Free writing tip: "My first draft is too short!"
A reader's question, and standard lengths for fiction: flash to novel.
I finally finished a draft but it is too short. How can I fix this? Should I pad it?
Alle sez:
There was an instance when I was privileged to ask The Great Goddess Amy Bloom how she knew if the piece she was working on was a short story or a novel.
She replied that when she stopped having questions about the characters, she was done. And when she was done, it was either a short story or a novel.
Love that. Write what you want to write. Then find publication.
I advise against padding simply to reach a longer word count. When I finish a draft—novel-length to a post, here—it is good to give it some time. For the projects I see as having more of an impact on the life of the reader—say, a novel or essay rather than a Substack post—I let the work sit anywhere from a few weeks to several years.
(The sit-length is determined by how much I cannot keep the piece out of my head.)
When I re-read with revision in mind, I am most interested in what type of questions emerge. Invariably, those question light the fire I need to drive the project forward.
INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR LITERARY FICTION
Micro 50-500 words
Flash: 500-1000 words
Short: 750-2500 words
Short story: up to 5000 words
Novella: 40,000
Novel: 50,000 - 100,000
BY BOOK GENRE
Sci fic/fantasy: 90,000 to 120,000 words.
Historical: 100,000 words.
Romance: 50,000 words (beach reads) to 100,000 (up-market).
Thriller: 70,000 and 90,000 words
You are free to write to whatever word length the goddess gifts you. However, it is a challenge to publish work that does not fit easily into the above categories.