The Librarian Writer

I've been writing screenplays for awhile and I've got page count down. Stay around 120 pages for drama features, 90 pages for thrillers, action/adventure, and comedies (romantic or otherwise), 55 for TV drama scripts, 30 for sitcoms. More or less. Preferably less. But I'm changing my focus to writing kiddy lit, so I was thrilled to see a recent Writer's Digest blog about word count for novels and children's literature . The areas I'm working on now are picture books and a YA novel. The advice given for picture books is under 500 words. There I'm okay. Most of the picture books I've written so far are usually under 200 words. I am writing for the toddler crowd, so there's little need for much plot. What's the conflict in Goodnight Moon ? Bunny delays bedtime by saying good night too much. What really counts is how to use those precious few words, building rhythm and a sense of satisfaction at the end. The YA novel is more complicated. Word c...