But, of course, this all has a flipside. What I—and the majority of your readers—don’t like are long books that don’t need to be long. In other (blunt) words, I’m talking about books written by windbags.
These are the books that just never seem to be over, the ones that have you counting the many (many) pages to the end without ever really seeming to get any closer. Nobody likes these books, not just because they’re tedious, but because they’re bad writing. And that means that none of us wants to write one of these books.
5 Signs Your Book Is Too Long
Regardless the length of your book, how do you know if you’re running the risk of becoming a windbag? Consider a few signs your book is too long.
1. You’re Trying to Write a Long Book
You’re afraid you’re not going to meet your word-count goal, so you’re padding your story’s events.
2. You’re Meandering Into Rabbit Trails and Dead Ends
This is fine in the first draft, but they must be edited out.
3. You’ve Given Every Single Character in the Book a POV.
You know, just because you want to make sure readers see everything there is to see.
4. You’re Describing Every Little Detail
I’m not talking about just in setting descriptions, but also in the minutiae of your characters’ actions. For example, instead of just staying, “he crossed the room,” you describe his every step.
5.You’re Overdoing the Internal Narrative
You want to establish a credible evolution of character thought and feeling, but most of the time, you’re won’t need to spend chapters telling readers how characters reached a certain decision. When in doubt, opt for brevity.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! What do you think are some signs your book is too long? Tell me in the comments!
