too short, your grade will be lowered. However, in reality, there’s nothing to worry about. When it comes to words, limitations are beneficial for both the students and the professors.

Let’s see what exactly it means.

Many people believe that the longer an essay is, the better. However, according to Frontiers, research shows that it’s a bias that couldn’t be further from the truth. A perfect-length paper is one that allows students to express their ideas and showcase their knowledge fully while keeping it clean and simple.

What Influences Essay Length

Various factors determine the length of an essay. Here are the most important ones:

Let’s start with the essentials. Usually, assignment length is given as a number of words rather than pages. Unless your supervisor or instructor mentions any specific limitations, it’s acceptable to be 10% below or above the word limit.

It’s also worth knowing the 80/20 rule . According to it, the body should constitute 80% of the text, while the intro and the conclusion take up the remaining 20%.

Keep reading to learn more about the recommended length of each essay part. The main numbers are shown in the table below:

How Long Should an Introduction Be?

An introduction is the first section and the face of your essay. For that reason, it needs to be compelling and well-thought-out. Usually, it consists of 3 to 5 sentences or 50 to 80 words .

An introduction must have a hook, some background information, and a thesis statement. While the attention grabber and the thesis are usually brief, you may need 2 to 3 sentences for the background. To avoid going overboard, try to stay on topic and don’t add any filler.

How Long Is a Body Paragraph in an Essay?

The length of a body paragraph may vary. Sometimes, it can be limited to a single sentence. In other cases, it may take up a whole page. Usually, it’s recommended to have between 80 and 200 words (5-8 sentences) per body paragraph.

Since the paper’s body contains the most information, it’s necessary to explain and support your ideas properly. That’s why it’s no big deal if your body paragraphs go slightly over the word limit.

How Many Body Paragraphs Should Be in an Essay?

Like the word count, the number of paragraphs is determined by the type of paper and its topic. The minimum is 1. Generally, however, the body consists of 3-5 paragraphs , 1 for each argument.

To improve your paper’s structure, ensure that there are as many paragraphs as there are points in your thesis statement. Each one should have a purpose and support your arguments. If there’s any fluff, it’s better to get rid of it.

How Long Should a Conclusion Be?

Like the introduction, the conclusion consists of 50-80 words . It’s essential to keep it simple and only mention the central ideas. A weak concluding sentence may affect the reader’s understanding of the topic and spoil the overall impression of your paper.

🤔 How to Make Essays Shorter or Longer: Best Tips

Undoubtedly the essay’s content is more important than the number of words you use. But there are times when students go more than 10-15% below or over the limit. Is there a solution to this problem?

Yes, there is! In this section, we will share the most useful tips to help you stay on point with your paper’s word count.

How to Make Essays Longer

Since having enough words is essential for a good grade, we’ve collected the best tips that can help you lengthen your essay without teachers noticing:

• Use relevant quotations.  You don’t need to litter your essay with citations, but using them whenever appropriate is a great idea. For instance, if you’re working on a book analysis, referencing a couple of direct quotes from the source text will make your essay more credible and increase the word count.

• Give examples.  Go through the claims in your paper and provide additional evidence where possible. It will make your essay longer and more informative.

• Use transitional expressions.  Adding transition words and phrases is a natural way of increasing the number of words. It will also improve your essay’s readability. 

• Add more references.  Providing references is always a good idea when writing a formal essay. That way, you will increase the number of words and make your paper more credible.

• Work on your descriptions.  If you struggle to develop new ideas, go over what you’ve already written and consider adding some descriptive words. It’s a great idea for creative essays to include more imagery. 

How to Shorten an Essay

Another struggle of academic writing is cutting down the number of words in your essay to meet a set limit. We are here to tell you that it’s not that hard. Writing straightforwardly and keeping your sentences short is a key to concise content. Here are several strategies you may use to tighten a lengthy essay:

• Choose the active voice.  It takes up less space than passive voice. Using it also makes your writing more professional and compelling.

• Remove needless transitions.  Transitions can indeed maintain the flow of the paper. But some transitional phrases can be easily removed.

• Get rid of unnecessary adverbs and adjectives.  Some students tend to overuse adjectives and adverbs. It adds wordiness to their writing.

• Avoid running starts.  Some students like to start their sentences with long phrases like: “there are,” “it is believed,” or “the fact that.” Getting rid of them makes texts much more concise.

• Delete “that.”  In most cases, the word “that” can often be easily removed from texts.

Another cool trick is to use our summarizing tool as essay shortener. Try it out!

📑 How Long Is an Essay Depending on Formatting?

As we mentioned earlier, the essay’s length is usually limited by the number of words. But sometimes, a teacher may ask you to write a specific number of pages. This is trickier because the amount of text you can place on the page depends on the formatting. By using the font size and spacing properly, it’s possible to make the paper visually longer or shorter. Let’s discuss it in more detail.

Essay Spacing: How Does It Affect the Length?

