What's the shortest chapter you have read?

subigo · Sep 12, 2006

General curiosity caused me to start looking through all the books on my bookshelf. I was looking for the shortest chapter I could find. Sure, a chapter can be as long or short as you wish, but what is the shortest you have ever seen?

I ask because of the first chapter to a novel I am working on. I started wondering if it was just too short. In the end, I decided that it was not. I think it's 71 words.

Sometimes life sneaks up on you, other times death does. It’s been six years since my last confessional.

“I’m listening.” Says the voice on the other side of the screen.

He has no idea those are the last words he will ever speak. So I pull the trigger.

Dead. Gone. Nothing more than a lifeless corpse.

This was my first murder.

Anyone ever write something shorter?

littlewriter · Sep 12, 2006

I remember reading a book, it was a chick lit I think.... [tries to remember].... called 20 times a lady by someone whose name escapes me. I think there was a chapter in that book with only one or two words in it. Although I might be wrong.

Sorry not much help am I? It is too late for me!

sarah

aadams73 · Sep 12, 2006

Stephenie Meyer's most recent book, New Moon. She has three or four pages with nothing typed on them but the month. I found--in this case--that it was a very powerful way to show both the passing of time and mourning.

Storyteller5 · Sep 12, 2006

Chapter 11 in the book Gremlins. Two words. Pete forgot.

PeeDee · Sep 12, 2006

Storyteller5 said:
Chapter 11 in the book Gremlins. Two words. Pete forgot.

Damn it, you beat me to it.

Otherwise, I would say some of the "shuffle" chapters in Stephen King's "The Drawing of the Three" book. Those are just a few scant lines.

kristie911 · Sep 12, 2006

I've read several books with chapters that were just a line or a word but that wasn't the norm for the whole book. Probably the shortest chapters used throughout a book that I've ever read were by James Patterson. His are generally just a page or two.

So, no, your first chapter is not too short. It gets the point across and that's all you need to do.

Rane · Sep 12, 2006

littlewriter said:
I remember reading a book, it was a chick lit I think.... [tries to remember].... called 20 times a lady by someone whose name escapes me.

20 Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak - I thought it was a great book, but I was surprised at how many typos I noticed throughout.

Still a great read though.

Chapters 10 and 11 have 4 words each.

James D. Macdonald · Sep 12, 2006

The shortest chapter in a published book is in Tristram Shandy by Lawrence Sterne: it has no words.

Several other novels have chapters that are only one word long.

My-Immortal · Sep 12, 2006

James D. Macdonald said:
The shortest chapter in a published book is in Tristram Shandy by Lawrence Sterne: it has no words.

Several other novels have chapters that are only one word long.

Hmmm...maybe I should write some chapters like that. It would probably be an improvement over what I usually do....

C.bronco · Sep 12, 2006

Faulkner, "As I Lay Dying"
The chapter reads, "My mother is a fish."

earthshoes · Sep 12, 2006

Christopher Moore

One page. Five words

And so . . .
that really sucked.

Anonymisty · Sep 12, 2006

It's not the shortest ever, but for a long time it was the shortest chapter I'd ever seen:

"Nothing much else happened that night." From Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes

I loved that book.

Kristen King · Sep 12, 2006

I think that if it fits the book, go for it. Length is irrelevant--it's the content that matters. You'll find a format or home for whatever you write if it's good, you know? So write the story the way it wants to be written.

Kristen

Mark Lazer · Sep 13, 2006

Not shortest but still worth mentioning, I guess, is Stephen King's Misery:

umber whunnn
yerrrnnn umber whunnn
fayunnnn
These sounds: even in the haze.

Mike Coombes · Sep 13, 2006

James D. Macdonald said:
The shortest chapter in a published book is in Tristram Shandy by Lawrence Sterne: it has no words.

That's going to be tough to beat.

Samuel Dark · Sep 13, 2006

I am afraid to mention such a name around here, but a book by Ted Dekker called Black: A Birth of Evil has the shortest chapter. it's at the end, and it's kind of just a wrap-up chapter leading you into the next book in the trilogy (and the next book literally picks up right where it left off). It was small. Like...maybe....half a page?

Selcaby · Sep 13, 2006

Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll has two very short chapters in succession, one with 59 words and the next with 8.

Button · Sep 13, 2006

That's sort of cool. I have seen some short chapters but nothing that short yet. I haven't thought about using it as a device.

Evaine · Sep 13, 2006

"I caught it, of course."

This is from one of the Lindsay Davies Falco stories - at the end of the previous chapter, another character has just thrown a knife at him.

The next chapter starts by explaining how he learned to juggle with knives.

Maryn · Sep 13, 2006

Mark Lazer said:
Not shortest but still worth mentioning, I guess, is Stephen King's Misery:

Other than no-word chapters, Misery has the shortest I've seen. (I'm surprised you didn't mention it, Mark, but maybe you couldn't see it because of your blurry eyes!) It's one word: Rinse.

Maryn, who'd rather lather, rinse, repeat

Carrie in PA · Sep 13, 2006

Maybe I'm particularly dense, but what on earth would the purpose of a wordless chapter be? If there aren't any words, then it's not really a chapter. :Shrug:

Unless this is one of those fancy high brow things that are just beyond me. LOL!

Mark Lazer · Sep 14, 2006

Maryn said:
Other than no-word chapters, Misery has the shortest I've seen. (I'm surprised you didn't mention it, Mark, but maybe you couldn't see it because of your blurry eyes!) It's one word: Rinse.

Maryn, who'd rather lather, rinse, repeat

I semi-remembered that, but didn't exactly remind it. The one I quoted is the first chapter, which I could find through Amazon.com. But you're right, the "rinse" chapter is one word...

madcow · Sep 14, 2006

This is a two-word chapter from the New Testament: 'Jesus wept.'

madcow · Sep 14, 2006

Tristram Shandy

Carrie in PA said:
Maybe I'm particularly dense, but what on earth would the purpose of a wordless chapter be? If there aren't any words, then it's not really a chapter. Unless this is one of those fancy high brow things that are just beyond me. LOL!

You think that's bad? What about the totally black page? ...and then there's the bit with the wiggly line...

Maryn · Sep 14, 2006

Yet on one of the admittedly-rare occasions on which I read poetry, I understood the empty last stanza in a poem. It added to the work. Carl Sandburg, I think. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong--people love that sort of thing.

Maryn, providing frequent opportunities for others to feel superior

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