Word Counting Basics

Worried about the word count of your current writing projects? Here are some helpful basics on word counts. This "rule-of-thumb" guideline can help you stick to the generally accepted word count range for a particular writing category:

• Blog Posts: 150 to 500 words
• Online Articles: 350 to 1500 words
• Printed Articles (such as news or magazines): 1000 to 15,000 words
• Short Stories: 1500 to 30,000 words
• Novellas: 30,000 to 50,000 words
• Novels: 55,000 to 100,000 words OR Roughly 300 pages of double-spaced typed copy

Online, success is often measured by the number of readers a particular site has. Readership is not only affected by the usefulness of the information, but also by the length of the posts. If they are too short - they may lack either entertainment value, or be too brief to be useful or informative.

In the offline publishing world, a submission that falls outside of the accepted word count range can result in your hard work never even being read. Approximately one third of the novels received by publishers and agencies are rejected simply for being either too long or too short. Novels over 100,000 are costlier to the publisher and the agent, and are therefore come with a greater risk.

Useful Tip:
Don't worry or pay close attention to the word count of your first draft. Allow the story to flow naturally, and without interruption. When revising your draft, be more conscious of the word count, tightening up the text in some areas or elaborating in others, as needed. But don't completely delete or destroy any portions of the story you cut out, either. These tidbits can be useful in creating other stories or sequels, later!

Want to Psycho Analyze Your Tweets? See What Your Twitter Tweets Say About You

A Blogging Writer Quickie

If you've ever wondered what your online personality says about you, here's your chance. Dan Zarrella created a service that analyzes Twitter usage (more specifically, your last thousand tweets). Just enter your Twitter user name and TweetPsych will quickly return a psychological profile on your tweets! Type in any user name and psychoanalyze your all your tweeps in seconds!

5 Little Words, 24 Hours, 100 Comments

Blogger Chris Brogan wrote just five little words on June 10, 2009. Within 24 hours, those five words had already provoked over 100 comments and counting!

What was it that created such a stir? With just those few words, Chris struck a chord that continues to resonate throughout the blogosphere, screaming - debate with me! That five-word post was thought provoking (to say the least) and had the necessary elements to stir up controversy, to explain his point of view on the subject of Facebook, and excellent marketing ability.

Brilliant, Chris, just brilliant.

How to Write an Article You Can Sell

Selling an article can be a little tough if you're relatively new to the field of paid writing. Starting with a layout that works for most of your articles can save you time and energy, and increase your productivity throughout the day.

Popular Article Types
Depending on the criteria of the particular articles you write, and where they will appear, you may find that you are asked to write articles that fall in to the following categories: About, How To, What Is, Facts, How it Works, or Lists of information and sources.

Structure
Develop a precise method to writing each type of article you will be selling, and even create a template that you can use each time, with defined areas for information. Use the structure that you create - each and every time you write that type of article. This is where most of your time will be spent.

Forward Moving Text
Write each paragraph so that it leads into the next paragraph. Avoid stringing your reader along in hopes of keeping them interested. The readers' time is valuable, and they want to get straight to the point. Since most people "skim" the page, looking for useful information, be sure to highlight each section with a relevant heading.

Research
Use several resources to verify the information you are presenting in your articles. Take notes using pencil and paper, rather than with a word processor, which will help you to avoid the temptation to "copy and paste" someone else's work. Your research is to help back up the information in your article only, not where you should get your words.

Resources
Provide resources that provide additional reading that may be of interest to your readers, or that further explain the process or information in your article. Use citations and quotes minimally, providing resources whenever possible.

Rewriting and Renewing
Read through some of the articles you may have in your archives. You may find that by using your newly created structure, you are able you write new articles based on research you used in previous articles. Writing articles that are similar, but cover a different aspect of a subject can be a great way of saving time on research, and provide some additional resources for rewrites, or updating old articles with newly researched facts.

Using Structure Over Time
Using a structured method will help you to develop a pattern to your writing, and eventually a style that defines you, no matter what the subject matter is. Your interest in certain details when researching will influence the direction your articles take, and a predetermined structure will help you stick to the topic throughout your article.