• Adjusting the spacing between lines.  Try to make the changes as slight as possible. For instance, if you were asked to double-space the paper, use 2.1 or 2.2 spacing instead. Another option is to slightly extend spaces between paragraphs.
• Extending the margin size.  You can increase the right and bottom margins by a quarter to make very subtle changes in length. For example, if the margins are 1 inch , you can set them at 1.25 inches instead. 
• Increasing the spacing between characters.  It is less noticeable than the line spacing. Still, try not to overdo it and keep the numbers between 1.2 and 1.5 . 
• Adjusting the footer.  Add a footer with page numbers to stretch the bottom margin even further.
• Lengthening the header.  You can extend your header by adding your name, e-mail address, or other relevant information. Another option is double-spacing it.

Length of an Essay: Font and Size

• Using the right type of font.  If your instructor didn’t specify which font you should use, go for the bigger ones. We suggest Arial, Bangla Sangam MN, Cambria, or Quicksand. They will make your text look longer without being too on the nose.  
• Using a bigger font size.  This is another technique that can come in handy. However, be careful and don’t increase your font by more than 0.1-0.5 pt.  
• Increasing the size of periods and commas.   This is one of the less noticeable tricks you can use. For instance, if your paper’s font is 12 pt. , increase it to 14 pt. only for punctuation marks. Italicizing periods and commas will also add several lines of length to your essay. 

What to Do if There Are No Length Guidelines

Sometimes a teacher sets no word limit for a written work. What to do in that case? Well, first, you can ask your professor to confirm if they have simply forgotten to mention it. But if that’s not the case, here are a couple of helpful solutions:

• Think of the paragraph number.  Sometimes, you may be given the number of paragraphs instead of words. In that case, you can decide on the number of words depending on how many paragraphs you have. 
• Think about the topic’s complexity.  The length of your paper is also directly dependent on the theme. If the topic is simple, 4-5 paragraphs will be enough. A more complex issue may require an in-depth explanation, so your essay can be 6-8 paragraphs long.

❓ Essay Length for Different Academic Levels FAQ

The length of the elementary school essay is usually short. Usually, a paper needs to have around 3-5 paragraphs, with 4-5 sentences per paragraph. Primary school essays can be 1-2 paragraphs long.

The word limit for a middle school essay is usually between 300 to 1000 words. The most common essay length is 500 words, which is about 5 paragraphs. However, it may differ from school to school.

The length of the high school essay may differ depending on the school and the complexity of the task itself. Usually, however, a paper can be between 300 to 1000 words long.

The length of the undergraduate college essay often falls within the range of 1500 to 2100 words. It translates into roughly 5-7 pages. 5 pages is the most common essay length at this level.

When it comes to the graduate school admission essay, the word limit is usually between 500 and 1000 words. It’s possible to go slightly over or below the set limit; however, it’s best to stick to the requirements as close as possible.

📚 How Long Should an Essay Be: Different Types

Now, let’s talk about different types of essays. How long should they be? Keep reading to learn about the length of college essays, short and extended ones, scholarship essays, and research papers.

How Long Is a College Essay?

When it comes to a college essay, it’s more important to stick to the word limit than with any other paper. Some teachers may refuse to read it unless it meets all the requirements.

The shortest limit for a college essay is about 250 words which is the shortest length of a Common App personal statement. It’s also rare to see a good college essay with over 650 words . So, an average piece usually has between 150 and 650 words ; you can go over or below the limit by 50.

How Long Is a Paragraph in College Essays?

A college essay usually consists of 4-5 paragraphs . One paragraph takes about 1/3 of the page, which is roughly 5 sentences . Each sentence corresponds with one of the following components:

• Topic sentence.
• Explanation.
• Transitions.

College Essay Length Requirements: Top 5 Schools

To understand the requirements for a college application essay even better, take a look at the table below. It showcases the top 5 schools and their length criteria for personal statements. Keep it in mind when writing your college essay:

How Long Is a Short Essay?

A short essay is usually 500 words long. Using 12pt Times New Roman font with standard margins and double spacing should result in about 2 pages of text.

Extended Essay Length

An extended essay is different from a short or a standard one. It requires extensive research and thorough explanation. That’s why the upper limit for this kind of essay is 4000 words . In this case, a typical essay length is 3500 words or 18 paragraphs .

Scholarship Essay Length

Generally, scholarship papers have a limit of 500 words , which is 1 page in length. Most scholarship programs provide additional requirements that indicate the minimum number of words or pages. If there are no set limitations, you can stick to the limit.

How Long Is a Research Paper?

Typically, a research paper is between 4000 and 6000 words long. Sometimes, there are shorter papers, which have around 2000 words, or in-depth ones with over 10000 words.

⭐ Other Aspects of Essay Length

When it comes to essay length, many different aspects come into play. Here, we’ve gathered all the essential information regarding an essay’s number of pages, paragraphs, words, and references.

How Many Paragraphs Are in an Essay?

