Do Word Counts Really Matter?

This week I reached a milestone with Book One of my historical trilogy: 45,564 words.

Like many writers, I've always kept one eye on the word count. We all hear the advice—short stories are usually under 7,500 words, novellas sit somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 words, and novels generally begin around 50,000 words, with many historical novels stretching well beyond that.

Those numbers matter. They help us understand where our work sits and, if we're hoping to publish traditionally, they help meet industry expectations.

But I've realised something during this latest round of editing.

Word counts only matter until the story finds its bones.

When I began this novel, I worried about reaching a target. Would it be long enough? Was there enough story? Did I need another chapter?

Now I ask completely different questions.

Does this scene matter?

Does this character feel real?

Does the landscape breathe?

Have I earned this emotion?

If a scene needs another three hundred words because the sea deserves to be heard, then I give it those words. If another scene becomes stronger by losing five hundred, then I let them go without regret.

The number at the bottom of the page doesn't tell me whether I've written a good story.

The words above it do.

I've read powerful stories in just a few pages that have stayed with me for years. I've also read long novels where I struggled to remember a single chapter. Length has never been a measure of quality.

A story knows what it wants to be.

Some arrive as flash fiction, capturing a single unforgettable moment in under a thousand words. Others become short stories, telling one complete journey with clarity and purpose. Some grow into novellas, while others demand the space of a full novel—or even a trilogy.

None is more valuable than another.

They simply tell their stories in different ways.

So yes, I'll still glance at the word count. It's a useful milestone and a satisfying way to measure progress. But it no longer tells me whether the manuscript is succeeding.

The real measure is much quieter.

Did these words make someone feel something?

If the answer is yes, then the number at the bottom of the page is just that...

...a number.

Because stories are never remembered for how many words they contained.

They're remembered for how many hearts they touched.

— Rose
The Saltwater Storyteller