I write long books.
For years, I tried everything to bring my books down to commercially acceptable lengths. Then one day I was re-reading an old favourite—I think it was Dune (Amazon page count 890)—and realised most of my old favourites are long books. Top of the list: Dorothy Dunnett’s historical series (500-800 pages) and Diana Gabaldon Outlander series (800-1000 pages). The Amazon page count for my science fiction books is 500-700, so not so long after all.
I read and enjoy long books, so of course I write long books.
Not that it gives me a free pass to keep going forever if I’m having trouble finding the end. There’s only one reason to write a long book: To tell the story properly needs more pages.
Not because:
- More pages make more money on KU (it doesn’t–I still earn less per ebook read on KU than per ebook sold).
- Sloppy editing of a long first draft. Dead giveaways for this are:
- Padding e.g. excess fillers, back story, or irrelevant details.
- The story feels like it’s rambling.
- Too much plot for the basic theme, premise, or narrative i.e. I’ve overcomplicated a simple story.
- Genre expectations. Long, epic books are popular for the fantasy and historical genres, less common in science fiction, and not at all in contemporary romance.
Long can’t be forced onto a story; it must be absolutely necessary.
So how to write the long novel.
Like any other book, long ones have a beginning, middle and end, and the momentum of the story must be maintained throughout. But there are some unique characteristics loved by readers who want to sink into the world of an epic book.
The story must be big enough to support the length – go back to Goal/Motivation/Conflict. These have to be powerful. End of the world is good!
- They have complicated plots with multiple subplots, particularly for the external plot lines. Similarly there are more characters. Further, the secondary characters may have their own stories, with plots, complications, and expectations. The only rule is that these must support the main plot and character. There does need to be a pattern to the book, though, otherwise the reader is left floundering and lost. I liken it to the weave of a tapestry, with all the strands interlocking to support the main story.
- Details. Readers of long books love details. There is so much room for world building and character backgrounds! But it isn’t a licence for author self-indulgence. Readers who love details pay attention to them. Everything must be there for a reason. It may be more obscure than in shorter books, foreshadowing, to set the scene for a character’s actions, or just to bring life to the world, but whatever it is, the detail must act to move the story forward. A smoking gun is still a smoking gun, but what if it’s battered, rusty, and with heavy wear on the handpiece, against one that is highly decorated, polished to a lustre, with no signs of wear except for the residue from a misfired charge in the barrel.
- Variations in pace are particularly vital. You need to give the reader breathing spaces without losing them.
- There can be multiple endings for the various characters and plot lines. However, resolution of the main external and internal story lines is still what finishes the story.
The biggest negative of writing long? They take me so much more time to write. I’m mostly a pantser, and that means lots more sludgy periods to wade through when you have no idea what comes next. You have to be stubborn to write long.
Now to prod along my characters in my next book.
Broken
Book 4, Arcadia
Arcadia is the most perfect Earth Analogue world in all the Alliance – a world on which plenty are eager to settle in place of the present owners if they keep abusing their world. That’s what the Galactic Alliance has threatened, and the Alliance never makes false promises. Arcadians must change how they treat their world, or they will be removed. But too many Arcadians refuse to believe the threat is real, and a band of conspirators will use any means possible to hold onto their wealth and profits, including kidnap, blackmail, maybe even assassination. The Federal Marshals ask Cumchdach den Coille to infiltrate the conspiracy and expose it.
Cumchdach has known since their teens that he’d marry his beloved Anna one day. But not that conspiracies and business fraud would come between them. When Anna’s father defrauds Cumchdach’s family company, Anna leaves him, taking their baby.
As one the top botanists on Arcadia, Anna den Coille specialises in how plants work together and within their ecosystem to best thrive. Work needed by her government to help fix their world. Then she is betrayed by her father, which doesn’t surprise her. But Cumchdach’s betrayal threatens to destroy her. Even worse, her snarled up family connections and special skills make her a target for their enemies.
Can Anna and Cumchdach survive long enough to expose their enemies and save their world—and save their marriage?
I love a long book, lots of world building and an intricate, multi-point of view plot. Shorter books are great too, but give me a complex world to lose myself in and I’m very happy. Raewyn.
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