Triaxiansilk.com

I just noticed a comment on a story that said the reader thought there might be too much going on in the chapter. It got me to wondering what people think is a good length for a chapter. How many words, since we don't show pages and page numbers on Triaxian Silk. How much do readers want at one sitting? Maybe, how many minutes do you like to spend on a chapter? Of course people read at different speeds, but in general? As a fan fiction writer I am interested in this as I have some rather long chapters in the novella that I want to start posting in January or February. Oh, and if the chapter is too long, do readers 'bookmark' it somehow and come back to finish it later...or just abandon reading the story?

Hmmm.

mine run between 3000 and 3700 words for what its worth. It is really about whether or not you have a good place to break the story and head in a different "Fork" (can't help self). Or if the thought is just getting to long. No doubt there are others far more qualified than I to comment (and review hee hee)

There's no right answer, and therefore there is no wrong answer in my view. It seems to me that under 1000 words is likely to make the story feel choppy, and by the time I've read 3000 words I'd definitely appreciate an excuse to stop, have a coffee break and write some comments, but good stories often fly by and leave me surprised when I look back and realise how much ground we've covered.

I agree with Cogito - there really isn't a right or wrong answer, it depends entirely on the story. Some stories work with under 1000 words in a chapter, and some work with over 5000, and others get away with mixing it up. I tend to split them based on the general tone...if it feels like the story has shifted in some way, even if you can't explain why, it's a good place to split it. I've read stories with well over 10,000 words per chapter - sometimes it comes off as a long slog, and there are times when it just flows naturally and you don't even notice until you get to the end. I think 1000 to 5000 is a good average, but I wouldn't use it as a rule in the event that it disrupts the flow of the story.

Chapters are like paragraphs -- not only are they organizing units (generally by some kind of topic), but they are there to help readers get through long text without feeling overwhelmed by giving them little breathers and intermediate milestones. Most chapters in contemporary novels run about 10-12 manuscript pages, if that helps any (250 words per page, so 2,500 to 3,000 words). There's no rule, however. Ideally you want each chapter to have its own little arc with at least a mild sense of an ending, or (more importantly) something to make a reader want to keep reading. If you're writing dense, literary prose, it probably pays to keep your chapters briefer since you're making your reader work harder -- not an issue in most fanfic. I usually try to have at least 1000 words before I post a chapter in fanfic, since to me anything shorter than that often feels irritatingly brief. I also get fatigued and often take multiple days to read really long chapters. But those are just my own personal druthers.

Wow, thanks, this is valuable information. My chapters are way too long so I will look at breaking them up a bit. And seeing them as distinct units with some mild, at least, sense of closure to each is something for me to look at carefully. This will set my schedule back some, but will be well worth it if the resulting product is better.