Sometimes, it is more convenient to count paragraphs rather than words. Let’s now figure out how many paragraphs are in essays of different lengths. You may also check out the examples to see what such an essay looks like:

How to Count Paragraphs in an Essay Based on Word Count

You can also count the number of body paragraphs for your essay using the formula below:

Number of body paragraphs (average) = (TWC – TWC*0.16)/100

• TWC – total word count
• 0.16 – an average percentage of total word count for introduction and conclusion
• 100 – an average number of words per paragraph

How Many Pages Are in an Essay?

The number of pages in your essay may vary from subject to subject. But it’s still possible to determine the number of pages based on word count. Check out the numbers below to see the conversions with bonus examples:

You can also use a specialized calculator such as Word Counter to determine a number of pages in your essay.

What Does an Essay Look Like when Typed?

You might be wondering: what do essays of different lengths look like when typed? Well, here’s the table where you can find out the metrics for single- and double-spaced papers.

How Many Pages Are in a Handwritten Essay?

In case you need to turn in a handwritten paper, you should check out the table below.

Counting Words in a Handwritten Essay

If you don’t have enough time to count the words in your handwritten essay one by one, here’s what you can do:

• Count how many words there are in one line. Take the first and last lines and a line in the middle of a page. Let’s say there are 15, 14, and 15 words in them. Then, the average number of words per line is 15.
• Next, count how many lines there are on one page. Let’s say there are 17 lines on a page.
• Take the number of words per line and multiply it by the number of lines per page. In our case, we multiply 15 by 17. So, there are 255 words per page on average.
• Finally, multiply the number of words per page by the number of pages. If your essay has 3 pages, it is approximately 765 words long.

How Long Does it Take to Write an Essay?

It is crucial to know how long writing will take you, especially if you are working on an exam essay or just short on time. Note that you need to consider the time for typing and researching necessary to complete a piece. Research time may vary. Usually, it’s 1-2 hours for 200-250 words .

Below, we’ve gathered the average writing time for average and slower writing speed:

And here are the results in pages:

How Many References Does an Essay Need?

Another essential part of any composition is the reference list. Different academic levels require different references. You’ll find out how many of them should be in your paper in the table below!

📝 Essay Examples: Different Length

Finally, we’ve gathered some excellent sample essays of different lengths. Make sure to check them out!

We also recommend you check out our free essay samples sorted by pages:

• 1-Page Essay Examples
• 2-Page Essay Examples
• 3-Page Essay Examples
• 4-Page Essay Examples
• 5-Page Essay Examples
• 10-Page Essay Examples
• 20-Page Essay Examples
• 30-Page Essay Examples
• 40-Page Essay Examples
• 50-Page Essay Examples

Now you know all about essay length, word limits, and ways to lengthen or shorten your text. If you know other interesting tricks, make sure to share them in a comment! Good luck with your writing assignments!

You may also like:

• How to Write a Process Analysis Essay: Examples & Outline
• How to Write a Precis: Definition, Guide, & Examples 
• How to Write a Critical Analysis Essay: Examples & Guide
• How to Write a Narrative Essay Outline: Template & Examples
• How to Write a Formal Essay: Format, Rules, & Example
• Word Limits and Assignment Length: Massey University
• The Paragraph in the College Essay: California State University, Long Beach
• Introductions & Conclusions: The University of Arizona Global Campus
• How Long Should a Paragraph Be?: Daily Writing Tips
• Paragraphing (Length Consistency): Purdue University
• Hitting the Target Word Count in Your College Admission Essay: Dummies.com
• How Long Should Your College Essay Be? What is the Ideal Length?: College Vine
• Writing Personal Statements Online: Issues of Length and Form: Penn State University
• Pen Admissions: Essays: University of Pennsylvania
• Essay Questions: University of Michigan
• Essay Structure: Harvard University
• Components of a Good Essay: University of Evansville
• Write Your Essay: UNSW Sydney
• College Writing: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 21 Helpful and Easy Tips to Make an Essay Longer: Seventeen
• How to Make a College Paper Longer: ThoughtCo
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How Long Should Your Book Be? A Word Count Guide to Getting Published

Author: Natalie Harris-Spencer Updated: July 25, 2023

How long should your book be? Does it even matter? Isn’t the art as long as the art needs to be for you to tell your story? Book length is a technical question a world away from the craft , but yes, having a word count guide absolutely matters—even at the earliest stages of drafting your novel. A draft becomes a manuscript, which quickly becomes something to send to literary agents and then editors , and then suddenly, voila! It becomes a book. And a book is a product, and every page is a dollar amount and a time value investment to publishers . If you’re coming in way under or over, publishers won’t want to invest in your product. See why it matters to consider word count at the early stages, and to move away from thinking about book length in terms of “art”?

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule (more below), but publishing has standards which you should meet if you expect to be taken seriously as a professional author. Otherwise, it just screams maverick, lazy, or obtuse. As mentioned several times on Aspiring Author , publishing is a business, with rules to follow. If you submit a 30,000 or 130,000-word manuscript to an agent or publisher when the sweet spot is 80,000 words, you’re giving them a very easy reason to simply pass on your work (perhaps without even reading it).

