How Long Does It Take to Read 10,000 Words? (42 Min)

10,000 words is about twenty single-spaced pages or forty double-spaced pages. It is the length of a novelette, a long report, or a thesis chapter. The average adult reads English silently at about 238 words per minute for non-fiction, according to a 2019 review of 190 studies, so 10,000 words takes about 42 minutes. Your own time depends on your speed and on how difficult the text is.

Time to Read 10,000 Words by Speed

One Sitting or Several?

At about 42 minutes, 10,000 words is possible in one sitting, but attention tends to drift in longer sessions. Splitting it into two reads of about 20 minutes each, with a short break, usually improves how much you remember.

For fiction, 10,000 words is a novelette: the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association defines a novelette as at least 7,500 but fewer than 17,500 words. It is about a tenth of a typical novel. To see how that scales, read how long it takes to read a book.

10,000 Words as Audio

• Audiobook: about 1 hr 5 min, using ACX's average of about 9,300 narrated words per finished hour.
• Read aloud yourself: about 55 minutes at 183 words per minute.
• Presented as talks: about 1 hr 17 min at 130 words per minute, far more than one talk usually holds.

Find Your Own Reading Time

Averages hide a wide range. Take the Reading Speed Test to measure your own words per minute with a comprehension check, then divide 10,000 by your result. To time a specific document, paste it into the Reading Time Calculator.