Elliot Kessler

It is tough to figure out what the preferred chapter length for your book should be. Some audiences like longer chapters, while others prefer to finish a chapter in five to ten minutes. There are a lot of different readers and, therefore, a lot of different answers to this challenging question. How do you determine the length of your chapters for each story?

I don’t have a definite answer as I’ve only written a couple of books (although I don’t think anyone does), but I do have some ideas that may help you when writing a book. I think it mostly depends on the length of your book, the genre, and your writing style. I’ve read some thrillers that have long, long chapters. But James Patterson writes chapters that often fit on a single page. I’ve read a lot of space operas with lengthy chapters, but Douglas Adams prefers to be short, quick, and to the point, which also helps with the comedy of his books.

It’s all really about timing. How long do you think you can hold your readers? How long do you need to hold your readers? When should the scene end? How many scenes do you need in your chapter? What defines the beginning and end of a chapter?

That last question can be difficult. How do you find the beginning and end of a chapter? I suppose one could look at each chapter as a smaller story that is part of a larger narrative. This is similar to how Timothy Zahn approached his chapters in the original Thrawn trilogy of Star Wars books. In each of the chapters, the characters either solved a problem and took another step forward to succeed, or they found themselves in deeper trouble with more problems to solve than before. Either way, the plot moves, and that’s the most crucial part.

If there is a chapter where the plot is not moving, it doesn’t matter how long or short it is. Cut it. It doesn’t need to be there. Most people nowadays have shorter attention spans. What’s the cause of these shorter attention spans? I don’t know, and that isn’t my point. My point is that because people are harder to hold onto for longer periods if a story sits still for an entire chapter where nothing happens, it’s boring, and you’ll lose your readers. If you aren’t introducing new characters, if your characters don’t have a problem they need to solve, and if your characters aren’t working toward a specific and personal goal, then you don’t need that chapter. Stories need movement. If it isn’t moving, it probably won’t work.

But that isn’t about chapter lengths. That’s about whether or not you should keep specific chapters at all. So, let’s get back to the question. How long should your chapters be?

I wrote a book where every chapter was anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 words. I think it worked pretty well, but it was my first book, and there are some slower chapters in there. But I think this is a pretty good goal to shoot for when writing a big sci-fi or fantasy novel. However, my go-to chapter length is between 2,000 and 3,000 words. These chapters are shorter, but that helps to hold the readers close while you take them through the story.

These shorter chapters can be tricky. I have written a lot of chapters that stop shorter than they should have. This isn’t specifically because of chapter length. It’s mostly trying to get a feel for the story and get the timing right. If you have a slower segment in your story, write it long and give it room to breathe. In fact, give every scene room to breathe unless it’s an action scene. If you’re writing action, you want the reader on the edge of their seats. You want their eyes glued to the page. You don’t want the characters to stop in the middle of a life-or-death situation to talk about their feelings. The only gripe I have with the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie is the scene where Barbosa marries Will and Elizabeth in the middle of the climactic battle in the third act. As fun and goofy as the scene was, it slowed everything way down and had me wishing we could get the scene over with and get back to pirates whacking each other with swords.

So, is there a specific answer for how long a chapter should be? Do I have word counts for you based on genre and book-length? No. That would require math which I am not very good at, and it wouldn’t be necessary. If your chapter has a point, make that point explicitly clear and take as much time as you need. If you have a scene you need to put in this chapter, make sure you put that scene in and don’t cut it short. Let the scene play out to the very end. If it ends on a cliffhanger, great. Writing cliffhangers is fun. But don’t cut the scene in half. That is a big no-no because while it leaves the readers wanting more, it also leaves them unsatisfied, which makes them not want to keep reading your book.

So, to answer your question, write short what needs to be written short, and stretch out what needs to be stretched out. If you feel one chapter should be longer or shorter than your other chapters, go for it. Again, it’s all about timing, and the more you write and read, the better sense of that timing you’ll get.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.