Got 30k Words? That‘ll Be 60 Pages of Quests my Friend

So you‘re looking at cranking out a 30,000 word piece? Maybe a guide for that new RPG that just dropped, or a choose your own adventure novella set in a sci-fi alien world. For the average single spaced manuscript, 30k words will fill out 60 pages. Double spaced? Try 120 pages of adventures, battles, and epic loot.

Now, depending on the games, systems, or worlds you‘re writing for, you may need way more or less than 30k words. But for perspective, 30k lands you firmly in novella territory – enough to build immersive worlds and make some money if self-publishing.

Let‘s crunch the numbers, going over word counts for popular games and novels before breaking down variables that affect page totals.

Gaming Word Counts for Comparison

First, averages for novels, short stories, and bestselling games across a few platforms:

As you can see, commercial video game scripts easily clear hundreds of thousands of words given all those sprawling conversation trees. So 30,000 lands far on the short side – but still in range for indie narrative games focused less on open exploration.

Or 30k positions you to publish an old-school text adventure or choose your own adventure style tales. Pretty respectable starting point!

How Page Counts Shake Out

Now how do those 30,000 words translate into pages your readers will flip through? With standard single spacing and 12 point Times New Roman font (1 inch margins), expect each page to contain ~500 words.

That puts 30,000 words at right around 60 pages. Double space to give your readers‘ eyes a rest and you‘re looking at 120 pages. Of course tweaking the margins, font size, line height and more will nudge the count in either direction.

Key Page Count Variables

Here are a few formatting choices that can expand or contract that total page real estate:

• Font & Size: Times New Roman 12pt gives you 500 words per page. Boost to Arial 14pt and you‘ll fit less text.
• Margins: Widen beyond 1 inch standard and you reduce words per page.
• Spacing: Single space is 500 words per page; double is 250.
• Images: Adding custom illustrations reduces word count space.

So what‘s the "right" page count for 30k words? Whichever layout makes your game tales or sci-fi novella most easily readable while giving you room for great graphics.

Crafting a 30,000 Word Epic Quest

Getting intimidated glancing at that 30,000 finish line? Don‘t worry, the journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step grasshopper.

With a slow and steady pace, 30k words is totally within reach. Say you write 500 words daily – around one single spaced page. In two months you‘ll have a manuscript ready for editing!

Up the pace to 1000 daily words and you‘re looking at wrapping a draft in just a month.

Of course that daily writing grind is no easy feat – but totally rewarding once you have an entire world crafted to share with fellow gamers and readers.

So rest up those fingers my friends – whether aiming for 30k or 130k words, the first step is planting that writer‘s butt in the chair to clack away! The lore and legends of entire game universes await discovery from your keyboard. Godspeed!

The Skinny on 30k Words

Let‘s recap everything you need to know about page counts from a 30,000 word manuscript:

• 30k words fills 60 pages single spaced, or 120 pages double spaced
• Fantasy novella territory – not quite a novel but still substantial
• Quest length adventures perfect for self pub text games
• Format changes fonts, margins and more affect page counts
• With consistent 1k daily writing, can finish in 1 month

So go craft your short indie narrative masterpiece or sprawling game guide and let those pages pile up my friends!

Now, who wants to squad up and grind some XP? Raids don‘t beat themselves!