Longer or Shorter Chapters?

[EnvyHydra889]

Ok, i seen chapter's word size be from 500 at least to 4000 as the high end.

I wondering if their are any advantages to having short chapters but can release more chapter per week or is it better to have long but only have one chapter per week?

I'am asking this because my novel is getting out of have and my word count on average of the 10 chapter is about 6000 and i fear that it will keep growing.

 

[Spica66]

I'm doing 2k because it's my style. I don't want to name each chapter title frequently too. The longer chapter's cliffhanger is more meaningful in general.
But I think below 1k has the advantage of activeness that the reader feels. And often time, it should make you feel more productive to finish a chapter.

 

[hauntedwritings]

I think with more releases, you can 'abuse' the system and get more attention, as your story will be put on the first page each time you release a chapter.

Problem with short chapters might be that readers feel a bit annoyed (I do at least). So I try to keep my minimum to 1500 words per chapter, and I too feel my chapters are growing longer little by little.
I suppose having long chapters might be considered bad as well. Because if you're reading on your phone or something else, if something interrupts your reading, you might lose where you were when the site becomes refreshed when you open it again a long time.

As a writer, I like to have a clear dividing line between chapters. If the chapters are too long, you can divide them up however. You can add things like 'Part II' or '(2)' after the title of the chapter.

However, I don't think there's a 'right answer'. Simply do what you feel yourself would be the most suitable experience to the reader, or just go with how you please.

 

[Cossimeri]

I try To keep my chapters at no fewer than 1k and no more than 3k.

not sure if it‘s the best range, but i‘ve seen a lot of success so far.

 

[Saileri]

Ok, i seen chapter's word size be from 500 at least to 4000 as the high end.

That face when your average is 6-7k words per chapter, heh. Also, I've made multiple polls on my Patreon or inside public chapters too and it varies a lot. Mostly, from the responses, longer chapters win, but it's only a small percent of people who actually vote.

If you want your story to "grow" more and faster, multiple chapters a week is the way to go if you can keep writing them. Like a chapter every other day at around 2k words. This will get you exposition and also be in the most common length sweet spot. But it also all depends on your writing style. One of my novels averages at 6-7k as I said since it's a slice of life, while the other averages at 3k words. I could split the 1st one into half, but I don't like it.

Here is one of the polls I made recently.

That said, I'll be most likely staying with my current word amount.

 

[Legi0n]

Personally, as a reader 1000-1200 words often feel too short. Between 1500 and 2500 is a good compromise imho.

 

[Spica66]

That face when your average is 6-7k words per chapter, heh. Also, I've made multiple polls on my Patreon or inside public chapters too and it varies a lot. Mostly, from the responses, longer chapters win, but it's only a small percent of people who actually vote.

If you want your story to "grow" more and faster, multiple chapters a week is the way to go if you can keep writing them. Like a chapter every other day at around 2k words. This will get you exposition and also be in the most common length sweet spot. But it also all depends on your writing style. One of my novels averages at 6-7k as I said since it's a slice of life, while the other averages at 3k words. I could split the 1st one into half, but I don't like it.

Here is one of the polls I made recently.

That said, I'll be most likely staying with my current word amount.

As a reader, I like 4k+ per chapter too. It's sad that I start writing in English recently, so my speed isn't there yet.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

Nowadays, I purposefully keep my chapters around 4k-5k words per chapter, down from 6k. This is so that my readers could 'easily digest' my work.

 

[BenJepheneT]

For the nature of my story, I have to stick to a 7-9k word count. Though for my sub-series, I am doing between 1-2k in weekly releases.

 

[Muddy]

Everyone has a different writing style, and thus a different chapter length that they will default to. You do not need to force yourself to write chapters of a particular length just because everyone else is doing it.

That said, there are 2 major considerations regarding chapter length you should know about:

Regardless of whether it is a web novel or a physical book, there is a trend towards shorter, bite-sized chapters. People no longer sit down for long stretches of time to read. Instead, they want something they can read while waiting for the bus, drinking a cup of coffee, or taking a toilet break. Once your chapters veer into the 3000+ words range people actually need to sit down and allot time to read your stuff. That can drastically cut into both your pool of potential readers and your ability to keep your current readers.

To cultivate a readership on an online platform like scribblehub, you generally need weekly releases, preferably even several times a week. You need to get your stuff seen, and every new chapter is a chance to be seen. Likewise, every new chapter is a reminder to your existing readers that your novel exists. Existing readers will also have less time to forget what happened previously if you release often. Wait too long between releases and it becomes both harder to attract new readers and to keep existing readers.

Personally, I've seen the average chapter length here on scribblehub to be in the 1500-3000 word range mostly, with some outliers on both sides. That's a length that fits nicely with the above two observations. Any longer and it's no longer bite-size. Shorter and the readers might feel cheated.

