I finished the ‘nonfiction project’ (see previous entry), the month-plus typing work that reignited the weird feelings in my wrists that the doctor informed me is not carpal tunnel syndrome. OK, it’s not a carpal tunnel problem, she’s the doctor and I’m not, but I’d like to know what I can do to minimize the problem, given my compulsion to type.
Buzzy wrists, aside, and with that real-life typing task finished, I’m looking forward to re-immersing myself in my fictional world. It’s a journey for me to leave one world, enter another, and then go back. Making these shifts isn’t immediate and I feel as if I’m moving from one country to another, sorting and packing the paraphernalia of the world I’m leaving, then reacquainting myself with the people, language, and culture of the world I’m reentering. Making a blog entry here is one of the steps in making the change.
I’m stashing the link here so that I’ll know where to find it later. It’s easier for me to click a category link and scroll through my online notetaking than it is for me to read through lists of “favorites” in my bookmarks. Those link titles seem to run together.
- Word count by genre, Jacqui Murray’s WordDreams…
— cozy mysteries = 65k to 90k
— mysteries, thrillers and crime fiction = A newer category of light paranormal mysteries and hobby mysteries clock in at about 75k to 90k. Historical mysteries and noir can be a bit shorter, at 80k to 100k. Most other mystery/thriller/crime fiction falls right around the 90k to 100k mark.
Those numbers are the ones that interest me most, but even if your number-concern is the same, click over to the link. Jacqui Murray has information about other genres, as well as word counts of well-known and influential works.
Valerie Bonham 
August 3, 2011 at 1:37 pm
My buzzy wrist feelings are arthritis. My doctor told me I was disabled, a/c my job is 90% computer based, but that’s not going to work. Umm, I’m a writer and a tech teacher. Typing is what I do.
I hope your infirmity has a better outcome!
August 3, 2011 at 7:34 pm
I always wonder about how publishers are calculating word counts since word processors provide exact numbers. It used to be 250 x the number of pages = your word count. Something else to worry about. Thanks for the site link.
Hope you find a way to make your wrists less buzzy. 😦
August 3, 2011 at 10:56 pm
I’ve wondered about the exact counts, too, Jeannie. It looks sort of silly to put, “About 4567 words.” Does one round off anyhow?
When I started with children’s magazine short stories, we used to make our own average word counts since each person’s style would determine how many words the writer generally fit onto a page. My problem was not typing too many lines onto individual sheets for the final draft.
My Smith Corona has a marker band on the carriage return and it’s supposed to tell you how far from the bottom of the sheet you are. It works, *if* you remember to look at it. If not, you retype the page — and hope you don’t have any typos. Heaven was exact number of lines and no white-out or erasures.
Needless to say, the Smith Corona is now used for envelopes, or when I NEED to not be tempted to go online.