Word Count: Where Every Word Counts

In the interest of featuring prose that people will actually want to read, ~WordCount has decided to scour deviantART looking for prose that falls into certain "word count" categories. It's our hope, with this separation, that more people will be introduced to some of the wonderful prose writers available on this site.


What are the "Word Count" categories?

Below you will find our tentative "word count" categories and an example or two of a deviation that falls under them. This should also give you an idea about the quality of work we're interested in featuring.


100 words or less

This category, reserved for anything from the drabble to the six-word sentence, will feature prose that doesn't include more than 100 words.

Misplaced by ~007-CailinLiath
100 words: Nested by =BornBlitzed


101-300 words

Microfiction and short sketches fall under this category, as well as anything else that's over 100 words but still less than 300. If you've made it through 100 words and think you have time for more, be sure to check these short deviations out!

Fairy Kisses by ~bribitribbit


301-500 words

Did you know that in formal speaking English people average about 100-120 words per minute? That means it should only take you about five minutes, tops, to check out these works. Also, 500 words in dA format is about one page of typed text. You can handle that!

Blow Job Tree by ~swincen


501-1,000 words

While 1,000 words might sound like a lot, it's actually designed to be a quick, easily-digestible read (and not more than three pages or so of typed text). After all, everything under 1,000 words usually counts as "flash fiction" because you can read it in a flash!

Mind Wipe by ~AstralsLibrary
blackbird mute - chapter 1 by ~romani-hooligan


1,001 words to 3,000 words

If you're looking for prose that's just past that flash fiction mark but not quite delving into short story territory, this is the way to go! You have abut 10-15 minutes to spare, don't you?

Behavumax by *ozt42


3,001 words to 5,000 words

Published short stories are usually a minimum of 2,000 words in length, but they're encouraged to be closer to 5,000. If you've ever sat in a waiting room and read a magazine article or feature news story, they generally fall into this category: not enough to overwhelm you, but just enough to kill time and inform or entertain.

harder, faster by ~unrescuable


5,000 words to 10,000 words

Most short stories (though there are always exceptions) aren't much more than 7,500 words. In fact, many of the short stories you read in literature magazines and textbooks generally fall into this category. In other cases, academic and informative writing has quite a lot to say and needs the room to say it. If you're looking for something longer or something more, this would be it!

Dandelion's Fire by =GunShyMartyr


10,001+ words

deviantART has a character limit of 65,535 characters per literature deviation. That roughly amounts to somewhere near 80,000 words (which, in many circles, counts as novel length). And, believe it or not, there are people on this site who are writing novels! If you're interested in a good read that you can enjoy over time, we suggest supporting some of the books dA writers are producing. They fall under this category and deserve special recognition for their persistence alone.

A Life Transparent - Part One by `alienhead


Is this a Club? How can I join?

~WordCount is not so much a club as it is a community-oriented project. It's our goal to bring more recognition and support to all of the wonderfully-talented prose writers on this site, and we'd appreciate your help to do it.

To "join" or support the project, all you have to do is add us to your list! We'd also appreciate any support in the form of journal features or word-of-mouth, but it's not required. Once you "join", we will expect you to read some (or, ideally, all) of the prose deviations chosen each month, as well as comment and spread the as you see fit, but I promise we won't be checking up on you if you can't get to them.

This project is about exposure and support, so our only goal is to offer prose more exposure and support on deviantART.


If I join, are you going to flood my watchbox?

At this time, ~WordCount is considering monthly or bi-monthly journal features and a monthly news article. We do not anticipate featuring the writing directly in our gallery, nor do we expect to have news daily. As such, all you should suffer from us will be the occasional journal entry no more than once a week and no less than once a month.

That's not too tedious, is it? Then what are you waiting for? Come out and support the newest literature project on dA! After all, prose is the place to be.


For additional information, please check out the ~WordCount journal.

Please know that we are always looking for affiliates and truly believe in supporting the dA community as well as the dA Lit community. You don't have to be a "writer" to appreciate good writing, and you don't have to have a Lit project to be welcomed aboard.


_{(There are under 1,000 words in this article.)}