The Extra Padding

[Thomas Grant Bruso]

Why is it that so many books are filled with pages after pages of extra padding, or fluff? Authors write an excess of flashbacks, or litter their books with complete rubbish just to make a quota of 300 pages or more. I read a lot, but I find myself skipping over dialogue, or prose, that I find doesn't prolong the story or even contribute to the plot. And yet, these books still get published. I find that 200 pages is sufficient for many of these books, mysteries specifically. What do you think?

[B.R.Stateham]

Why? Because a lot of agents and publishers don't want to see a book with less than 80 to 100 thousand words.

[I. J. Parker]

I've just finished one with 450 plus pages (85,000 words). No fluff. Just a tangled web of deceit and two cases being investigated at the same time. It depends on the complexity of the plot, but I grant you many plots are pretty simple. If the writing is sterling and the extra words serve a purpose, I don't mind too much.

[Donna Carrick]

I.J. Having read your style, I'm certain there is no 'fluff' in your work, just beautifully crafted story-telling.

As to the ideal page count for a mystery, we need to stop looking for golden rules. We're artists, for goodness sake. Write what feels right, cut out the excessive crap, leave in the stuff that makes your book unique and let's all quit agonizing over whether we've found the perfect formula.

I've read long books and loved every word (Henry VIII by Margaret George). I've read short books and loved them equally (The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers) Converseley I've read lesser books of every length and enjoyed them less.

I apologise for the soapbox, but really to goodness, it's all about what and how we write, not how many pages we write. Just trying to keep it real.

[Thomas Grant Bruso]

Donna,

I am not looking for golden rules. As authors, it is our job to entertain the reader and get to the point of what we write. Our taste in books is different, obviously. As a reader, I do not want to wade through a 300-400 page novel chockfull of scenarios that do not advance the plot of the story. But that is me trying to keep it real. That is my opinion. What may be fluff or filler to me may not be to you.

[Clay Morgan]

I agree with B.R. There probably is a great deal of "market" pressure, as well as pressure from agents and publishers (again, driven by market) to hit a specific length.

Also, I'd suspect that at least some authors would disagree that the passages included are fluff - I'm sure some feel they are necessary to the story.

I can sometimes understand the problem with "wanting" or "needing" fluff. My novel-length manuscripts tend to end at 60,000-65,000 words. I think it is a journalism background that trained me to get in, tell the story fast and hard, and get out.

[minervaK]

Clay -- I'm curious how your shorter manuscripts are received by publishers...?

[Clay Morgan]

Well, thus far, I've had no luck on the novel front, so, not very well? I've published a few short stories - and they are short - but I keep getting told they pack a pretty good punch.

[Grant McKenzie]

Honestly, most publishers are looking for 60,000 to 65,000-word novels — especially for a first novel and especially in the crime and thriller genres. So you're definitely in the right neighborhood.

[minervaK]

Grant, curious how you come by your number...?

[Grant McKenzie]

Personal experience and by talking to other debut authors who are being published at the moment — most of those first novels are in that ballpark. The trouble with publishing is that there are no definite rules. A great book of 60,000 words (that lands on the right desk of the right editor when the moon is in the right part of the sky and the two purple bunnies are hopping eastward) will sell just as easily as a great book at 85,000 or more words.
When my debut novel sold to Random House UK it was written at 85,000 words and the first thing the editor told me to do was cut 15,000 words to make it read even faster.

[Steven Torres]

Of course, it's hard to answer with a specific example to discuss, but I'll try anyway - the author has to balance a number of readre desires - many readers just want plot, but most don't. They may like a little characterization or description thrown in. I write mysteries set in Puerto Rico. Fans don't email to say they loved the plot. They email to say they felt like they had just come back from visiting the island. These readers are looking for a book about Puerto Rico that also has some action and adventure thrown in. I suspect there's a large percentage of IJ Parker's readers that want to get some some experience of Ancient Japan. Of the millions of Tom Clancy readers, many want to read about the fancy weapons and don't care what the particular plot is this time.

Of course, the writer can put too much emphasis on one side of things and have an unbalanced novel. Then we call that bad writing.

[Thomas Grant Bruso]

You make a good point. I guess I like a good story with colorful characters. It is difficult to balance all of the elements at times: plot, characterization, and background.