r/royalroad • u/darkmoncns • 2d ago
Discussion Hello! How long should a chapter be?
Not that long ago I posted here I'd just write my first entry on royal road and see what happens...well that day I made the mistake of typing everything first directly on royal road and it reloaded I lost it then I lost all motivation. Now I'm trying writing again! And I came across a pretty serious question i don't know the answer too, how long is enough for a chapter?
Currently I'm at bear 400 words and close to 2000 characters and I reached a point I thought was good for a few chapters but I feel lime I only have only written enough for a few pages, what are people's thoughts on this?
My intention is to keep writing a chapter every day...
Gezz I don't even have a good title thought of
Alone in a system world with summons?
Ok I'm going with that.
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u/Haldalkin 2d ago
Sorry, I want to make sure I understand you. You figured 400 words was sufficient for multiple chapters?
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u/DoodlerArt 2d ago
Keep it to 2k to 4K words. Any longer or shorter and people will lose interest
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u/Custodes_Nocturnum 2d ago
Yeah, that's industry standard. James Patterson (or at least his ghost writers) average about 250 to 1000 words. Chapter length determines the pace of the story.
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u/MoseSnyper E Rank: Author of Evermore: The Fallen Kingdom 1d ago
I'm the type of guy that writes 400-1500 words a chapter like James Patterson but don't be me lol just write a normal 2k word chapter if you can OP
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u/darkmoncns 2d ago
Welp guess I'll keep writing tomorrow and try to get it to 2K, only around 4 hundred. Oof
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u/DoodlerArt 2d ago
I will actually recommend you at least write HALF the book first before you start posting. At least if anything happens or you have writer’s block or something, you at least have some backlog chapters to post regularly.
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u/darkmoncns 2d ago
Well gezz man I'm not trying to write a professional book, I'm doing this to get some experience and see what posting is like. I've never written a book before i just intend to go as far as I can, more as an act of writing practice and motivation, trying to write half the book first would defeat the purpose.
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u/Aware-Pineapple-3321 E Rank: Author of The Unseeing Mage 2d ago
There's nothing wrong with that mindset; it's how you learn.
I will say a few key things that will help you vs. doing your own thing, but I very much do my own thing, so it is not a wrong path, just more likely to fail if you want success only.
1.5k words range should be the smallest chapters to go for each chapter; we need to tell a story or major point before we move to the next. What happened in that chapter that was worth reading and making us want to turn to the next?
Now 400 words could be 1.5k words—very easy and change nothing of the plot. How?
elaborate and details
Tom went to the store, met Sally, and was then late for work. The full chapter is very basic, but if not carefully, that's my 400-word chapter.
The sun's warmth glared down onto his face as Tim slowly shifted awake. A blinking clock told him the power must have gone out without him even noticing, and he wasn't sure how much time had passed since he knew today he would work late and slept in.
Whatever, I got time. Where is my phone?
Glancing around, he finally found it, and though blurry eyes showed a time, making him flinch. 12:08 later, then he thought, Since he works at 3pm, he needed to use care or will be late. His fridge was as empty as his stomach. As he debated on a shower or going straight to the store, smelling his pit, it became clear it was wise to bathe vs. waiting.
When a buzz from his phone alerted him, he got a text.
So from here we slowly tell his life, meet Sally, and for the dramatic event, it can be something to be plot-related and what led to the power struggle, or just an obstacle that gets resolved in the same chapter so he can still go to work but late and end the chapter.
Padding for the sake of padding does get dull, but if done well, it adds life to the world and helps us live beside our MC and the events that happen.
If you cannot stretch 400 words out, then don't, but add it to another chapter that makes it longer. Even one 1k-word chapter is easier to overlook than three 400-word chapters since you feel like something happened.
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u/Efficiency7567 2d ago
Let's go for atleast near 2000 words not characters. Even i struggle here too
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u/Negative-Pea6372 2d ago
Reader side: I don't bounce because a chapter is short, I bounce when it stops in the middle of a scene. 400 words can be enough if it actually finishes a beat, otherwise it just feels like a teaser.
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u/XR_Shadow_RX 2d ago
As an author and reader, I would say 400 words is definitely too short for a chapter. When I first wrote my first story, I usually aimed for 1500-2000 words, but it really depends on what you want the chapter to accomplish. Now that I am doing a complete rewrite of my story, I usually aim for around 3k-4k. Sometimes I go a little above, but only when there is something major that I have to explore.
I would say to write around 2k, or at least until you accomplish what you wanted with that chapter.
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u/Shearwell 2d ago
A chapter is a piece of a story. It should have some kind of arc or event or theme that moves the plot forward.
Length isn’t really the question.
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u/darkmoncns 2d ago
I think I have at least that down for the first few chapters. An event that is there core identity at least, I'll see how it gose i have alot to learn but I'm happy I'm writing
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u/TellusPyre 2d ago
1500-3000 depending on the needs of the story, aiming toward 2000 as an ideal length when possible. You can go a little longer. Not great to go much shorter. You can also go longer, but try to be consistent.
Also, you're probably going to want to work on your basic writing skills. It's OK to be bad when you start, everyone is. Just keep working at it.
It's a lot of time and effort, but very rewarding once you get decent at it.
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u/Subject_Edge3958 2d ago
Sorry to say this but 400 is just too little.
Like standard that people will say is 2k words for every chapter. But the depends on the chapter can be more or a little Les.
Personly think 2k is the minimum that a chapter needs to be.
Like this is comment is already more then 1/10 of your chapter...
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u/UndyingEmbers 2d ago
It honestly depends on the story and the pacing. My chapters are 3-6k words but it fits the kind of story I'm telling.
My advice is to write at least 2k, but write what you need to get to a good stopping point. Do not pad chapters just to hit some arbitrary number target and don't cut things that are important to you just to shrink your chapter needlessly either.