When has a story been told?

[John Dean]

One of the questions that I am occasionally asked in my creative writing classes is ‘how long should a novel be?’ It’s a question that sometimes crops up in reviews as well, with some readers saying that they felt that a story was too short and wondering why the author did not write more?

The simple, if somewhat glib, answer is that a story is long enough when it’s long enough. What do I mean by that? Well, my novels tend to be just over 50,000 words. Why? Because after 50,000 words I feel that I have told all the story that I want to.

Yes, I could explore more about the characters, offer more description of the surroundings, write more scenes to add to the length, but the storywriter in me tends not to wish to do so. By 50,000 words I’m ready to move onto the next book.

That is not to say that there is anything wrong with novels that are longer. Of course, there’s not. It’s just that every author is different as is every reader. Some like longer novels, others prefer shorter.

One thing is certain, one of the golden rules of writing holds true with any style; every word must earn its place on the page.

I was once approached by a student who asked me if I could run a session on ‘padding’; you can imagine my reply!