How long are your chapters?

[fancie]

How long do you make your chapters? Do they break within a time period, at a certain situation, or do you stick to a rough page count? I know some books don't have chapters, or only have a few...what are your views?

[willietheshakes]

Too.

[ChaosTitan]

There are lots of threads discussing chapters around here. The short answer is, make them as long as they need to be, while giving each one a beginning, middle, and end.

I finished reading a novel last night that only had 15 chapters. I think the book I read before that one had thirty-odd chapters. Both books were roughly the same length.

My chapters seem to average 3-4,000 words. It just feels like a good length. :)

[Matera the Mad]

I see a chapter as a whole scene or group of related scenes. Or, a chapter is to scenes what a paragraph is to sentences. You can have a one-sentence paragraph. A chapter is as long as it has to be. My personal preference is +/-13 pages, 3000 words or so, but I don't worry unless they get way too long. Chapter breaks are handy for readers, offering an excuse to stop before they mess their pants or starve.

[sadron]

It depends on situation(scene), but I try to make them longer than 5 pages.

[Zipotes]

My first novel had chapters that were 25-30 pages long. In an edit, I cut them in half, so now I have twice as many chapters.

In my WIP, they are roughly ten pages, give or take.

[semilargeintestine]

Just started my current WIP, and my first chapter is 3 pages long. They tend to be around 10-15 pages, but I end them whenever they need to be ended.

[scarletpeaches]

I don't usually chapterise (that's a real word you know) until the first draft's done but this WIP's changing my way of working.

Anyway. It starts off with your standard ten-pager, but some are around thirty pages long. All but one of my chapters are one scene, and one scene only.

The most recent one I wrote had many, many scene breaks but the MC was half asleep and I wanted to give the impression of the chapter being disjointed, as if she didn't quite know what was going on.

[Kathleen42]

I just end them when it seems called for - when a bigger break is required than just a scene break.

[fancie]

Chapter breaks are handy for readers, offering an excuse to stop before they mess their pants or starve.


:D LOL Matera.

[fancie]

I just end them when it seems called for - when a bigger break is required than just a scene break.


That's basically what I've been doing, but some chapters are only 9 pages while others end up 25-30....acceptable?? or do I need to relook this?

[Kathleen42]

That's basically what I've been doing, but some chapters are only 9 pages while others end up 25-30....acceptable?? or do I need to relook this?

Hmm. Not sure. Mine always seem to be approximately the same length - perhaps I've just been lucky.

[semilargeintestine]

If I recall correctly, the chapters in Tom Jones were all over the place. I think a lot of them were similar in length, but some were longer and one wasn't even a page.

I think the general consensus is that as long as it ends in an appropriate spot, it doesn't matter how long it is.

[Bufty]

Okay, I've read the Wordsworth quote, but to have it shoved in my face in red ink over and over again is a tad wearing. :Hug2:

[C.M.C.]

Mine tend to be around 3,000 words. I don't know why, but I tend to think in scenes that are around that size. I wouldn't mind having some longer ones in there to be different, but a chapter is however long it needs to be.

[fancie]

Okay, I've read the Wordsworth quote, but to have it shoved in my face in red ink over and over again is a tad wearing. :Hug2:


Okay...time for a change. I didn't think of that..no big.;)

[blacbird]

Mine generally go about 2,000-3,500 words. Not pre-planned, particularly, just feels about right.

caw

[williemeikle]

I've just sold a novel/novella of 50,000 words that had 44 "chapters".

2 POV characters, alternating, with 22 scenes each.

Willie

[fancie]

I've just sold a novel/novella of 50,000 words that had 44 "chapters".

2 POV characters, alternating, with 22 scenes each.

Willie
Thanks Willie, and congrats!

[Prawn]

I try to keep my chapters under ten pages. The shortest in my WIP is five, the longest is thirteen.

[fancie]

Yeah, my book is geared to the YA and my daughter said that if she found it in a library and the chapters were so long (my 25-30 pages) all the way through she'd probably not even try to read it. Made me laugh...she read every one of the Twilight series books. The fickle thing...I've never seen her read such big books. lol

Anyway, I just needed some input from others on the topic...your personal preferences or experiences on the matter. I wasn't sure if there was a "standard" for this, and evidently it pretty much just has to do with the flow of the story. No?

[Scrawler]

My chapters are 4200-4400 words each

[Prawn]

Each chapter has a purpose, and needs to be long enough to accomplish that purpose. In my first drafts I often have chapter titles which remind me of the purpose of the chapters. This helps me say focused.

CHAPTER X: He finds out that his father isn't dead.

[TTCleveland]

3,000 words is average for me (and seems to be for a great many people), but don't base your chapters on word count, base them on content.

[Natalie]

I try to keep my chapters around 10 pages, but I think that you should use chapter breaks where it natrually falls in the story, when you're changing scenes or thoughts...

[MelodyO]

Good question! Without meaning or trying to, my chapters are virtually all five or six pages long. It seems to just be the amount of words I need to fill in a scene, be it dramatic, action, comedy, or sex. :Shrug:

[Glenakin]

You can try to keep your chapters roughly the same length, but they don't necessarily have to be. I read a book once that had a chapter half a page and another chapter 4 pages. Odd, yes, but true, mate.

[Fade]

My chapters are as long as I can sustain a scene without it becoming boring. So 1000-2500 words.

[Arkie]

Some writers use long chapters that can almost stand alone like short stories. They have a beginning, middle and end. This type chapter tends to have a lot of narrative description and not so much dialogue, and it is slow reading. John Updike comes to mind. On the other end of the scale, some writers use very short chapters and a lot of dialogue to increase pace. The short chapters tend to incorporate a single action, moreso than a scene. Robert B. Parker comes to mind.

[Prawn]

As I said above, sometimes my chapters focus on a particular plot point.

Sometimes, my chapters have a theme, or a unifying idea. For example, I have a chapter called "Puppy Love" which is about a teen-aged boy's crush on a house guest and also about someone buying a dog and trying to house break it.

[loiterer]

I have no idea. I've never written a chapter in my life!

Maybe that's what's wrong with my writing...