Does chapter size matter?

BenJepheneT

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Between 5-6 inches is ideal but 3 or 4 or even 2 inches is fine enough if you have the gir- oh OH we're talking about chapter sizes here

Ehhh 1.5-2k words is enough, I suppose
 
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There's a study out there somewhere, which I keep citing for years even though I've never found it again, that suggests that, on average, readers can get through 3-4k words in a sitting. (An average reader having an average sitting of an average work... obviously there's some room for variance there.)

... That said, I worry less about wordcount in my chapters and more about event count and consistent style. So wordcount can range from less than 1k to over 12k, though most individual stories only cover a small segment of that range.
 
D

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1,5k- 3k words are probably perfect for 1 chap/day
5k words are for 3 chaps/week
>10k words are for professional writing, 2-3 chaps/months
>20k words are like when you write a real novel with actual efforts in it.
You decide.
 

Beta_Krogoth

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Oh wow, this is quite insightful, I usually do around 4-7k per chapter which seems like waaaaaay too much. I'll have to take it down a few I think.
 

Wohendum

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Personally, I don't read anything that regularly has chapters shorter than 2k. No matter how good the work is, anyone pummeling out frequent 1k chapters to me is just...lazy. Even 2k it too short for me, and 3k is only just barely passing, but I also read more Tor Fantasy than webnovels, which shapes my views.

When I write, I can go 2.5k at least when I have only a single simple scene to push with nothing overly complicated/telling, though I usually average out to between 4k and 6k, with 8k being my upper limit. My largest chapter ever was between, 8,500 & 8,600 words while my shortest was between 2,400 and 2,600.
 

BenJepheneT

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Aren't you the guy that makes 10k+ chapters?
I'm a changed man, you see.

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Just kidding, I still do big chapters, though I try to limit myself beneath 10k words. Around 7-8k average now.
 

Fox-Trot-9

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As long as the chapters keep me interested in the story, I don't give a damn how long the chapters are.
 
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I hope chapter size doesn't matter.
My writing goal and reading philosophy: keep it on point. If the author's not going to advance the story, I'm going to just skim or skip the chapter, and if I do that to more than one or two chapters, I'll drop the story.
 

Anon2024

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Depends on audience.

If your audience isn't english speaking and uses a translator then shorter chapters might be easier for them.
If your audience is into complex explanations then longer chapters might suffice.
Genre is also important when determining the sweet spot.

Average chapter length for most web novels I've heard is around 1,500 which means there are many with shorter chapters that are successful.
 

Katsuya

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A popular opinion is 1.5k-2k, but, I would say like 800+ ? I don't like long chaps. Like, 2.6k words and stuff. 2k isn't the most but yeah.

1k would be like the perfect amount. Like 1.0-1.6/7k, I don't know, something like that. It's also easier to write. Meaning, more chapters out. Unless your really lazy.

Anyhow, good luck!
 

SkippyForfex

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In my opinion, chapters should be not too long but not too short either. Maybe 1k-2k is enough.

But if you do want to write shorter chapters, the amount of chapters should be more. And the update time should be short. This way the readers won't get impatient and get frustrated by the short chapters.

You can write longer chapters too. But it should be filled with interesting topics so the readers do not get tired of reading it. There must not be confusing topics too because of the amount of words the readers take in it can be confusing at times.

Chapter size may or may not matter. It depends on your writing.

Good luck~
 

TheEldritchGod

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Well, it depends.

I do double spacing between paragraphs, and then have single spacing at certain points, then like five or six spaces if it's important at the end, landing with a one liner.

It isn't the word count, how you arrange it. for example.

"I quit."


Toshi had thought about it and from the stories he heard from his sister, he had come to the conclusion that he was a self-center narcissist and that the problems started when he became a pop idol. He decided that he needed to tell his manager to her face and asked she be allowed to come visit. His parents insisted that they were present for the meeting.


The manager, a lady in her mid thirties with slicked back hair and a smile dripping with greed looked shocked, "Baby! King of the J-pop! You can't just quit! The internet is abuzz! Everyone is worried about you! You need to strike when the iron is hot!"


Toshi just marveled at how evil this woman was, "Look. I was dead, which causes memory loss. I got pumped full of Rohypnol, which causes memory loss. I got raped, which can cause people to have... you guessed it!" He sighed, "I am fairly certain not only do I have no memory of the job, but it isn't coming back any time soon."


The manager thought for a second, "Basically you want to take a few weeks off?"


Toshi's mother said quietly, "I'm going to kill her." Then leapt for the manager's throat. Hirofumi held her back, "Asuka! Don't!" Eventually she stopped and just glared at the manager. Hirofumi let out a sigh when she finally relaxed.






"Because I'm going to kill her first."

and worse.

"I quit."

Toshi had thought about it and from the stories he heard from his sister, he had come to the conclusion that he was a self-center narcissist and that the problems started when he became a pop idol. He decided that he needed to tell his manager to her face and asked she be allowed to come visit. His parents insisted that they were present for the meeting. The manager, a lady in her mid thirties with slicked back hair and a smile dripping with greed looked shocked, "Baby! King of the J-pop! You can't just quit! The internet is abuzz! Everyone is worried about you! You need to strike when the iron is hot!" Toshi just marveled at how evil this woman was, "Look. I was dead, which causes memory loss. I got pumped full of Rohypnol, which causes memory loss. I got raped, which can cause people to have... you guessed it!" He sighed, "I am fairly certain not only do I have no memory of the job, but it isn't coming back any time soon." The manager thought for a second, "Basically you want to take a few weeks off?" Toshi's mother said quietly, "I'm going to kill her." Then leapt for the manager's throat. Hirofumi held her back, "Asuka! Don't!" Eventually she stopped and just glared at the manager. Hirofumi let out a sigh when she finally relaxed, "Because I'm going to kill her first."


See the difference? One is easy on the eyes, allowing the reader to pause and know where he can stop to think and ponder about what was written. The second one is a wall of GODDAMN TEXT, but if you follow normal writing rules, it doesn't violate the rules on paragraphs.

I wrote 8300 word paragraph broken up in a way to make it easy for the reader to consume while also being engaging. To keep pulling you along. And I wrote a 350 word chapter because to add any extra in would have ruined the impact. It was a gut punch of a chapter, but that was the point.

The chapter should be about one subject and broken up in a way to be easy on the eyes without being boring.

Read The House Of Leaves. I hate the story, but it is brilliant as far as use of negative space. Learning how to convey meaning with spaces and empty lines and how thick your columns are is just as important as the words

If you give the reader a place to rest IN the chapter, then the size isn't really a factor.
 

Kenjona

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Yes size matters.

To little and very few will want it, to big and it can overwhelm too many and they will run away.
 

doravg

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Anything over 3k words will be called walls of text by the readers, and is ignored or skimmed. I get away with 1k chapters. I find that I can write more words, if my chapters are short.
 

Ai-chan

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Ai-chan's standard for a well-written chapter is a minimum 1k words and a maximum 3k words. If Ai-chan writes and it's below 1k, Ai-chan can tell that the story lacks enough description as Ai-chan sets a 'story' for each chapter. Which means there is a story to tell in each chapter that Ai-chan would finish before moving on. Less than 1000 words is simply not enough with dialogues included.

Over 3k is bad because millenials have short attention span. They will read, get tired and put it down. In many cases, they never pick it back up. So Ai-chan will never write chapters with over 5k words.
 
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