How long should your book be? Do you worry about this?

I know authors have enough to think about when they’re writing a novel—character arcs, plot arcs, conflict, and that timeline—but should they also worry about the length of the book?

Some people say no.

A book should be as long as it takes to tell the story. Stephen King famously said that he just keeps writing until the story is done. And if a book is well-written, it doesn’t matter how long it is.

I agree—to a point.

Yes, when reading a well-written 100,000 word ( 350 pages, approximately) book it can feel short. Likewise, if you make it to the end of a badly written book 50,000 words long, getting to the end could take forever.

But does that 100k word novel really need to be as long as it is? Is there repetition? Unnecessary asides? Too much description of things that just don’t have any bearing on the story? Too much” showing” when” telling” would do?

On the opposite end of the spectrum, a 50k word novel could be missing character development, descriptions that pull the reader into the world of the novel, or lost opportunities to make the story more complex and meaningful.

The other thing to consider when thinking about the length of your book are reader expectations and attention span.

Different genres call for different lengths. A high-fantasy novel of 100-150k is average, while you’ll rarely find a romance that long. Mysteries tend to be between 80 and 100k. Romance—depending on the subgenre—can be between 50 and 100k.

When considering the length of your book, know the genre and how long books in that genre tend to be—that is how long readers will expect the book to be and they may feel cheated if it’s too short or overwhelmed if it’s too long.

And finally, think of your reader’s attention span. They are getting shorter, so will your reader be willing to stick around and read your long family saga? If not, consider breaking it up into multiple books.

This (and many other answers about writing) can be boiled down to writing the best, most engaging story you can, with characters your reader can relate to—regardless of race or species.