How long should the chapters be?

[Willow's Tara]

Hey guys, I just finished writing the first chapter of "Legacy of an Actress" and it ended with 13 pages on Microsoft Word, and it got me thinking, how exactly long do you think the chapters should be?

If it's too short, the reviewer is highly doubt going to like it.

If it's too long the reviewers won't want to read it (Well there are people who don't want to read very long fics).

So where is the in between? What amount of lenght of each chapter you should write before starting a new chapter?

 

[Literate]

5-11-ish pages. But most can stand for more; I can't actually say for everyone, but it is not the quanitity, it's the quality. As said, if you must have it short, it must be sweet. Okay, so actually, there has to be a good reason for it to be short. As is also for longer ones; if it's infinitely long, then there has to be a good reason why.

Besides, length is different for everyone; while the rules say it has to be minimum four pages (using as an example) in Verdana 14 font, I use Verdana 10 font. My chapters would usually range from 4-6 pages and it looks pretty long the forum and is within standable level.

So no worries; if they hate it because of the length, then so be it. You can't please everyone.

-Lit

 

[Negrek]

A chapter should be long enough to say what needs to be said and no longer.

 

[Kiyohime]

I impose a limit on myself--no less than six pages, no more than 14. Too long and my readers would probably die of spontaeous head explosions.

 

[Orange_Flaaffy]

My chapters are normally 5-7 pages. I'd say it's not so much how long the pages are but how you fill them .

 

[~RaikouRider243~]

My chapters are usually between four and eight pages. Some may be longer, but never shorter. This is single-spaced, 10-point font on MS Word.

 

[CrystalSaurTower]

I had the same problem when I wasa rewriting my story on another site. But then I realzed for I get the main message out in whatever way I can, and then see where it stops. If it happends to be more than expected for readers to read, then too bad. Just kep writing until your comtorble to stop, reread it to see any useless parts you could take out, if you wanted, and you and your story can feel content.

 

[Ash_Junior]

I had the problem here...

when I posted Operation Celebi somewhere else, someone told me that nobody would sit through 50 pages (12 TNR, MS Word). So I trimmed it down to 20. That stayed through Hell Hath no Fury: An Ice Queen's Saga (which was originally 5 pages/chapter, until I got sick of that and bumped it up to 10 pages/chapter, except for the finale, which was 15).

Then, with Something Completely Different, I started at 5, but people have been saying that it should be longer, so I've been increasing the chapter length by a few pages....

hopefully I should be up to at LEAST my 10 pages/chapter rule, and hopefully a few more!

 

[Bay]

Well, I think length of chapters should not be worried too much. Like Literate said, quality over quanity. Yes, there are those readers who like short or long chapters, but you really can't please everyone. ^^;; Yeah, if you feel like the story will be more suspensful/dramatic if it's short, then do it. If you feel like the chapter would make a little more sense if there is a bit of detail in it, then go for it.

In "Heart of the Sea", the chapters ranged from five to thirty (the thirty paged one is quite long because of a few contest battle scenes I had put). The last two chapters are seventeen pages long (Times New Roman, 12 point font) because those last scenes are the most dramatic and emotional chapters there.

Again Willow, don't worry too much about length. ^^

;134;~Good night, and good luck~

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

A chapter should be long enough to say what needs to be said and no longer.

I agree with this completely. Of course, I also write way short chapters. The latest chapter of Obsession is probably the longest, and that's longer than some of my whole fics. I think the shortest chapters were less than a page long.

 

[katiekitten]

This is single-spaced, 10-point font on MS Word.

Yay. =3 I is not the only person who types in size ten font...

...Although that's because I have Microsoft Works and it does it automatically. XD

I like short chapters, personally. I don't have too much time on the computer, and it's a pain spreading reading over a couple of days... But like Negrek said, a chapter is as long as it needs to be. I may not like it so much, but I will read longer chapters. XD

 

[Psychic]

o.o I keep saying this over and over: all the old topics keep being brought up. History repeating much? *looks around for a Popularity thread to pop up*


Anyways, I remembe saying this in a similar thread once upon a time, but personally, I have a horribly short attention span. I personally, can neither read nor write a chapter if it's very long.
I prefer my chapters to be from 4-8 pages, and I hate reading chapters that are longer than 9. I usually just give up when I see a chapter is too long. I just can't stay focused.

I agree that a chapter should just say what it needs to say, no longer. Personally, I think that if the story was made into a television series, each chapter should be one half-hour long episode. So it should be long/short enough that it can be crammed into half an hour.


~Psychic

 

[Chaotic Pink]

I don't mind reading long chapters, I love long fic's!

I'm starting to write my first fic, I'm finding the 1st chapter is shorter than the rest. I'd say have at least 3 pages long, no more than 15; IMO at least...

 

[CyberCubed]

I had 15-19 page Chapters going for a while, and none of my readers complained about the length.

Nowadays I don't make my chapters less than 12 pages unless there's a good reason for it.

 

[Keleri]

I end the chapter when it feels right to do so. For me, this usually means around 3000-4000 words, although on my current 'fic I've had a couple that were less than 3K and a few over 5 and 6K.

I personally don't mind superlong chapters, as long as they're interesting, but I kind of scorn a bunch of short ones. Reminds me of the Da Vinci Code or something.

It's sort of interesting that I never used to bother with chapters until I started posting my 'fics on the internet--my first, terrible fanfics were just pages and pages with only scene breaks, and the first one I posted was divided into three parts. It makes me wonder what I'd do if I was writing an actual novel.

I can't help but scoff a little at everyone measuring by pages--unless the font/margins are standardized, that's a measure that doesn't really mean anything.

 

[Rani Fernleaf]

I've got Verdana, size ten, single-spaced.

Er. Five-six pages? I don't know, though. I've only got /one/ decent chapter up at the moment, see.

 

[HarleyScarow]

For me, it's 20 - 30 pages a chapter, but mostly because I put these into it:
1. Previously on...
2. Fanfiction opening.
3. Fanfiction ending.
4. Pokemon of the Week
5. Next time on...

It ends up being 25 pages, but that's just me.

 

[Sammi]

Depends...

If it's a 4-5 star fic, and has 20+ page chappies, I'll love to read it.

But... If it's a 3- starer, I wouldn't. I'd... Die.

 

[Rani Fernleaf]

Y'know, star ratings aren't a very good way of deciding whether a fic is good or not.

I've been looking at my stars, for example. Everyone's either rated me a one-star or a five-star, and finally it's settled at a four-star rating.

Okay.

And then there's those fics that get Monostar'd by some idiot that didn't read the fic anyway.

 

[Luckmage]

Hmm. When I was less of an experienced writer, I had to struggle to reach the page limit of three pages for each chapter. xDD -sigh-

The old days.

But since several months ago, I can usually manage around seven to ten pages per chapter. But, eh. -shrug-

I think it depends on the writer himself/herself and his/her writing style, not just the length alone. [/ramble that doesn't really answer the topic to the point]