When should you start thinking about your word count?

Don’t worry too much about word count before you have a first draft, otherwise you might get tripped up or get writer’s block. However, once you have that draft in your hands, now is the time! There’s no exact science behind the word count, but there is a sweet spot, which can vary by genre .  If you’re a couple of thousand words over: no big deal. Any more than 5,000 over or under, then it’s time to do some work. And if you’re way under or over, then something’s gone seriously wrong (see below for how to address). Additionally, as readers we have certain expectations—you might balk at reading a 100,000-word picture book (unless perhaps it was an adult graphic novel). You certainly wouldn’t buy it. Check out our word count guide to getting published below.

The sweet spot

When drafting your adult fiction manuscript, aim for 80,000 words. My first drafts tend to be around the 60,000-word mark, and then grow longer with each edit. I also know of writers whose first drafts go way over, after which they have some serious cutting to do. Let the warning bells sound at 90,000. Do not go over 100,000. This is the sweet spot for standard adult novels for a very good reason. That’s around 250-350 double-spaced, typed pages (which equates to about the same when printed, depending on font choice, font size, and whether the book is published in paperback, hardcover, or digitally). Studies have shown readers are most comfortable with this number of pages for a standard fiction book. So keep that 80,000 words echoing in your head like a mantra.

Word count guide for debut authors

If you’re a debut author , you should follow the sweet spot recommendation above especially closely. Ever notice how the first Harry Potter was considerably slimmer than those that followed? That’s because even J.K. Rowling was a debut author once, and publishers are less likely to publish a longer book written by an unestablished author. However, even Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was much longer than a standard middle grade book, at 79,000 words. Again, there are always exceptions to every rule.

Word count guide for novellas

Novellas fall somewhere between a short story and a novel and can range from 10,000 to 40,000 words. However, novellas are notoriously difficult to sell, which is why publishers buy far fewer novellas than novels. Unless you’ve been published by The New Yorker or are very well known, it’s highly unlikely you’ll get a debut book deal with a novella.

Word count guide for longer fiction

Despite the sweet spot argument above, audiences are still buying and reading very long books. Look at George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series , for example. When there’s hype or buzz around a series, publishers are willing to gamble on a longer tome. However, you have to prove yourself first, and you probably can’t do that if you’re a debut author . For anything else in adult fiction (that isn’t fantasy), agents and publishers might be concerned about the effort involved in editing such a meaty manuscript, or they might find a problem with the pacing, or exposition, or they simply might prefer to push a shorter, more marketable book out on to the shelves. There’s an inherent risk in writing longer fiction—this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, just that you should be wary.

Word count guide for shorter fiction and children’s books

• Picture books: 100-600 words; no more than 1,000 words
• Chapter books: (five-to-nine-year-olds): 4,000-20,000 words, with word count scaling by age
• Middle grade books (for eight-to-twelve-year-olds): 30,000-50,000 words, with word count scaling by age
• Young adult, or YA novels: 40,000-80,000 words, with YA fantasy at the top of the scale
• Graphic novels: 20,000-75,000 words

Word counts by genre

Fantasy, sci-fi, and the historical fiction genres can get away with more words due to the extensive world building involved. It’s acceptable to go up to 125,000 words in these genres (with plenty of bestseller authors going way over). However, debut authors should exercise caution and still consider keeping things to the 100,000-word mark, just at least while you’re querying literary agents or while your book is out on submission . Always err on the side of caution. Check out the word count guidelines per genre below:

• Commercial fiction: 70,000-100,000 words, with the sweet spot at 80,000
• Historical fiction: 80,000-110,000 words; absolute maximum is 125,000 words
• Literary fiction: 55,0000-100,000 words; the lower end will be a trickier sell
• Memoir and narrative non-fiction: 70,000-90,000 words
• Non-fiction (how-tos, self-help, and business): 50,000-70,000
• Romance: 50,000-100,000 words, with category romance on the lower end
• Science fiction and fantasy: 90,000-110,000; absolute maximum is 125,000 words
• Thriller and psychological suspense : 70,000-90,000 words, with the sweet spot at 80,000
• Women’s and upmarket fiction: 80,000-100,000 words

How long should your book be: Final thoughts

These are just guidelines intended to increase your success rate of getting published. There are always exceptions to the rules. However, if your manuscript falls way under or way over these brackets, it might be worth going back to your story’s structure, world building, and pace. Yes, you’re trying to get a book deal , but you’re also writing something that connects with your audience and conforms to their expectations. This is where the art and the product coalesce.

Recommended reading

Here at Aspiring Author , we love recommending bestsellers and fawning over hot new releases. On this real time recommended reading list, you will find a list of top rated books on the publishing industry, craft, and other books to help you elevate your writing career.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

How To Successfully Self-Publish A Book On Amazon & Audible: How To Build A Profitable Self-Publishing Business

Personal History: A Memoir

Lochs and Legends: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst

About the author.

