Counting words

First published in Dutch July 21, 2012

Many years ago I wrote poems. It was e real challenge to me, to say as much as possible with less than lesser words.

That’s totally different now. Sometimes it seems that I should use a lot of words to hide that I don’t tell you anything of the plot at all.

As I started to write, I often was disappointed. So much happened in only three  pages. Till my love reminded me that I write A4-pages and that is almost two pages in a book (A5)

I immediately searched how many words make a page in a book. I found, on the internet where else?,  somewhere between 300 and 500 words. I counted: if the average is 400 words a page and I love books with about  200 till 250 pages, I may write 80.000 words before my story ends.

Still a lot of words to go.

Did I before think that I didn’t have words enough.  I knew the outline of the story. I wrote the  outline without the plot down in only 9000 words. Now after 51.000 words I didn’t write more of the outline than in the beginning. Still the plot isn’t written yet. But that outline from the beginning did grow to a more complete story. And it still grows.

At the end of the day, I stop writing because I am tired. The words don’t flow any more. Sometimes , at these moments I become scared. Scared that I never will reach that 80.000 words.

But the next day I wake up and know a few new developments. And then the words flow, flow, flow and most times at the end of the day I wrote  about 3000 words more.

I am curious when the book thinks that it is finished.