Everything I've read, learned, and seen in publishing requests has told me to aim for a word count of 125,000 or less, and not to exceed that limit. For some this is an easy task. For me this is the most difficult thing I've ever struggled with in my life. I've never just been able to write short stories. Doing so makes me feel claustrophobic; like I'm getting stuffed into a 3x3 cell with electrified bars.
Being so close to done with all the suggested edits of my book that I'm currently trying to get published, I thought for a hot minute there I finally managed to achieve a word count of 121,000. Until I realized I also needed to change the ending. In doing so I nearly doubled my word count. My first solution to this problem was to keep erasing the ending trying to find a quick solution to keep my word count in its recommended range, but ten times over—I kid you not—returned to the ending I knew "just worked".
With my ending in the final stages of being written, I keep getting discouraged to stop, to rework the whole book (again!), or even scrap the whole thing. None of which I'm going to do, which is why I'm officially taking a new and daring approach: I'm not going to worry about my word count right now. I'm going to strictly focus on getting my ending completed, and then I'll go back, examine the areas I feel like could be eliminated. I think I also do what I did with the first version of my book and find beta readers as well as editors outside of myself to see if they have any feedback to offer.
I also have a backup plan for if my word count is still too high for publishers to accept: I'll go the self-publishing route. A daunting and daring task as it means I'll be in charge of all my personal marketing details, I'll be my own agent, and book creator, but it'll be worth it if I can get my book successfully out there.
For anyone struggling with achieving a word-count goal in the final stages of their manuscript—whether you have too many words or too few—I encourage you to ignore that goal and instead focus on the most important goal: getting it done. Once it's done, then you can go back and search for areas where you can add or subtract.
