There are also lots of little tricks to “pad” your word count:
~Use a character that has a speech impediment (like a stutter or a lisp) and has to keep clarifying what they are saying or others have to repeat to clarify;
~Use dreams or nightmares to fill in the story or maybe to portray a character’s real feelings about something.
~Don’t use contractions. Write the words out. “Don’t” counts as one word, whereas “do not” counts as two words. You’d be surprised how many times we use contractions so you could add a couple of hundred words with this alone.
~Instead of using numbers, write the word out. The number doesn’t count in your word count but if you write it out, it counts.
~Use a character with a long name. Instead of using Mary, try using Mary Ellen for an additional word with each use. You could also have a character that insists on using their full name such as Professor Henry Charles Smythe, Senior. That takes up five words instead of two that you might use if you referred to him as Professor Smythe.
~Instead of numbering chapters, name them with words. You can also add a description of what happens in the chapter along with the title. For example: “Chapter Seven In which Thomas meets Sally while pondering his future.”
~Use lyrics to a song occasionally. Have a character think, speak or sing the lyrics. You can do the same with poems.
~Have a character who is a movie or tv buff who goes off on tangents relating the action in the novel to some movie or tv show or comparing a character in the novel with a tv or movie character. He/she can even quote movies and tv shows often.
~You can use local lore or trivia of some of your locations when you introduce a new location (or when otherwise appropriate). For example: Instead of “She walked across campus,” try “As she walked across campus, she thought about all the hundreds of thousands that had walked those steps before her. Some had become world famous. Some were in the history books. She looked around and wondered if John F. Kennedy had seen Hoover Tower from that same location and what he had thought about it. She smiled to herself as she thought of the amazing opportunities that had opened up to her.”
~Write out the time. Instead of 3 pm, use “three o’clock in the afternoon”. When you use the number, it doesn’t count as a word so by writing it out, you’ve used five words instead of zero.
~Use a character that is hard of hearing and has to keep asking others to repeat what they said.
~Give your characters pets. The pets’ actions will add words. The character will need to feed them and interact with them so that adds to the word count. Pets may necessitate visits to the pet store or the vet or the dog park, etc. All of these will add to your word count as your story moves along.
Wasted Days And Wasted Nights 