Chapters

Sounds fine. Honestly, everyone is just going to say that it is up to you.

My chapters have been averaging about 5,000 words with 4-6 scenes per chapter.

But I could just as easily split them up into halves and thirds and have a chapter the same size as what you're offering. It's all a matter of taste.

My chapters are too short.

My prologue- 7k
Chapter 1- 5k
Chapter 2- 1.5k
Chapter 3- 4.5k

Point being: There's no rule or way to judge before coming up with the scene and writing it. The longest chapter I've ever written clocked in at just over 20k words. Some people write in one big block without chapters.

I usually break chapter based on time frame, as there are often year+ jumps between my chapters. It really depends on the story and who/what you're dealing with.

I'm sorry. I don't think I addressed your question.

How do you know a chapter is complete: There still isn't a correct answer, but in my opinion, a chapter ends when you have concluded the next step in the story. That is, when you start the next scene, are you starting a few days later? If so, you may want to start a new chapter.

Is it an hour later? Is it the next obvious step that your MC needs to take? You may want to just start a new scene.

This is just an arbitrary example. The next scene could be two minutes later and you may want to start a new chapter.

Another arbitrary standard: Ask yourself, if I were reading it, would this be a good time to set the book down and go to bed? Or will stopping at the moment kind of screw up the momentum/flow for the reader?

My chapters are usually around 20 pages long in Microsoft Word

It's the story of a southamerican country so every chapter is a different government

I'm not sure about the 'is this a good moment to put the book down' criterion. It seems to me that many of my favourite books are arranged with chapter endings just at the most intriguing moments when you can't possibly put the book down. So I end up with lots of sleepless nights, reading through until the early hours!

There needs to be some kind of closure to the chapter but also some hook to lead your reader on to the next. But I wouldn't worry too much about that while you're still in the early stages of writing. Do you have an outline so that you know what each chapter's going to cover? If so, then you know when to end the chapter. And if not, you probably need to write enough so that the overall structure becomes clear and then you can see where the chapter divisions fall.

Sometimes time divisions work. Other times its a change in POV or in tone or setting that will suggest a new chapter is needed. And it's definitely okay to have big variations in chapter length.

I've read some books where the writer seems to think we all need a breather. The next chapter start is just another paragraph in the same scene. But it looks planned that way. It fits the story flow--kind of like a film montage. I wouldn't recommend it on a regular basis.

I find it kind of annoying when books have chapters that are really different in lengths. I like to have some idea of where my next stopping point will be. I like my chapters to be about 2.5K words with the range being 2.25k-2.75k. Surprisingly it almost always works out perfectly without my thinking about it. Sometimes the chapters are one scene, sometimes more, I never think about that.

I've been writing my novel in terms of scenes. I figure I'll break it up into chapters when I'm revising.

Yeah, I think that's a smart way to do it. I've renumbered my chapters about a million times because I keep sticking new scenes in them and they get to be forty pages long or something like that.

When I write, the scenes play like little movies in my head, so when it ends and the scene fades out, that's where I end my chapter. I guess mine average about 2000-2500w - 8-10pages.

Chapters are essentially random. Focus instead on scenes, which are units of conflict. When the conflict presented at the beginning of the scene is resolved, the scene is over. Start a new scene. Later on, you can decide where to break the chapters, either between scenes, grouping related scenes together (e.g., those that occur in the same timeframe or same location), or else in the middle of a scene for reasons of pacing and suspense.

Focus on scenes, which have unity of person, place and time, and which have a beginning, middle and end.

JD

I'm still with Pratchett on this one, I don't really see the point of chapters. I guess I'll have to come up with something eventually though, since they are sort of standard. It'll happen after writing is finished, I expect.

That is precisely why these chapters in your favourite books end the way they do. It is intentionally not a good moment to put the book down. It's a deliberately chosen method of ending a chapter so that hopefully the reader can't resist picking the book up again when they awake, or in some cases (mentioning no names ) can't put it down!

girlyswot said:

I'm not sure about the 'is this a good moment to put the book down' criterion. It seems to me that many of my favourite books are arranged with chapter endings just at the most intriguing moments when you can't possibly put the book down. So I end up with lots of sleepless nights, reading through until the early hours!

