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Word Count for Articles
One of the best parts about writing with HubPages is how you can publish everything from film reviews and your favorite recipes to tips for raising your new gecko lizard and about determining the romantic compatibility between a Virgo and Pisces. Though there is so much flexibility in the type of content you write and the media you add, it's important to gauge the appropriate amount of words for the article and what it covers.
Here are some guidelines and tips:
- In general, aim for your articles to be about 1,000 words, though some can be a bit shorter (e.g., recipe or DIY articles) as long as they are comprehensive.
- Film and music reviews for ReelRundown and Spinditty shouldn't be too long—usually a maximum of 1,200 words. Don't go into too much plot detail or bog the review down with lyrics; stick to reviewing the work!
- For our site LetterPile, where content is often poetry or creative, there is no minimal word count as quotas would take away from the creative freedom that fiction writing permits. Even a single haiku is okay!
- Biographic, scientific, and historical pieces tend to feel thin or uninformative if they are short. We recommend trying to make these around 1,500 words at the minimum.
- Note that the title, headers, and captions all add to the word count, so if you are showing a step-by-step recipe and are struggling to hit your word count goal, try adding a detailed caption to each photo.
Why is a minimum word count important?
Hitting the recommended word count is important for a few reasons, the first being that you probably need several hundred words on nearly any topic to show authority on the subject. It is also important to hit the word count for SEO reasons. Google is more likely to pull your article up in search results if you have enough words to make the piece appear in-depth, well-researched, and well-constructed.
Can you write too much?
Though there is virtually no maximum amount of words you can place in an article, it is important to remember that it is an article and not a book or even a novella. Think about how much time you would want to spend reading about a niche topic, especially if the topic just crossed your mind and you aren't hoping to be an expert in the field. If your piece becomes several thousand words long, start thinking about how you could create another article that focuses on a specific aspect of the topic.
You couldn't cover the entirety of World War II in one article (there are entire books and courses taught on the subject!), but you could write a few pieces breaking the war up by year, by country, or by battle, as an example.
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