Chapter Length.

Mwpensword

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 20, 2020
Messages
44
Points
58
What is everyone's preference on chapter length? Short (1000 words), medium (1500-2000 words), or long (3000+ words). Why? Are short chapters a tease or just right? Are long chapters daunting or satisfying?
 

Kaguro

Well-known member
Joined
May 2, 2020
Messages
78
Points
58
3k+ because anything shorter is not a coherent self-contained chapter and you forget important things from the last chapter when it's released piece-meal.

Most 1k word chapters are made that way purely to conform with webnovel consumer habits where readers want fast-pace updates. No physical media book would have a chapter that short.
 

atgongumerki

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2019
Messages
250
Points
103
Heavily depends on the kind of story.
If it is hard to read or induces strong emotions I like them shorter.
But if they are easy to read and focused on an actual plot I like them longer.

The pace of the story is also important.

Chapters where basically nothing is happening are just infuriating.
 
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
201
Points
103
I like around 1500 - 2500.
Well, it actually depends on how the story goes in 1 chapter. It took longer if I was in the mood to describe everything in detail. :blob_cookie:
 

Monk_Origins

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 23, 2020
Messages
151
Points
83
For me, its 1800 words. My story is more focused on world building, so longer chapters means I might start to drift to info-dump. 1800 words forces me to be concise and expressive in writing about an event.
 

iamaducklingwriter

Active member
Joined
Jul 14, 2020
Messages
45
Points
33
It really depends on the consistency and the content of the chapter. If your chapters started at 1k, then the future chapters should be 1k or above. Now, in terms of content, 3k words of filler with little to no interesting point would be boring to your readers. So it is consistency+content. ˎ₍•ʚ•₎ˏˎ₍•ʚ•₎ˏˎ₍•ʚ•₎ˏ
 
D

Deleted member 29081

Guest
I like to write/read chapters that cut off at the appropriate scene, regardless of actual word length. Every chapter or entry in a story has a purpose that it is trying to convey, and the main concern of the writer should be to fulfill that purpose. If you want to leave the reader on a cliffhanger, and it takes 10,000 words to reach that scene (when your average chapter length is about 3,000), then go for it.
 

Saileri

Your Friendly Neighborhood IT Guy
Joined
May 6, 2020
Messages
625
Points
133
I like to write/read chapters that cut off at the appropriate scene, regardless of actual word length. Every chapter or entry in a story has a purpose that it is trying to convey, and the main concern of the writer should be to fulfill that purpose. If you want to leave the reader on a cliffhanger, and it takes 10,000 words to reach that scene (when your average chapter length is about 3,000), then go for it.
You'd love my tomorrow's chapter :blob_joy: I always write as much into a chapter as it feels right to cover without taking on too many things at once, usually avoiding bait-like cliffhangers, but OOOOOOOOOH BOOOOOI, chapter 12 just had to end in a super cliffy moment (and I didn't plan on it) :blobtaco:
 
D

Deleted member 29316

Guest
My average writing would be around 5k-6k on my isekai novel, The Human Saint is Bored (especially the later volumes) but only 800-2.5k on my low fantasy, DECK.

Well, it's primarily because I had to describe the world setting, while being embedded on the story narrative. It's just my style to have a 'smooth' world-building-to-narrative story.

Downside is, only a few readers brave reading my story because of long chapters (especially if released continuously).

And the advantage is that the transition from world-building to the characters' actions is smooth. It's like they themselves are experiencing the scenery.
 

Jemini

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 27, 2019
Messages
1,897
Points
153
Long chapters tend to be liked more by the readers. They also have the advantage of you not having to post as frequently which makes things less annoying.

Short chapters are easier to turn out, and allows you to up your chapter release rate. However, they are kinda annoying to go through the posting process for each one. Also, if you have to write chapters that short in order to keep up your release rate people are going to notice and think less of you for it.

The standard among the top writers that get the highest consistent rating and have the highest patreons is around 2,000 words, and release 5 to 7 chapters a week. So, if you want to REALLY do well, that balance of chapter length and release rate happens to actually be part of the formula. You will be most successful if you match the industry standard while keeping up a good quality of writing. (Although one 2K chapter every other day seems like enough of an acceptable compromise for you to still do well as a writer, it's just not going to be in the six figure/year off patreon rates these huge authors get. And, of course, that's only a single part of a rather complex multi-part formula that gets you to the top.)
 

pynkbites

Well-known member
Joined
May 16, 2020
Messages
46
Points
58
I started out around 1.5k words per chapter, now I average 2-3k. My characters just get away from me sometimes and write the story themselves.
 

Discount_Blade

Sent Here To Piss You All Off
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
1,347
Points
153
Anything shorter than 2k is not a chapter. There is no way you had enough time to properly describe and properly set a scene. You are severely lacking something somewhere. Personally, I find anything shorter than 3k too short but oh welll. I won't read anything that has a chapter shorter than 2k. No questions asked. No matter the topic/genre/etc. Chapters that short are not real chapters.
 

NotaNuffian

This does spark joy.
Joined
Nov 26, 2019
Messages
3,629
Points
183
Dang, I sure should rewrite all the word docs in my drive then... nah.

To be honest, I write for the fun of it, so if someone tell me to write a certain number, which I forced myself, it turns out to be painful because I will keep on chugging words for no apparent reason. I also have the tendency to leave my surrounding as plain and vague as possible because I
Rich (BB code):
am lazy
like the readers to fill in the blank themselves. And when I really let myself go like the song from Idina Menzel, I really let it go and screw the coherence of the plot solely because I am a mess. So far I am keeping up the track with the skeleton but am keeping the word count at 1.5k to 2.5k, anymore higher and it will be one of those days where my cerebrospinal fluid flows out of my nose and crankiness is abound.
 
Last edited:

Assurbanipal_II

Empress of the Four Corners of the World
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Messages
1,925
Points
153
:blob_evil_two: Personally, I say 1k up to 2k for longer ones. When you have anything longer than that, then you have normally issues with palavering.
 

mostlyharmfulll

TeaMate since day 1
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
87
Points
58
My story has currently around 1,5k words per chapter, and I try to slowly raise the bar. I just started a release schedule (evry wednesday and saturday) recently and still have to get the hang of it.
 

Arkus86

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
Messages
253
Points
103
From the novels I read, the lowest average words per chapter among them are at around 2k. Anything shorter than that, and the chapters tend to either just feel bland and meaningless, or far too short to be truly enjoyable. And my actual preference is 3k+
 

Razzle-Dazzle

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2020
Messages
52
Points
73
...
personally... I don't really believe in using word count as a metric...
rather, I prefer to count how may plot points, or developments, or "turn of events" that happens...

if its a cliffhanger type novel, it can have a 2 beats, chapter system. Just payoff previous chap then setup next chap with cliff ending. Then occasionally extra beat for padding between major events.

but personally, I like reading. 3 to 4 beats chapters... usually 2 beats setup the 1 payoff or 2 setup + 1 misdirection + 1 payoff.

but that is just me...

I think 1 beat per chapter is fine to do tho..
 
Top