Chapter lengths

[Coco82]

Is there any standard for chapter lengths or is it up to the writer? Also, when I you write when do you know when to end one chapter and begin another?

[JSBulldog89]

I used to wonder that myself. Basically, there is no set length that chapters have to be. I've seen chapters that are less than a page, and I've seen chapters that seem to take up half the novel. It really all depends. I think most people start a new chapter at the beginning of a new scene, or a new day, or even with a different point of view. It's your decision, really. :)

-Robert

[maestrowork]

Short answer: No.

Longer answer: A chapter is a logical unit of scenes. It could be one scene. Or five scene. Or one very long scene. Or five very short scenes. Or one very short scene... you're the writer. You decide.

[ChunkyC]

Each chapter should be a self-contained mini-story, if you will. How you determine chapters and their length depends on the story you are telling. For example, if you are writing a murder mystery and you want to have some scenes with the detective, and others with the murderer, each time you switch is a great place to start a new chapter.

As Robert says above, there are many ways to do it. Some writers won't even bother with chapter breaks until they finish the first draft (Tess Gerritsen springs to mind), then they go back and put in the breaks during the revision phase.

[ElizabethJames]

From someone who's never been published.

We find chapters amusing. Our ms has only 65,000 words and 87 chapters! Some are only one page and they're just for fun. The longest is tne pages.

We think short chapters keep things moving.

Ba-da-bing.

[katdad]

Chapter length is up to the writer.

Some genres, like mystery, engender shorter chapters than "literary" fiction.

My two private detective novels are each about 65k words and have 58 and 66 chapters. But my mystery fiction style is abrupt and terse, with short paragraphs and sentences, tight dialog and so on, so numerous short chapters are a good fit.

I recommend just using your chapters like scenes of a movie or place settings. Each chapter should advance the plot in some way, and should expand the story line or move it somehow, in a unique direction.

[novelator]

I've always heard that a chapter should run about ten pages and end with a hook, which compels the reader to turn the page.

So far, that's worked for me. But, it is entirely up to the writer.

I write novels from 85,000 to 100,000 words and usually have no more than 20-some chapters. My shortest work has only sixteen.

Mari

[maestrowork]

Just an observation... I find long chapters tiring. I am the type of readers who like to read until a chapter ends before I put it down and go to sleep. I don't like to stop mid-chapter. If I see that the chapter is 40 pages long, I'll bulk.... unless it's REALLY well written, keeping me turning pages after pages, then I probably won't even notice the chapters, let alone their lengths.

Otherwise, I think a 100,000w book (about 400 printed pages) can use more than 20 chapters. Just my thought. My 75,000w novel has 38 chapters -- some are long (over 10 pages but less than 20), and some are short (less than 2 pages).

If you can put a hook in so they'll turn pages, good. But if you can give them a place to breathe and put down the book if they have to (and can't wait to get back to it), that's good, too.

[Jamesaritchie]

Length of the chapter isn't important in and of itself. Chapters should be as long as they need to be. But there is a structure to chapters. A chapter, like a paragraph, should have one overall subject, and when this subject changes, it's usually time for a new chapter.

Chapter changes are also usually done when the POV and/or location of the story changes.

A chapter doesn't have to end on a cliffhanger, though doing so is often a Good Thing, but there should be logical subject and structure to the chapter.

A novel reads poorly if the chapters simply change at random, and don't hold to good subject and structure.

Most readers do like shorter chapters, though too short can be as annoying as too long. A chapter break is a good place to insert a bookmark and stop reading for the night.

As long as there's rhyme and reason, subject and structure, the length itself doesn't matter.

[Writing Again]

There is no standard, there is no "should." I like to vary chapter lengths, but I've read novels that seemed to be exact page counts.

I tend to prefer shorter chapters, from 2,000 to 10,000 words, but I have gone both under and over.

I've even seen the advice given that a chapter should not end at the "end of sense" such as a cliff hanger or in the end of a scene but rather should end in the middle so the reader would tend to keep reading.

[sqrrll]

Stephen King writes long Chapters. James Patterson writes very, very short chapters. Both are successful writers

Harry Potter has long chapters, The Unfortunate Events Series have short chapters. Both are successful series.

Whether writing for the young or adults, or any genre, I think it is all up to your style or preference.

Just don't let your chapter go longer than a SuperBowl win for the Birds...Go Eagles!

[EGGammon]

Yeah, I don't think chapter length really matters. My novel I am working on starts out with and ends with a long chapter and then the rest of the book in between those are smaller chapters.

[Jamesaritchie]

There is certainly a wide difference in chapter length out there, but too short can be annoying, and one or two page chapters used too often can cause problems.

And just because some writers get away with something and are still successful is not a reason to do it yourself.

Stephen King, for instance, does write very long chapters, but he tends to break these chapters into scenes. Chapters within chapters. Many who write very long chapters do the same thing, which means the chapters aren't usually nearly as long as they seem.

Chapters that just go on and on without scene breaks are too often a real pain to read.

For children, very short chapters can work, but they aren't nearly as well received by most readers.

But the important thing is to make sure the chapter has a logical beginning and ending. There is a structure to chapters. Several structures, actually. But randomly breaking the story just because you think it's time for another chapter isn't one of them.

