avatar
Linda M. Kurth
avatarLinda M. Kurth2 min read  

Words Count: "God, the Devil, and Divorce" Memoir Writing

I "finished" my memoir once again. That is, I spent a day revising the second half of my story right down to the last chapter. It's rare I have a full day to write, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to "just get 'er done." But getting through twenty chapters in one day didn't bring me the relief I was seeking. I had discovered a major problem.

That major problem is word count. What's so important about word count, you may ask. Industry standards is the answer. Every genre has a word length that is acceptable to traditional publishers. If I want my story to be published by a well-respected publisher...and I do...I must adhere to the standard. A short memoir is about 65,000 words. A long memoir is about 90,000 words. Mine is about 46,000, so 

my work is about twenty thousand words short of a short memoir. Yikes!  

There are various ways I can approach this problem, and I'm in the process of figuring it out. More about that later.

​

Blessing,
Linda

Note: 

​If you're in the process of writing a memoir, I'd love to hear about your challenges and breakthroughs. Or if you'd like to recommend a memoir to me and my readers, I hope you'll do so.

Give

Subscribe to the Daybreak Devotions for Women

Be inspired by God's Word every day! Delivered to your inbox.

    See all from Linda M. Kurth

    Editor's Picks

    avatar

    Linda M. Kurth

      See all from Linda M. Kurth