Natalie Harris-Spencer

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1 thought on “how long should your book be a word count guide to getting published”.

I wrote my biography in 22,000 words, it covers 83 years of my life. It is easy, fun and interesing to read. Is there a market for someting short and sweet to resd?

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How Long Should a Book Be And Do Length & Word Count Matter?

A lot has been written in recent years about the average readers’ shrinking attention span. 

We all know that the non-stop news cycle and round-the-clock social media have sped up our consumption habits. But do these same habits translate to books?

We decided to find out.

To get straight to the point — As recently as 2011, the average book length of the #1 non-fiction bestseller was 467 pages. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages.

What was our methodology?

We gathered a list of every New York Times #1 Non-Fiction Bestseller for the past 7 years and analyzed how the average length has evolved.

The answer was clear: our collective cultural ADD is impacting our reading habits.

The Average Bestseller Length Is Falling Fast

Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year.

The average #1 bestselling book length has fallen by 42% in just 7 years.

And this doesn’t seem to be an anomaly. The drop comes as part of a larger downward trend:

• In 2011, the list’s average length peaked at 467 pages.
• In 2012, that average fell to 410.
• In 2013, it fell further to 367.
• In 2014, it recovered slightly to 382 on the back of three 600+ page books.
• In 2015, the drop resumed as the average fell to 345.
• In 2016, the drop lessened, falling only to 342.
• In 2017, the downward trend has continued, with an average book length of 273 pages.

This isn’t to say that long books are no longer succeeding. In 2016’s list, Ron Chernow’s 816-page Alexander Hamilton managed to crack the top spot.

However, the drop in the overall average length of bestsellers over the last 7 years points to a marked trend in the overall preferences of the average reader.

#1 Bestsellers Have A Wide Range, But A Narrow Average

Since the New York Times Non-Fiction Bestseller List began in 2000, books of all sizes have claimed the top spot.

The shortest book to hit the #1 spot was Harry Frankfurt’s 80-page On Bullshit .

The longest? Robert Caro’s 1232-page tome, Master of the Senate .

Looking at this, a hopeful author might believe that length plays no role in the likelihood of a book becoming a bestseller. But while books of all sizes have cracked the list at one point or another, the vast majority of #1 bestsellers fall into a much smaller range.

Over 64% of the #1 bestsellers since the list began have fallen in the 200 to 400 page range.

In recent years (2015-2017), the trend has become even more pronounced, with over 50% of #1 bestsellers falling into the narrower 250-350 page range:

Shockingly, the 450+ page length that held the average book length just 7 short years ago, now makes up just 13% of the books in the top spot.

How to explain this dramatic shift, and whether the trend will continue, remains to be seen.

The Scribe Crew

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The Average Length of a Book: By Age, Range, and Genre

Before writing and publishing a book, make sure you know the average length of a book in your chosen genre.

When a reader picks up a book, they expect the approximate length of that book. Word counts impact a book’s target audience, which publishers show interest in it, and how much you can charge for it.

So what is the average length of a book? This is a wide range, but the average novel aimed at adult readers is around 90,000 words, with a range between 80,000 and 110,000. For non-fiction works, the average is slightly less at between 50,000 and 80,000 words. That said, some indie authors publish shorter, more specific non-fiction books around 30,000 words.

Truthfully, though, the answer depends on the genre of the book you’re writing or reading. You can count book length based on either average word count or an average number of pages, and this guide will help you determine what length is appropriate for a book you’re writing.

Average Length of a Book Depends on Genre

1. adult novels, 2. flash fiction stories, 3. short story, 4. novellas, 5. romance novels, 6. science fiction and fantasy novels, 7. historical fiction, 8. horror, mystery, crime and thriller novels , 9. young adult books, 10. picture books, 11. early reader books, 12. early chapter books, 13. middle-grade fiction books, 14. standard non-fiction work , 15. memoir books, 16. biographies, 17. self-help books, does word count matter, a final word on the average length of a book, how long should a nonfiction book be, how long should a fiction book be.

If you are considering writing a book or short story, you need to know the average word count before you start. This knowledge helps guide your story arc, ensuring you get the beginning, middle, and end in the right places. 

To determine the formatting and length of a book, you must look at the genre first. Children’s books have much different lengths than novellas and full-length novels. 

To keep things consistent, this guide will cover average word count rather than page count. Many factors affect the number of pages in the book, especially its formatting and the presence of illustrations, so word count is a better metric. Also, you can count words as you compose your document, and the number of pages of the finished work may change based on the publisher’s formatting.

Learn more about the types of genres for books.

Average Length for Adult Fiction Books

If you are writing fiction, here is the average length to expect based on the type of fiction book you write.

Novel lengths typically fall between 50,000 and 110,000 words. The industry supports longer works, especially from established and trusted authors, but this is a good average range. Keep in mind that even among novels, genre impacts length.

