John Grisham is hitting the book circuit to promote his new novel. As part of this effort, the best-selling author allowed The New York Times to print his “Do’s and Don’ts for Writing Popular Fiction”. He opened that piece by admitting his suggestions aren’t strikingly original. I’d hoped he’d offer some super-cool secret tips (such as, “I became a best-selling author only after I pledged my undying loyalty to the Great Old Ones. Hail Cthulhu!”) or provide anything that might possibly spark a lively conversation (like, perhaps, “Eliminate the competition. I’ve invited James Patterson to my island fortress, where I’ll hunt him for sport”).
So what advice did he offer? The biggie was that a writer needs to produce a new page of words every day. To quote Grisham, “That’s about 200 words, or 1,000 words a week. Do that for two years and you’ll have a novel that’s long enough.”
This led me to realize a couple of things. First, John Grisham believes a novel needs to total roughly 104,000 words to be worthy of publication. Secondly, what a relaxed life he lives if he limits himself to his recommended page count. Today’s blog, for example? It’s 200 words.
So what advice did he offer? The biggie was that a writer needs to produce a new page of words every day. To quote Grisham, “That’s about 200 words, or 1,000 words a week. Do that for two years and you’ll have a novel that’s long enough.”
This led me to realize a couple of things. First, John Grisham believes a novel needs to total roughly 104,000 words to be worthy of publication. Secondly, what a relaxed life he lives if he limits himself to his recommended page count. Today’s blog, for example? It’s 200 words.
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