How Long Is The Novel

How long is the average novel?

As Laura mentioned, it very much depends on the genre. A work of fiction is generally considered to be a novel when it’s 40,000 words or more. For a breakdown by genre, we published a good post on Reedsy a couple of weeks ago with this infographic:As you can see, Sci-fi and Fantasy novels tend to be longer (industry standard is 100–120k), while Middle Grade works should fall between 20k and 50k words.There are obviously even more differences depending on the subgenre. Urban Fantasy, for example, tends to have similar word counts to YA, while epic (or high) fantasy tends to be much longer (sometimes 150k or 200k words).My main piece of advice when authors ask me that question is: make your novel as long as it needs to be, and use these averages and industry standards as indicators. If you fall short, ask yourself if you’ve developed your characters enough, or if you haven’t rushed through the plot here and there. If you’re above the average, examine your pacing and make sure you don’t have too many slow sections or superfluous scenes.

How long is the novel The Jungle Book?

It is 103 pages.  This would take around 2 hours for an average reader.

How long does it take you to self-edit your novel?

I published my first novel on Amazon using the Kindle Publishing Platform, and a shameless plug follows: Amazon.com: Betrayal: A Novel of Rome eBook: Clifford Meyer: Kindle StoreI decided at the outset that I would self-edit, because I did not have the financial resources to pay for a proof-reader. It remains to be seen whether or not it was a good idea.Once I had made that decision, I created the following routine:Write: either for a specified period or to a target word count, typically 4 to 6 hours, or 1,000 to 1,400 words. What pious hopes these were! Sometimes, I could only manage 10 to 15 minutes or 100 to 150 words. However, I would be sure to try to enjoy the process or workflow, and not to beat myself up if I didn't reach my target.Edit: after putting aside the completed text for at least 12 hours and preferably 24 hours, run it through the spelling and grammar checker in Microsoft Word; read it critically, and rework sentences for sense and form, which generally resulted in some more or less serious pruning. Apropos, I tried some of the on-line grammar checkers but I thought they were scammy or spammy - you pay your money, you make your choice.Reread: after putting aside the edited text for another 12 to 24 hours, read it again as a disinterested observer - for want of a better way of putting it - as if I were not the author. I think that might have been the toughest part, because I was emotionally involved and spiritually invested in the writing.Since I knew no better, I wrote the novel according to the plot, chapter by chapter, from start to finish. Once I had completed a chapter, I did not return to it until I assembled the final version of the text, and read the novel in full for sense and continuity, after which I ran it through the spelling and grammar checker (look - only two split infinitives!) one more time.Now, for the time it took. The finished novel, 50,700 words, took 21 weeks elapsed to complete. I should say, on reflection, I spent more time editing and reading than I did writing. I wonder if that is common: the split was about 30% writing and 70% editing. I realize now that I enjoyed editing as much as writing.Finally, as I research and plan my second novel: I won't be doing it quite the same way as the first one. I wonder if this is because the first time around it is all quite new (novel?) and one is not sure of one's grasp, or because the method itself is unsound. We shall see.