Flash fiction works are short stories that convey universal truths or emotions. The average length for these works is between 300 and 1500 words. 

A great short story  is slightly longer than a flash fiction piece. Aim for between 1,500 and 30,000 words for a story or book to fall in this genre.

Novellas are shorter books often published as sequels or prequels for popular books. They often give the backstory of a character in the main story arc. The average length is between 30,000 and 50,000 words.

Romance novels include both mainstream romance and sub-genre romance. These are between 40,000 and 100,000 words on average, with the sub-genre novels being slightly shorter.

The fantasy and science fiction novel niche tends to be a bit longer than other types of novels, so the author can create a fantasy or sci-fi world. Aim for 90,000 to 120,000 words for this genre.

If you are writing historical fiction, you’ll find the average range falls within the average word count for novels. The best historical fiction books fall between 80,000 and 100,000 words.

Though there are exceptions, the horror and mystery genres tend to be shorter adult fiction books. Traditional publishing aims for 70,000 to 90,000 words for this genre. Because they move quickly and include a lot of action, these do not have as long a word count. The best crime thriller authors adopt a similar approach.

YA novel writers often target adult readers. The sweet spot for the word length for these books is 50,000 to 80,000 words. Interestingly, many YA authors end up with a larger number of words in their sequels after they gain a bit of a following among their target readers.

Average Length for Children’s Fiction Books

Children have limited vocabularies and can’t read as long of books as their adult counterparts. Here are some publishing industry standards for children’s fiction works, based on age level.

Even though they often get read aloud, picture books have an industry-standard length. They tend to be between 300 and 800 words, with plenty of illustrations to help tell the story.

Early or easy reader books are for young, new readers. They feature minimal vocabulary that is in line with reading level, and they vary from 200 words to 3,500 words, increasing in word count as the reading level increases.

After easy reading, most children move to chapter books. These still have limited vocabulary to line up with their reading levels. The average length, again depending on reading level, is between 4,000 to 10,000 words.

The middle grades, grades six through eight, need longer books but a limited vocabulary. The best word count for this age group is between 25,000 and 40,000 words. 

Average Length for Non-Fiction Books 

Non-fiction books can follow similar guidelines as age-group specific books. However, for books reaching adults, there are specific word counts that the publishing industry considers standard. The kind of book affects the word count in non-fiction as well.

If a non-fiction work is not a self-help or a biography or memoir, it has a pretty narrow range of between 70,000 and 80,000 words. This type of book includes political works, business books, science books, and similar non-fiction topics.

A  memoir  is someone’s autobiographical account of something that happened in their own life. It may not be an entire biographical account, but it does cover something the writer experienced. The average length for this type of fiction is 80,000 to 200,000 words.

A biography is a book with a long potential range depending on the details in the subject’s life. The average range for this is 80,000 to 200,000 words. 

A self-help book gives guidance on how to do something. It may be personal growth or physical action, like how to do a craft. The average length for this is 40,000 to 50,000 words.

Word counts for books is a fluid thing, but it does matter. Readers expect how long a book will be, and most publishers are looking for books they publish to hit the sweet spot for their readers.

That said, exceptions exist. For example, the first book in the Harry Potter series was perfect for young adult readers at  76,944 words . As the series progresses, the books get increasingly longer, and book five, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix topped the list at 257,045 words. 

Since the series was a New York Times Bestseller, the word count didn’t matter. The books flew off the shelf. However, most writers need to stick within word count recommendations, especially when seeking to publish a book for the first time.

The average length of a book depends on the subject, age-range, and type of book you choose. Literary fiction is usually longer than non-fiction, but even in those general terms, word counts vary.

Word count matters in the publication world because publishers need to publish books that appeal to their target audiences. Thus, they look for books that hit a certain range based on the genre.

If you are hoping to become a published author, sticking to word count ranges will help. 

Want more? Check out our guide how to write a book .

FAQs About The Average Length Of A Book

A classic non-fiction book is usually between 70,000 and 80,000 words. Other types of non-fiction, like biographies, can be even longer, with upper limits of around 200,000 words.

The average length of a fiction book depends on the age of its audience and the type of book. Picture books, for instance, can be as short as 300 words, whereas a science fiction novel can have upper limits of around 120,000 words.

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How long an essay can be?

I was sure that even the longest essays are about 20-25 pages. But Eric Gill's "An Essay on Typography" is more than 150 pages. And here it becomes unclear to me where is a difference between an essay and a book? How long an essay can be?

• 1 Well, Wikipedia calls An Essay on Typography "a book". –  Anyon Commented Jun 21, 2023 at 14:28
• 2 You can write a 1000 page book titled "An Essay on X" where X is something you like to write about. –  Nobody Commented Jun 21, 2023 at 14:31
• A book can have 20-25 pages. –  EarlGrey Commented Jun 21, 2023 at 15:20
• Merriam-Webster says an essay is "an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view". Some other places have 'usually short'. 150 pages is short compared with many other pieces of writing. –  Jon Custer Commented Jun 21, 2023 at 18:36

There is no limit. An essay is only vaguely defined, typically by its focus of topic and length, but there is no hard limit for how short an essay must be to be called an essay. I think most would agree that 150 pages is unusually long for an essay, but still possible. A highly focused persuasive piece of writing could still be called an essay even if very long.

