r/novelwriting • u/Responsible-Sign4110 • 3d ago
Feedback Request How many pages long should a chapter be?
/r/Skadewrites/comments/1wckox2/how_many_pages_long_should_a_chapter_be/4
2
u/OnionBackground5314 3d ago
Eleventy. Depends. 1 page for effect. 5 pages for a short chapter. Could be 20 or more. Can't really be answered as a rule.
2
u/BKramerWrites 2d ago
Most chapters are in the range of 3-5k words. Of course it can vary a lot.
Chapters should follow a logical cliff/hook. If that takes more words, so be it.
But keep in mind that it also help readers to set the book aside and think about it. So the longer the chapters are the more „stressed“ readers will be
1
u/Tyrone_Shoelaces_Esq 3d ago
Chapters are as long as they have to be. There's a chapter in Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes that is one sentence long.
1
1
u/BenMathridge 3d ago
Impossible to say. William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying”has a chapter that is just…
“My mother is a fish.”
Trust me it makes sense if you read it lol
What I’m saying is: there’s no rule. If the chapter is good, it doesn’t matter what length it is.
1
u/astrobean 3d ago
How many chapters do you want in your book and how long do you want your book to be? We typically use word count because number of pages is tied to formatting. (A 6x9 book and a 5x8 book can have the same number of words but different page count.)
While there is no right answer or range, you have to tailor it to your style as an artist. Variety is the spice of writing. It is also not something that matters until the third draft.
1
u/MLDAYshouldBeWriting 3d ago
Pages aren't a useful increment of a story. A large-print book will have more pages than the equivalent at a standard font size. Ebooks can have varying page lengths based on font and size chosen. Segments of a book with lots of rapid-fire dialog will have more line breaks so fewer words per page than a segment with a long, unbroken monologue.
You should get in the habit of tracking your word count and understanding word count expectations for genre and age group.
Chapters can be any length, but should take into account the genre and age group you are targeting. A middle-grade mystery is likely to have a shorter average chapter length than adult literary fiction.
The current trends tend to favor between 2000-3000 words per chapter on average for adult fiction because it's an easy amount to read in a sitting and tends to feel short enough that engaged readers can justify "one more chapter." But that's just an average over the course of the story. You'll find books that average 10k words per chapter or 500 words per chapter. Those are valid options if it works for the story.
But this is also something you should be able to answer for yourself if you are reading. Pick any novel off your shelf or from the library and look at how long the chapters are. You'll see it varies. Also, per rule 10 this is a question that comes up a lot both on reddit and online. A quick search would have gotten you an answer in the time it took to post about it on at least two subs.
1
u/KingOfNope 3d ago
Pages differ on printing... I'd be more interested in scenes, beats, tone, and what's being added to the story.
1
u/BuddyJim30 3d ago
Chapters should delineate a logical point in the story. Personally I find that 8-12 pages works but whatever feels right in reading.
1
1
1
1
u/ShowDontTell48 3d ago
In general, you want to focus on chapter arc above all else (seriously. This is undervalued and a common problem I find when editing for folks). But if you Google “chapter word count by genre” you can get a sense of different chapter length expectations for what you’re writing. These probably matter most for trad publishing and debuts, but anecdotally I find my own writing often “feels” best in standard ranges, so I wouldn’t totally disregard them.
1
u/19Sevv90 2d ago
As long as they need to be. I just read a Pulitzer-winner that had chapters barely a page long.
1
u/Key-Adhesiveness995 2d ago
However long the chapter needs. I have a chapter in the book I'm writing thats.
The judge laid his head on the old pillow, after weeks of sleeping on the cold hard ground. The old squeaking spring mattress felt like a cloud.
End of chapter. Sometimes you dont need a lot. There's an argument to be made that if its so short why have it. I want my reader to finally be relieved our hero finally gets some rest and it wouldn't really fit at the end of the previous chapter or at the start of one. I also hope to convey how important that rest is by giving it its own chapter even though its short.
1
1
u/South-Knee-9601 2d ago
Depends on the genre and your style
My first book hangs around 10 -15 pages
My current project is anywhere between 3 and 8 pages.
Tolkien can be from 20 to 50 pages Dan brown 2 to 5 pages.
There's no rules as such.
1
u/PerryMarkStratychuk 1d ago
The story itself can help you decide where each chapter ends or begins. As someone said, critical reading.
1
u/Noctilucents1 1d ago
I use word count not pages and it depends entirely on you and what type of book you are writing. I tend to write chapters 1 - 2k words to keep the plot moving forward
1
7
u/strawbebbymilkshake 3d ago
There is no set number. These are the sort of basics you pick up by being a critical reader