Writing Tip 16: Chapter Length

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A question constantly asked in the clubs is the about chapter length: how long is too long? How short is too short? What do people prefer?

All of this can be answered with one simple phrase: quality over quantity. The better you write your chapters, the more interested the reader will be. If your story is good, will it really matter how long the chapters are? In a published novel, the length of the chapters is hardly something you pay attention to, so why is it such an issue on Wattpad?

Of course, there are positives and negatives to both, which we will go through below.

Writing

Shorter chapters are generally faster to write, which can help if you're busy or on the go. You have have better control over shorter chapters when on a tight schedule - if it's shorter, you can edit a lot faster, and therefore publish a lot faster. Updating can have an impact on your rankings, and therefore by being able to update more, you may rank more and get more visibility.

Longer chapters, however, obviously take longer to write and are longer to edit because of that length. They can be more rewarding in some ways, however. Because there is more written, you can explore more of the plot, and give more substance to the chapter. Having more material also gives more control in the editing process - where a short chapter may only have one scene and therefore have less to cut, a longer chapter has more material for you to look at later and edit to make more cohesive to the story.

Reading

Shorter chapters are quicker to read for obvious reasons, which is useful to readers when on the go. Another advantage is that when reading on a screen, some readers prefer shorter chapters as their eyes can get tired. For readers trying a story out, shorter chapters can also be preferable because they don't want to invest so much time in a story if they end up not enjoying it.

Longer chapters do take more time to read over, but on the app this does not necessarily matter - the app shows where you have left the book if you stop reading, and so if your eyes get tired that shouldn't be a problem. Having longer chapters also means the reader enjoys more of the story: oftentimes readers can feel short changed when they have waited for an update, only for a chapter to be one scene long and not give much information. As readers get into the story, they tend to want more to read of it, which means shorter chapters can be frustrating.

In general, the only reason why the chapter length is an issue on Wattpad is because unlike a published novel, readers are seeing the story take shape during the writing process. Our advice is this: don't worry about the length of your chapters - focus more on making them the best they can be for your readers. If you can say what you need to for that chapter in two thousand words, go ahead. If your style is longer and requires 5K+ words, then that is your choice.

As long as you have clearly put the effort in, readers will continue to eagerly wait for updates, regardless. If a person is judging a story on the chapter length rather than the quality, then it's their loss for missing out on what could be an amazing story.

Remember: it's the quality that matters rather than the quantity!

What others have had to say

sweetpotato-"I personally write around 1000 - 2500 words, but I'd really like to write more. The things is, sometimes, the stuff that are going to happen in the chapter don't require to be long so most probably you'll end up with a not so long chapter. But sometimes there are some stuff that need to be explained and that what makes the chapter longer, in my opinion." 

dreamflier "Chapter length really depends on the author's style. Some prefer a chapter that is one page, while others prefer to span it for multiple pages. It really just depends on the stylistic approach of the chapter. If its going to be one page, it needs to be meaningful and maybe even thought-provoking. Spanning a chapter out means more chances to work on your plot. As a guide, if you want long chapters, most are about 2,500-5,000 words. However, long chapters can get boring if you're just doing mundane things. Make each chapter meaningful, and make sure that it advances the plot, whether you take one page or ten." 

KatherineArlene "Back when I first started on Wattpad, I read an interview book of Wattpad authors, and most of them said they preferred 3,000 - 3,500 word chapters. I hadn't read a whole lot on Wattpad at that time, so I didn't realize a lot of authors posted much shorter chapters, but ever since then, that's the number I've always aimed for. The few times I've posted a chapter under 3K words, my readers have complained that it was too short. I will also add that I'm careful not to write fluff just to expand the word count. Everything in my chapters serves a purpose by furthering the plot or characters."

Levi_Love_Life "To be completely honest I tend to stick to only writing fan fiction, and I've come to notice when a chapter is extremely long I just skip from paragraph to paragraph. When it's shorter I like to take my time reading it knowing I most likely will regret reading it too fast, same goes with some of my other readers. So I write 1000-1500 words and I update well I try to update once a week. I guess I'm terrible for making them so short XD I just barely have the time to update these days..." 

Ammelia11 "I personally prefer longer chapters - nothing frustrates me more than when I wait for an update, only to get chapters that are one scene long. Personally I prefer there to be more to a chapter so that I can have a better grasp of the story.

In general, the length doesn't matter, though, because that's not the final product. You can worry about all that in the editing stage, and writing a good story matters far more than having a good ranking."

We hope that helped you with general information on chapter length, and to realise that in general, the length of your chapters doesn't matter! What's your advice on how long your chapters should be?

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