Manuscript too short?

It’s common for writers to either have too many words in their first draft, or not enough. My current WIP is sitting around 80,000 words. It needs further expansion and naturally, I don’t want it to sound forced or artificially padded out.

Throughout the most recent edit, I identified some timeline inconsistencies, so I returned to the beginning and wrote the day/date at the top of every chapter.

It was then I realised the key to more words: timelines. 

When these pesky details are out of whack, they cause writers and editors a world of issues. Readers pick up on things like “a week later” when it’s actually only been a few days. They know people in office jobs generally don’t work on weekends, so if someone is on a business call or answering emails on a Saturday or Sunday there needs to be good reason for it. As writers, we have to be aware of these small inconsistencies that can throw our readers out of the story. 

This is how sorting my timeline achieved an increase in wordcount:

 1) Linking the time of year to a season. 

Seasons have weather changes, flora and fauna variations, and even smell differences. Endless opportunities to set the scene and therefore increase word count. 

 2) Acknowledgement of important events.

In my edit for timeline consistency, I realised I’d skipped a couple of important events over the span of my story. 

The couple’s child celebrates his first birthday – usually a momentous occasion in the lives of families. That offered another scene to add in. 

And ... Christmas! For many families, this is a significant event. It can come with stress but also a chance for family unity. A way to flesh out character relationships. 

New Year’s Eve is a time of reflection and can be handy when it happens towards the end of a book. Again, more words and more chances to show character interaction and move the plot forward.

3) Accurately reflecting procedures.

The story has police and court proceedings throughout the book. Upon further research, I refined the details and timeframes between certain processes. This helped space out the scenes accurately and gave me time to explain what was going on to the reader (without getting too heavy-handed). 

Medical procedures offer another area for increasing word count. One of my characters is pregnant, so I had to ensure her 12- and 20-week scans were at the right stages of the book. This enabled me to build in a scene around these scans, instead of glossing over them. Another great possibility for tension-building, character development and … you guessed it … upping the word count.

So, there you have it. Increase your word count by fixing your timeline. Easy, right?!

Let me know any tips you have for combatting the numbers problem.

KOx