A book is a form factor for a piece of writing, it doesn't describe the type or style of writing itself. Pretty much any piece of writing can be published in book form, whether that's an essay, a novel, technical manual, or biography. "Essay" describes a piece of writing with particular characteristics of purpose, style, and length, while "book" describes a physical object with pages and text.

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Average Book Length: How Long Is a Novel?

By Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

How long is a novel, what’s the average word count of a book, how prowritingaid can help you hit your word count.

Readers want books that hit a perfect sweet spot in terms of length. Short books can leave readers feeling like they didn’t get their money’s worth, while long books can feel like a slog.

Knowing the ideal length for your genre will help you plan the order of events and story arc of your book.

So, how do you know the best length for your book?

This article will explain what an average book length is and how you can calculate the right word count to aim for in your own manuscript.

Let’s start by looking at the average length of a novel . The answer varies a lot depending on what type of novel you’re writing, so here are some ranges you can use as a benchmark.

What Is the Average Novel Word Count?

Most publishers consider novel length to be anywhere between 50,000 and 110,000 words. The average length of an adult novel is about 90,000 words.

Novels for younger readers run shorter than novels for adults. Young adult novels have an average length of 50,000–80,000 words, while middle-grade novels have an average length of 25,000–40,000 words.

Genre can also make a difference to how long your novel should be.

Science fiction and fantasy novels tend to have higher word counts than most other genres, averaging around 90,000–120,000 words, since they often need a lot of words for world building and introducing magic systems. Big, epic stories, such as George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, can even be 120,000+ words.

Romance novels, on the other hand, often have shorter word counts, averaging 50,000–100,000 words. Some even go as low as 40,000 words, depending on the specific subgenre.

Mystery, thriller, and horror novels also tend to run on the shorter side since they’re fast-paced and often focus more on action than on exposition. They average around 70,000–90,000 words.

Historical fiction is fairly average in terms of length, usually falling between 80,000 and 100,000 words.

If you’re a first-time writer and don’t know your exact genre, aiming for around 90,000 words for an adult novel is a safe goal.

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What Is the Average Novel Length in Pages?

Books come in various sizes and are printed with different fonts and spacing, so page count isn’t always consistent. The best way to calculate length is by the number of words.

If you really want to estimate the number of pages for your book, you can divide the total word count by the number of words on a page.

A double-spaced document with standard manuscript formatting in 12-point font contains about 250 words per page. If you format your manuscript as a single-space document, it will be about 500 words per page.

So, if the average novel is around 90,000 words, that breaks down to about 360 double-spaced pages.

Here are a few more quick conversions to save you from having to do the math:

A 50,000-word book is about 200 pages

A 60,000-word book is about 240 pages

A 70,000-word book is about 280 pages

An 80,000-word book is about 320 pages

A 90,000-word book is about 360 pages

A 100,000-word book is about 400 pages

A 110,000-word book is about 440 pages

Even if you write only one page per day, you’ll have a completed manuscript in less than a year.

There are many types of books other than novels, such as textbooks, memoirs, and self-help books. Let’s look at what those average word counts are.  

How Long Is a Self-Help Book?

The average self-help book is shorter than the average novel, coming in at around 40,000–50,000 words. Readers want a quick, concise read that can teach them something new in a short span of time.

How Long Is a Memoir?

Memoirs have similar word counts to novels. Most memoirs are 80,000–100,000 words long.

How Long Is a Biography?

Biographies tend to run longer than memoirs, often going as high as 200,000 words. A good target range is 80,000–200,000 words.

How Long Is a Textbook?

Textbooks vary widely in length depending on the subject you’re writing about and the audience you’re writing for.

A biology textbook designed for college students might be 200,000 words, while an arithmetic textbook designed for elementary schoolers might only be 30,000 words.

One useful way to figure out the target word count for a textbook is to look at the word counts of other textbooks with similar topics and target audiences. That can give you a more specific sense of what word count to shoot for.

It’s important to hit the right word count for the type of book you’re writing.

If you’re hoping to traditionally publish your book, editors at publishing houses know the right book lengths for their genres, and they’ll be less inclined to take a chance on your story if it doesn’t meet their expectations. And if you want to self-publish, you’ll have a better chance of selling your book to your target audience if you give them the length they’re expecting.

You can run your manuscript through ProWritingAid to look for ways to hit your target word count.

If you need to cut words, you can use the Pacing Check to look for sections that are particularly slow-paced, such as long sections of introspection, and tighten them up. If you need to add words, you can look for fast-paced dialogue and action and add more description.

