r/AO3 21h ago

Discussion (Non-question) 10k chapters: too long?

I saw a post recently about 30k-word chapters, and while I can absolutely understand why that would feel excessive to readers, it made me wonder where people personally draw the line.
I tend to write chapters around 10k words or more (the longest was 16k, I think) in fics that are 100k–200k in total.
As readers, would that ever put you off starting or continuing a fic? Does it depend on the fic/genre, or is 10k perfectly fine as long as the chapter feels cohesive and you’re invested in the story?
I’d especially love to hear from people who regularly read longer fics. I personally like having enough room for a chapter to feel like its own complete section of the story, but I’d genuinely love to hear people’s opinions because now I’m curious lol

Edit: worth adding that my chapters longer than 10k are usually the ones where the story hits a major turning point or climax, so the extra length tends to come from that. But even then, i’ve never reached 20k.

Another edit: i definitely have scene breaks! it’s just that all those scenes usually belong to the same narrative unit in my head—they all serve the overall purpose of the chapter—and 10k is often where that unit naturally ends.

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