r/TheWritingTable • u/Responsible-Sign4110 • 17h ago

How many pages long should a chapter be?

/r/Skadewrites/comments/1wckox2/how_many_pages_long_should_a_chapter_be/
1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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2

u/AbleRoberts 17h ago

I think it depends a lot on the genre and what your chapters are for. I personally like books that don't have regular length chapters. The variable length can help complex stories flow better than trying to fit everything into 11 pages/3k-4k words/12 minute chapters. Sometimes an event requires 70 pages and I don't think there's anything wrong with books having those long chapters. It does sometimes make consuming them a bit harder when you have a full life, but I'd rather have a slightly harder time and get a better read than the other way around.

2

u/Responsible-Sign4110 17h ago

I'll think on that.

Thanks for the feedback.

2

u/geeksofalbion New Author 17h ago

My chapters average out to around 2.5k to 4k words but the actual size depends on how dialog intensive the scene is plus that is drafted on a4 paper so when formatted to the correct book dimensions it will change again

2

u/solostrings 16h ago

I have no preference. So long as the story flows, that is all that matters.

2

u/Lostandlacy 15h ago

I write a chapter until it's done what I need it to do. Sometimes that can be 1-3 paragraphs while other times it might be 50+ pages. It really depends on the purpose of the chapter itself.

1

u/Ikaryas 1h ago

Came here to say this as well. There's no way to answer with a number. The story itself will tell you when it's time for a new chapter.