Then, what to do if your chapters are a whole lot longer? Like I said before, you don't need to change anything. If 6000 words is a comfortable chapter length for you, then it is what it is. One thing I have seen several people with longer chapters do though is arbitrarily split those into shorter bits. So you could always try that, split your 6000-word chapters into 2/3/4 parts and post them like that. You'll then have a 'chapter 1 - part 1', 'chapter 1 - part 2', and so forth. Best of both worlds.

 

[Reisinling]

Well, I will try to answer this question next time I get data from Scribblehub if you want more mathy answer.
Personally, I like more shorter chapters, about 2 google sheet pages each. (usually ~700 words) From one side, it does seem to be more effective in getting new readers, but from the other it just makes it so much easier to write for me. I just have to plan for 1-2 hours, instead of 4-5. And I don't think all the time about how there is this thing I have to finish, as if writing was a job, not a side project.

Though as the reader I do enjoy longer chapters more, about 3-4k seems to be the sweet spot.

 

[Businesssn]

Ok, i seen chapter's word size be from 500 at least to 4000 as the high end.

I wondering if their are any advantages to having short chapters but can release more chapter per week or is it better to have long but only have one chapter per week?

I'am asking this because my novel is getting out of have and my word count on average of the 10 chapter is about 6000 and i fear that it will keep growing.

I’m doing around 1k to 1.5k per chapter. So 2k seems like a good number

 

[Deleted member 49654]

I think there are three ways for a new reader to see a story and start reading it.
1) When the story is on the front page.
2) When they see it in the "similar" section of another fiction they are reading.
3) If they search for a specific genre and your story pops up in front of them.

Number one is the easiest way to attract attention.

I have no idea how number two works. I mean, I don't even know if you can check the stories that contain yours in their recommendations. Plus readers, sometimes need a break and a change of genre.

Number three probably is related to the views your story has.
More views => more popular => more front-end position when someone tries to search for it. Obviously, this leads us back to the first option.

The easiest way to maximize the time your story is displayed on the foremost page, is to upload more chapters. Unless you can write thousands of words every day, shorter chapters will be more beneficial. And unfortunately, I really see a lot of stories with 500 words/chapter on average that attract attention and gain readers.

Now putting the logic aside, about my personal opinion.
I check the average word count before reading a novel. To me, under 1000 words is a mockery and mildly offending. Thus, I have no interest in starting such a fiction at all. As a reader, I love both longer chapters and more chapters.
With short chapters, I feel like someone ate most of my cheese.

 

[EnvyHydra889]

Well, I will try to answer this question next time I get data from Scribblehub if you want more mathy answer.
Personally, I like more shorter chapters, about 2 google sheet pages each. (usually ~700 words) From one side, it does seem to be more effective in getting new readers, but from the other it just makes it so much easier to write for me. I just have to plan for 1-2 hours, instead of 4-5. And I don't think all the time about how there is this thing I have to finish, as if writing was a job, not a side project.

Though as the reader I do enjoy longer chapters more, about 3-4k seems to be the sweet spot.

I use samsung notes and usually full 50 to 60 pages in it (which is about 5000 words), but do most writer here use google?

 

[Businesssn]

I use samsung notes and usually full 50 to 60 pages in it (which is about 5000 words), but do most writer here use google?

It’s easy

 

[Reisinling]

I use samsung notes and usually full 50 to 60 pages in it (which is about 5000 words), but do most writer here use google?

Well I have a nice PC, and I'm pretty proficient with the keyboard. I assume that if you do not have work PC/as much experience with using it for work it might just be easier to use your phone to write.

 

[tounokenja]

That explains why my 2k-4k word chapters I'd release 2-3 of each day for 3 months propelled me to trending easily enough, but my rewrite's 8k+ chapters have only a dedicated few readers.

It really is about bite-sized saturation in the end.

 

[LimitBound]

Mid, because longer ones burn the readers out. Short ones makes them unsatisfied, so In-between is the best choice.

 

[JayDirex]

The sweet spot is 1800-2200 online. in paperback format go crazy with them 10k word chapters

 

[Horizon42]

Ok, i seen chapter's word size be from 500 at least to 4000 as the high end.

I wondering if their are any advantages to having short chapters but can release more chapter per week or is it better to have long but only have one chapter per week?

I'am asking this because my novel is getting out of have and my word count on average of the 10 chapter is about 6000 and i fear that it will keep growing.

It depends how you write and the pacing of your novel, but I find 5000 is generally good if you want a beginning middle and end to the chapter. 2000 if you want to separate a small story into chunks. And 1500 if you're just trying to push the plot into the next thing.