Status

[desperance]

Three pages this morning, interrupted only by the need to go and pick up my vegetables (oh, and a couple of library books, and a couple of bottles of wine, and... But it was the veggies that took me out).

Not sure how much further I'll get today: not seven pages, that's for sure. (Oh, and I only made six and a half yesterday, and we don't count halves...) I have excuses - hospital appointment today at 5pm on the other side of town, followed by a book launch at the Lit & Phil if I get there - but excuses don't put words on paper, damn it.

Nor food on plates. Pan-fried potstickers for lunch, perhaps with cabbage & carrots in oyster sauce? So that I can feel healthful as I head for hospital?

Comments

[dedbutdrmng.livejournal.com]

I've often wondered but never been able to get a clear answer. is there an agreed amount of words that makes up 'a page' in the publishing industry? I know dialogue will ruin any calculation but was curious to know if there was a rough guide.

Or a specific way to set the WP.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Hoo now. This has changed since I was a sprogling: when I was a babywriter, you typed pages on your typewriter and the only thing they asked was double-space and a word-count.

These days, there is a number of magazines that demand "standard manuscript format" (which you can google, and it will tell you this means 12-point Courier double-spaced, which comes out at 250 words per page, more or less).

Me, I have small truck with this dictatorial attitude; they only think they can do it because of the advent of word-processors and electronic MSs, but if they're taking submissions electronically it would be the work of moments for them to reformat documents to their own individual preference, so the notion that you have to send in such-and-such a format or they'll just reject it is absurd to me; nevertheless, they say so.

My own preferences lead to an average of 330 words per page, so three pages is about a thousand words, etc.