You can also consider adding an extra subplot to a novel that’s too short or splitting a novel into a series if it’s far too long. Don’t be afraid to get creative.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Hannah Yang

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

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9 Presses That Accept Unsolicited Manuscripts

Do you have a book-length manuscript that is ready to submit? Consider sending it to one (or many) of these nine awesome presses that accept unsolicited manuscripts. We are huge fans of these presses and are so grateful for the work that they do. So go ahead: check out this list of opportunities.

This independent press only publishes up to three titles per year, but welcomes submissions of literary fiction and creative nonfiction. Their writers include M. Allen Cunningham, Margaret Malone, Harriet Scott Chessman, and others. Atelier26’s books have been recognized by the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Balcones Fiction Prize, the Flann O’Brien Award, and more. Check it out.

Black Balloon

This publisher is an acclaimed imprint of Catapult, an independent publisher that also offers online and in-person writing classes and fosters new and emerging writers. Black Balloon is seeking fiction and narrative nonfiction with an innovative writing style and unique voice. Their books have been featured in The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, O: The Oprah Magazine, Esquire, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, The Atlantic, and NPR’s All Things Considered, among others. They accept manuscript submissions via Submittable twice yearly. Read more about Black Balloon here.

Coffee House Press

This is a small press that publishes literary novels, full-length short story collections, poetry, creative nonfiction, book-length essays and essay collections, and memoir. Their next reading period opens on September 1st, 2018, and is capped at three hundred, so it’s best to submit promptly. They have published Gabe Habash, Hernan Diaz, Eimear McBride, and others. Visit the Coffee House site for more information.

Two Dollar Radio

This acclaimed, boutique press has published exceptional writers such as Masande Ntshanga, Sarah Gerard, Shane Jones, and others. Their books have been recognized by the National Book Foundation, picked as “Editor’s Choice” by The New York Times Book Review , and made best-of lists at several other publications. For more details, check out their site.

This acclaimed publishing project is looking for fiction and nonfiction written by women. They have published writers such as Renee Gladman, Joanna Ruocco, and Marianne Fritz. Each fall, they publish two books simultaneously. More information is available on their website.

Fiction Advocate

This small press focuses on publishing fiction, creative nonfiction, and literary criticism by new and emerging voices. Submissions are currently open for both book-length works of literary criticism and novels. Their books have won multiple awards and been recognized by The New Yorker, Bookforum, and NPR. Learn more about it here.

SF/LD Books

Short Flight/Long Drive Books is currently accepting submissions. They are looking for poetry collections, short story collections, nonfiction, novels, novellas, and essay collections. Their authors include Chloe Caldwell, Elizabeth Ellen, Chelsea Martin, and others. Go for it!

Pank, originally a literary journal founded by M. Bartley Seigel and Roxane Gay, is going to be publishing full-length books for the first time beginning in 2018. This press is looking for poetry, novels, short story collections, and multi-genre work. You c an submit here.

Dzanc Books

The Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction recognizes daring, original, and innovative writing with a $10,000 advance and book publication. Although the deadline for this is September 15th, this is a very worthy press to follow for yearly opportunities such as these. They have published writers such as Yannick Murphy, Suzanne Burns, Roy Kesey, and others. Learn more about Dzanc here.

by Julia Mucha

Summer Short Story Award 3rd Place: “Iron Boy Kills the Devil” by Sheldon Costa

Happy thanksgiving.

What is the World’s Longest Essay?

Typically, the term “essay” refers to a piece of writing featuring the author’s argument. However, its length can greatly vary based on academic level, nature of study, and specific requirements.

Categorizing Essays Based on Length

• The One-Paragraph Essay: Often assigned for the practice of writing basics, this type ranges between 150-250 words .
• The Three-Paragraph Essay: Primarily to introduce students to the essay structure of introduction, body, and conclusion, such essays typically revolve around 500 words .
• The Five-Paragraph Essay: A more advanced version, it allows for three paragraphs exploring the core idea in the body. Such essays generally land around 1,000 words .

Advanced Length Essays

• The Extended Essay: Predominantly assigned during bachelor’s degrees, these types of essays usually fall under 1,500, 3,000 , and 5,000 words .
• The Dissertation: The final project of both bachelor’s and master’s degrees usually caps around 10,000 or 15,000 words .
• The Thesis: The most extensive and complex type of essay, typically associated with doctorate students studying PhDs generally falls between 40,000 and 60,000 words .

Word Count and Page Count Relationship

Determining the number of pages for your essay depends on spacing , margins , font size , and families’ . Using standard 1-inch margins, and 12 pt. Arial font ; a 5,000-word essay will generate 10 pages single-spaced or 20 pages double-spaced .

Conclusion: Final Words

In conclusion, the length of an essay greatly varies based on many factors, notably the academic level, the subject matter, and the type of essay. Recognizing the style and length of the essay you’ve been tasked with will significantly influence your approach towards it. While quantity does maintain importance in fulfilling assigned guidelines, focus on the quality of your content should not be overshadowed. In theory, the longest form of essay could be a PhD thesis , which can reach up to 60,000 words or more.

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