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I know it's deliberate!! I still can't help reading on though.

There are no rules, for this or for anything else in writing, except coherance.

Some people end a chapter when a particular situation has reached its conclusion, and it's a good spot to put the book down. Others do the same thing, but they try to make something interesting happen at the end to make you want to read on to the next. Some others do a mix of the two and sort of stop the chapter when its beat is over, but while the scene is sort of in mid-step in order to keep the momentum up and going on to the next chapter.

None of these are right or wrong, it's really up to you, and what's good for your story. I'd prefer to do the third one on a strong action-oriented story. But if you're telling a more slow story, like say, in Contact, where it's mostly just science and dialogue for the first 200 pages or so, you're building up momentum much more gradually rather than trying to always grab your reader by his hair and pulling as hard as you can.

Ultimately there's no formula. I've seen great chapters that have been a mere sentence long. I've also seen great chapters that have ran nearly seventy pages without a break. And I've seen a lot of crappy chapters go all over the scale. What matters is the writing itself, and the story.

You're never going to hear about anybody throwing the book in the trash can because they felt the chapter ended too soon, y'know? Boring your reader is always something you should be afraid of, but that too has nothing to do with chapter length. What it has to do with is being a boring writer.

That said, chapters make a good spot for readers to stop reading if they need to, so the more frequent you can have them, the more reader-friendly it will be to those people who're reading before going to bed, who need to wake up for an important meeting the next morning. So if you can avoid 50 page chapters, it would probably be appreciated. But it's not going to be a deal-breaker for any decent reader.

I'm kind of weird.

I arrange my novels in acts, and then scenes, sort of like Shakespeare's plays (I love Shakespeare). I write all the scenes first, and separate them with a hard return. So, when it comes to divide up the first draft into chapters, I read over the little scenes and try to visualize the blackout between acts.

That's where I put 'Chapter 2' or whatever. Sometimes I go back and divide them up again.

I'm somewhat similar in that I start out with the concept of the novel, just the overarching theme and what the story is about, and then I break it down into three acts, and then I break it down into chapters, and then scenes, and then I finally get into writing the damn thing.

Shane Fitzsimmons said:

I'm somewhat similar in that I start out with the concept of the novel, just the overarching theme and what the story is about, and then I break it down into three acts, and then I break it down into chapters, and then scenes, and then I finally get into writing the damn thing.

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That sounds like a great outlining technique! I'm going to try that.

I will not read a book unless each chapter has at least 1,000 words in it, but it must have an odd-number of words, or I won't read it. Also, it needs to begin and end with the word "Ocelot." or I won't read it.



There's no mechanical, scientific answer. Write 'till it feels done. There are no Writer Police (I wish, sometimes) who are going to take you away because your chapter was .003% below the standard size.

With my YA story, I wrote it in chapters, each having its own smaller plot but keeping with the main plot from chapter to chapter. A publisher told me I could make each chapter into a seperate book but they wouldn't be long enough if I tried that approach so I rewriting it to make them sections instead of chapters and they relate more than they did before.

They are all different lengths, right now 5 pages is the shortest which for me is too short so while I'm rewriting them I am making them longer. For you, just go with your gut. When you feel that chapter is complete, go to the next chapter. You can always add more or take some away while you edit. And there's always help from agents and publishers also once they review the pages, if they offer suggestions. I was lucky enough to get some so I can have a second chance which they did offer after I have changed a few things. Oh what fun!

Amber

Chapters, huh? At the moment my WIP is 175 pages of text broken up occasionally by a page break to introduce a different POV. I'll worry about chapters effen when I get the durn thing done. I figure chapters are an advanced concept, not for noobs trying it out at home on their own.

My favourite authors, however, may continue to feel free to end their chapters however and whenever they choose.

Sheesh - That's the whole purpose of it!

girlyswot said:

I know it's deliberate!! I still can't help reading on though.

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