Chapter length?

[Solid 1,327]

Too long or too short and one would lose quite some readers

 

 

So what length is just right for each chapter?

[Your Nightly Spectre 1,061]

I think about 2000 words per chapter is fine. 

8000 per chapter is a lot. Unless it is a one chapter story.

[SasQ 1,379]

I don't think it depends on length. It rather depends on the content (interesting to water ratio). I can stop reading a chapter in any moment, even a couple of sentences from the beginning, if they're dull. Or i can read several hours continuously if the story is immersive. I use chapters rather as checkpoints, nothing more. They allow me to know where I am in the structure of the book and to find where I stopped more easily (if I stop at chapter boundary; otherwise I need to use bookmarks).

 

So yeah, chapters should depend on the actual structure of the book, not on the length. But the more frequent they are, the easier is for the reader to control where to stop reading and continue reading later. (Though when a book is realllly good, I usually read it in one chunk ;J)

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

It really depends on the story itself.

 

Romance and adventure stories in general should have longer chapter sizes than slice of life, Action, and simpler stories.

 

But in general a comfortable chapter size (to me) is anywhere between 3000 and 5500 words. Hope this helps breh

[Digit 321]

What I usually do is write specific set ups for each chapter, then as my story progresses a chapter to link them. This generally can be anywhere from 4-6 pages each chapter at around 2000-4000 words. It really depends on what you are trying to convey threw each.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Digit

[Jeric 46,858]

Chapter length is like scene length. No longer than needed (don't pad the word count). There are averages and they typically run at no more than 5500. The issue with this is that scene length and chapter length (along with dialog and paragraph length) help control the pacing.

 

Getting the pacing right while fighting to meet some expectations about word counts is setting yourself up for trouble

 

Worry about scenes more than chapters and adjust in revision. Also if you can invest in it ... get Scrivener. That software is magic when it comes to organizing a story. Short and long form fiction alike.

 

 

Oh .. and chapter averages change between forms. Novels are different than Short Stories

Edited May 15, 2014 by Jeric