[mr mistook]

Writing in manuscript format, with all the double spacing, and the wide margins, a page is filled in no-time. My chapters seem longer than they are! So far, most chapters are no longer than 18 manuscript pages.

What does that boil down to in published print? Seven two-sided pages? It seems my chapters are much too short, but reading them, the breaks are logical, but so are the many scene breaks I've made.

Should I be consolidating my chapters together into larger units? How do I get a real handle on the published page-span of my chapters?

As a manuscript in a slush-pile, how many pages does it take for the reader to think, "Give me a break! This chapter is never-ending!"

[pencilone]

When they ask for 3 chapters I think they expect the first 50 pages of manuscript. I tend to build my novel around 20 chapters and 60 scenes (more or less:) )

[Writing Again]

Writing in manuscript format, with all the double spacing, and the wide margins, a page is filled in no-time. My chapters seem longer than they are! So far, most chapters are no longer than 18 manuscript pages.

My pages are 60 spaces across, 25 lines down: that comes to 250 calculated words per page (6 spaces are alloted per word) or (for me) 200 actual read words. 18 pages would, depending on how you count run from 3,600 words to 4.500 words.

I think a published page runs from 300 to 500 words per page depending on size of book, publisher, etc. So the smallest it might be would be 8 pages, the largest would be 15: Safe bet = 10 or 12 pages.

I'm certain I've read at least one novel in my life that had no chapter separations at all -- Just one long chapter from beginning to end.

[Maryn]

Since multiple people have noted King's long chapters, I've developed this strange compulsion to note that he also wrote the shortest chapter I've ever read, consisting of a single word.

It was pretty powerful, too, and exactly the right length.

Maryn

[dannyne330]

Maryn-
Could you post a spoiler and give a little more info on that chapter? Such as what book, and what was so relevant about that one word? And of course the word!

I've read several of his books, but not that one, and you made me very curious about it. (nice tease!)

Thanks

Cheers

[Maryn]

In an earlier post I mentioned that Stephen King, noted for lengthy chapters, happens to have written the shortest chapter I've ever read.

In the novel Misery, about the badly injured novelist being nursed back to health while held captive and forced to write a new novel by his 'number one fan,' the protagonist endures numerous pains at the hand of his caregiver (and I use the term loosely).

The short chapter I remember is this word, as dialogue:

"Rinse."

The reader, knowing the agony it promises (with worse for failure to comply), feels the horror the protagonist must feel at that order.

Deliciously gruesome!

Maryn, who enjoys a good chill up the spine on occasion

[dannyne330]

THank you Maryn.

[Kaitiana]

Misery is definitely one of my favorite Stephen King novels. =) He's written a couple I hated, many I liked, and a few I loved--and Misery definitely tops that list.

[CourtneyAllisonMoulton]

My chapters are usually between 3,000 and 4,000 words :) About 6-8 pages n MSWord.

Just adding :)

[SarahWesten]

My chapters are 2,000-4,000 words which is about 4-8 pages
My first 3 chapters are only 35 pages with double space Courier new. That's short but oh well...

[orion_mk3]

I generally prefer to have 18-20 chapters per novel. This means that the chapter length is dependent on novel length, averaging 20 pages in a 100k work but only 10 in a 50-60k.

I've often wondered if the length or names of chapters have any effect on a book acceptance for publication--could a really odd length and/or odd title of the first chapter send the work into the rejection heap?

[jvc]

The chapter can be as long as you want it to be and as long or short as is needed. It can be one word, one paragraph or one page. They can be thirty pages, ten pages, or sixty pages. You can also have as many or as few chapters in the book as you want. I've seen books with eighty chapters and I've seen books that have only one chapter. It's your book, you are the one who knows best, and you're the one in control. :)

[Nya RAyne]

I don't believe there's a general for chapter lengths but it shouldn't forcefully cut off a scene, if that makes any sense.

My chapters tend to be between 8 and 10 pages, but if a scene is really good it can go to 12 pages.

[bennettg]

I'm through about 10 chapters in my first attempt at a novel, and each one I start I think: "Oh man, this is going to be a wicked long, intense scene!"

Then I describe everything I was planning, and I barely make it to 2,000 words. :(

[jallenecs]

Lewis Carroll had a chapter in "Through the Looking Glass" that was one sentence long.

I tend to be very organic about my chapter lengths. If it feels like a good breaking place, that's where the chapter ends. Usually it's to show a change in time or location. The only time I break that practice is when I'm trying to achieve some sort of effect, like the much-mentioned cliffhanger.

[leahzero]

Wow, talk about necroposting (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=necroposting)!

[jvc]

We get questions on chapter length every other week in Basic Writing Questions. Not usually by bringing a long dead thread back to life, though.

[Tepelus]

Wow, talk about necroposting (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=necroposting)!


Beat me to it!

[Susan Littlefield]

Is there any standard for chapter lengths or is it up to the writer? Also, when I you write when do you know when to end one chapter and begin another?

It's whatever works for you book. I recently read Exult by Joe Quirk. It was a standard size novel, but divided into about five chapter. Outstanding work.

Oh, certain genres might have standards, though.