Eh, you take what you can get, you know.
Two steaming cups of chocolate goodness. Courtesy of whomever I swiped it from out of the cupboard.
Ben ,'The Killer In Me'
The Great Write Way
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
erikaj - Oct 20, 2003 7:04:21 pm PDT #2357 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
Deena - Oct 20, 2003 9:10:18 pm PDT #2358 of 10001
How are you me? You need to stop that. Only I can be me. ~Kara
Yay, Liese!
Am, of course I want to be added to the filter.
I, unfortunately, haven't been able to get back into active LJing since the move, but I'd like to. I can't seem to get up the whatever it is I need to do it. Maybe this will be the incentive I need.
askye - Oct 21, 2003 4:33:47 am PDT #2359 of 10001
Thrive to spite them
I signed up for NaNoWriMo as well. I've never attempted anything like this so I've already accepted I'm going to write crap. Now my goal is to write 50,000 words of it.
erikaj - Oct 21, 2003 6:12:26 am PDT #2360 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
How many words on a page?Cause I could picture pages more easily.
amych - Oct 21, 2003 6:18:20 am PDT #2361 of 10001
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
How many words on a page?Cause I could picture pages more easily.
Depends entirely on your font and whether you're doublespacing or singlespacing or something weird. Let's say anywhere from 250-800.... which is why people use word count.
Take an average-looking page of your writing, formatted the way you usually do, and run it through your word processor's word count -- that'll give you a good enough idea to use for estimating.
erikaj - Oct 21, 2003 6:29:09 am PDT #2362 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
Wow, there is a lot of variation...just trying to get a clearer picture. I've decided I'm going to use "Perfect" to start from, which I should probably call "Imperfect" but, you know.
amych - Oct 21, 2003 6:33:50 am PDT #2363 of 10001
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
Wow, there is a lot of variation...just trying to get a clearer picture.
Yep. Courier, for instance, is a gigantic font -- at 12 point, doublespaced, you'll get about 250 words on a page. Times runs closer to 300-350. Using something smaller and prettier but still fairly "standard" like Garamond, you can easily hit 400. Foofy script fonts tend to be absolutely tiny. And some people like to write singlespaced stuff, or triplespaced, or masochistally enjoy reading 8-point type, and so on. So, page count really isn't an accurate measure of anything.
P.M. Marc - Oct 21, 2003 6:40:10 am PDT #2364 of 10001
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
Yeah.
I mean, I know pretty well that with my settings (single-spaced trebuchet ms, 10pt), 6-7 pages = 3000 words, but it's variable.
I'm addicted to my word count button.
Theodosia - Oct 21, 2003 7:29:22 am PDT #2365 of 10001
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"
Note that 'professional' format is Courier font, double-spacing, one-inch margins on sides and bottom, 1.5 on top. This is what editors would like to get for submitted manuscripts, makes for easier markup and length estimation, also their eyes get used to reading that way. (The rule of thumb is "anything that makes the editor's job easier gives them less reason to reject you.") This reliably comes out to around 250 words (a word averaging six characters long) per page.
Note that Stephen King or Anne Rice could submit on old shopping bags in red crayon. Note also that no rule prevents you from writing in any font or format if it's easier on your eyes/saves paper/you think it's prettier.
Me, I've taken to always writing in professional format because a) it really is easier to mark up that way, especially because in my rewrite phase I often cross out whole sentences and phrases, and scrawl in something else, and b) then I don't have to reformat the whole mess if I submit it to a professional market.
deborah grabien - Oct 21, 2003 7:43:32 am PDT #2366 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
What Theo Said.
On my machine, Word defaults to "manuscript submission" (no I do not mean porn) setting. I don't average 250 - more like 232, because I tend to user longer words.
Note that an editor will NOT read a single spaced printout in tiny pitch, and I don't blame them. My eyes go ballistic at the thought...