Wondering how to use my plotting roadmap when you’re working in word count instead of page count? In this video, I’ll show you how to convert between them accurately. I’ll share the standard manuscript formula and explain how to calculate your own average based on your writing style.
Hello, Jane Cleland here. The question is, I’ve been trying to use your roadmap, Jane’s plotting roadmap, and you use it in terms of pages. I’m trying to connect it to word count.
How does that correlate? It’s a good question, and it’s because I think in pages, but you’re 100% right. Publishing contracts, talk about word count. First of all, my plotting roadmap, if you’re not familiar with it takes you from the beginning of your story to the end and indicates where you should have various plot twists, both for your primary plot, your through-line plot, and your two secondary plots, one of which is about an interpersonal relationship, the other a nonfiction element of the story.
It is variable how many words are on a page, depending on the amount of dialogue you have. It is probably sensible in most work to think somewhere between 250, 350 words per page. And let us back up just a minute.
I’m assuming time is Roman 12 points, and of course, double spaced, one inch margins indented half an inch, no extra space between the paragraphs. That is the standard traditional format, and that’s what I’m using in this calculation. I would use, therefore, 275 to 300 words per page in doing my calculations. But one thing you can do is take a proper sample of your work, take 10 pages, 20 pages, isolate them.
In other words, just drag your cursor down them and get it as a chunk. Look at the word count. It’ll be in the lower lift and divide by the number of pages. And there you have it.
That’s your average word count per page. I’m so glad you’re trying Jane’s plotting roadmap. I hope it works for you as well as it has worked for so many people. And I look forward to hearing how it does.
And if you run into any other issues, please do let me know.
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