Chapter Word Length (Page 1 of 2)

Before I came to this site, I wrote and posted on Booksie. There, if chapters weren't under 2500 words or so, they just didn't get read or commented upon. Booksie isn't set up to do in-depth reviews either. As a result, my chapters hang in between 1900 to 2500 words.

~Tom

As Mike said, chapter length varies. If you are on the point system, it costs you more to post a longer chapter - thus you must read more to gain those points. But reviewers who are looking for points will be more attracted to higher points. It does take time and effort to do an in-depth review of a longer piece, but if the piece is anything like your Star of Hope, the longer chapter will be read and reviewed happily. I usually steer clear of the longer chapters because I often go into great detail, but I recently flew through 5K without noticing it. The short story was that good. Check out 'To Make The Darkness Flee' by Mike Jackson - it scores 10 on the creepy scale. I loved it and I'm not drawn to that sort of thing! Mike Roberson's 'Hunter' is also great.

Hey Danielle,
There is no hard and fast 'rule' about chapter length, but if you are writing for a specific genre with an eye on publication of some sort, there are expected norms for each category. I don't even think about any of that when I'm drafting however. I let the chapters tell me when to stop and fix it, if necessary, during the rewrite.

I entered a contest that "suggested" the chapter length be "at least" 3000 words. I had to stick two chapters together to meet the specs. You must always follow the suggestions (requirements) given by the people in charge.  JP

Hey Jack, nobody is suggesting there are hard and fast rules but nearly all agents and pubs have their expected norms for a given genre. All I was trying to point out is that if you want to work with them is a goal, then paying some amount of attention to those expectations is a wise course of action.

John, I used to outline. I did it for a couple of stories, but then I lost all interest in them since I knew where it was going and what was going to happen. It was like the story was written in my head and then I was done with it. So now I go in with a general idea and a list of other ideas/options. And its how I approach every chapter. I go in with an idea of what the chapter is and then just let it take its course.

But again, this post wasn't intended to find out the "Rules" of chapter length or get advice. I just wanted to kind of see how other people do theirs. Purely curiosity.

Well, well, we seem to be at odds today. It's a book competition, but finalists are selected based on the first chapter. I believe the thinking was that a short chapter wouldn't offer the judges enough material to work with. We'll see how it comes out. If I'm selected, you'll hear about it. Otherwise, I'll self-publish, and make the chapters as long or short as I like. But if a well-known publisher want to publish your book, I say, follow the rules!  JP

John--I hear you. And for some that really works, but it didn't for me. Kind of crazy how that works, huh? I can't really explain it, but when I would outline it was like I had already written the book; I had found out what would happen to the characters. Even though it technically wasn't "set in stone" it was in my mind. I can outline to a certain point--say three chapters ahead.
I don't know. Its just fascinating how different methods  work for different people.

I try to shoot for 10-12 double-spaced pages, which seems to be equal to my own attention span when reading. :-)  Here on the site that's around 1.5 to 2.0 points for the reviewer. I dislike reading/reviewing very long chapters because I usually can't do it all in one sitting. Life intrudes.

When I review something on the other side of 1.86 points, I know it's not going to happen in one sitting. Bless Sol and his little factory of minions that made it possible to save draft in-line reviews.

My simple answer is yes. So far I've worked with 2 agents--both of whom are quite sticky about chapter length because the publishers for that genre have stringent range criteria. Minor variations aren't an issue. They aren't going to reject a good work because a few chapters run below or above the range criteria. But on more than one occasion, I've been asked to split, trim, or enhance a chapter based on this criteria. I'm not saying I necessarily agree with it in each instance, but it a practice widely considered 'norm' nonetheless.

Linda - Thanks for the input re your personal experience, though it surprises me that agents would advise altering a chapter based solely on word length. My experience differs, having dealt with editors of three different traditional publishers. In no instance was chapter length an issue, and my chapters have ranged from ~ 1000 words to well over 3000. I've yet to deal with agents though, and your experience makes me think that's been a good thing.