How does one write a 1k chapter book?

[wingedcatgirl]

original 100% of the time

This literally never happens.

 

[melchi]

Could also do what the wandering inn does too. It started out going back and forth between two main characters. One of the main characters gets the spotlight then gets put on ice. Before that happens start focusing more on side characters in different parts of the world. Eventually the side characters become the main characters.

 

[SirDogeTheFirst]

Just look at Wheel of Time, the entire series has something like 12000 pages, and if we take every ten pages as one chapter, the whole thing has whooping 1200 chapters. Now, I made the measurements for hardcover novels, not web novels, which are usually shorter per chapter. If Wheel of Time was a web series, it could easily see over 2000+ chapters.

 

[yansusustories]

I have one series with roughly 2.5k chapters that are about 1k words per chapter and it's not finished yet (and has additional extras and prequels that I haven't even counted in this). There are one and a half volumes still left and I'll add some parts in the revision so I assume this will easily hit 3k chapters. I guess that's roughly the equivalent of 1k chapters with 3k words. Another series of mine is at 500 chapters with 1k words and will likely hit the 1k chapters as well although I don't think it'll go too far past that. Based on the experience of writing these two, I think there are several points that help with making a story long while not being repetitive:

1) Have a large cast while writing multiple PoVs or using an omniscient PoV. The characters should experience some parts of the story together but should also have separate experiences. Detailing all of this can easily double (or more) the number of chapters needed compared to those that only follow one MC. Having characters on opposite sides that only ever meet in conflict is likely to add the most chapters but even those working together can work as long as you split them up often and long enough.

2) Have the story span a long period of time. This can most easily be done by having immortal or near-immortal characters. Mortal characters are alright though but in that case, it helps to start with their childhood. Fill in parts about the past. For immortals, that can be their own. For mortal characters, go back one or two generations or even several if it fits the story. This might not add as much content as a larger cast does but it adds depth to the characters as it makes up their backstory and usually highlights their motivation, goals, and similar. If the past contains several of the characters from the cast or characters related to them, this part can often be made longer as it won't feel redundant to readers.

3) Set the story in a big enough place that you start to set up from the very beginning. This can mean several cities, neighboring kingdoms, different realms, or whatever fits your story. Make these places detailed and distinct. This comes not only with physical descriptions but also with cultural ones. For example, if you go with kingdoms or realms, they could have different festivals that might be similar or very different depending on what you want and can have an influence on the story. Including these details makes the world feel more lived-in and can give a better background for the characters while potentially adding dozens of chapters. Different places also have the chance to add many supporting characters and some mini-arcs here and there. Establishing a general idea of this at the beginning is important to ensure it won't feel like you're pulling all of this out of your ass. If you have multiple leading characters, this is easy to do by putting them in different places at the beginning. Otherwise, it can also work well if a lone MC has the goal to go to another place or has a vendetta against somewhere there or anything else that relates them to other places.

4) Add "mystery" in the sense that you don't let your characters know everything at the beginning or at once when it becomes relevant. Have them work to get the knowledge they need. For example, if there's a conspiracy, don't have them be already acquainted with those in the know but make them slowly chase clues. Throw in some confusing parts that they'll have trouble figuring out. Proceed with caution though: Many readers want an instant payoff and will be incredibly turned off by having this kind of mystery in the story.

5) Allow your characters to experience setbacks. I believe this isn't (or at least shouldn't be) unique to long stories but it sure helps with adding chapters: Make your characters lose and sometimes even lose badly. This way, they might need to start over what they were doing before. If, let's say, the investigation from the previous example led to a dead-end, they'll have to go back to the beginning and re-examine what they thought they knew, chase new clues, and then come to a new conclusion. Don't overdo it (as in, make it happen more than once with the same thing), instead, make it a learning opportunity for the characters that you can even reference down the line and show how they learned from it and are now doing better.
Sometimes, setbacks could also mean that their plans get ruined and they need to find alternative ways. E.g., imagine your character needs the prize from a competition to do some magic voodoo thing but they only make second place and the first place isn't willing to trade. They'll need to come up with an alternative solution to their problem now. They might need to brainstorm ideas, then implement them which could require a whole ass mini-arc (imagine they find something the first-place winner is willing to trade for after all but it's that dangerous to get kind of thing or is in the possession of another person, whatever you can think of), and only then, they actually manage to do what could have ended with the competition.
Setbacks can either come from outside or even from the character, depending on whether you make them OP or not (not doing so is usually favorable to the character count as well). If you're not sure where to put these, just always ask yourself "Well, what could go wrong?", then make exactly that happen.

Overall, I think those would be my first go-to elements to allow the story to get bigger. I believe these can be used in almost any kind of setting and, if done well, still won't feel repetitive. Instead, they can even add to the story because they give more insight than a shorter story would. Much of this relies on very distinctive characters and places though so those parts should be planned out well or at least kept in mind when adding later.

 

[MajorKerina]

POVs is definitely how GRR Martin got stuck in his narrative. I’m nearing 100 chapters myself and those are actually spread across a couple different connected narratives. So each individual story is just slightly above 100,000 words but they together tell multiple connecting narratives. Probably the best way to get one’s self writing urgently is sheer panic. I had a tortured week and then basically stayed up way too many hours finishing chapters because I set for myself the obligation of finishing them. When you basically hold a gun to your own head and say you have to write it’s a great motivator. I don’t personally recommend it and at least take days off from this method but I’m about to hit 250,000 words since late July. And especially I’m telling the stories that I wanted to tell but always put off.

 

[MajorKerina]

You write one. You write another. And you don’t stop until there’s a 1000 of them.

I find I can write about the way that someone puts on their clothes for at least several thousand words. When you multiply that by several characters and their theoretical interactions with one another and then just making stuff up then one can just go and go without taking a break. I’m kind of in a pickle right now because I have over a dozen central characters and I don’t wanna make it go long but to really get a grip on all of them it’s probably gonna take a good bit of time.

 

[CadmarLegend]

But, I don't want to be repetitive. Surely, there are books which are both original 100% of the time, and 1k chapters long.

That’s called milking out as much views and money as you can from one idea the author came up with while in their bed, scratching their butt.

 

[Gibbs505]

Do I sacrifice marshmallows to the writing god? Maybe spill some hot chocolate on an altar? Just how do some people concentrate on a story long enough, to write 1k chapters. And not 1k word chapters either, but 3k and more. I really want to write one 1k chapter book. But I seem to stop when I all ends are tied. Just this morning, I finished a 65k word book. I could have written more, but the ending came naturally. How to stave off the ending long enough to write 1k chapters? Oh, and I dropped two projects today, and ended up writing 15k words, of which only 11k are in books that I didn't drop. Writing 100 books is hard, when the prompt book is scoured for all ideas. And I am just at the 21st book.

Simple, write one chapter then repeat!