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Chapter lengths

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  • 27-01-2011 1:11pm
    #1
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,194 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Are there any kind of guidelines as to the expected lengths of chapters? Is it normal practice to keep chapters in a book roughly the same length or is it a waste of time trying to artificially constrain this?

    I've written a chapter which is only 250 words whereas the ones surrounding it are several thousand each. I don't really want to add anything significant to what I have as it does what it's meant to already. It just looks a bit odd having this runt of a chapter on its own :)

    I could maybe merge it with the previous chapter and use asterisks or something to separate them. The two scenes are closely linked but take place in different locations.


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    #2
    EileenG
    Registered Users Posts: 5,775 ✭✭✭EileenG


    It varies, and if you get published, your publisher will probably have views on this.

    The closest thing to a standard chapter length seems to be about 3000 words, but many writers have more or less, and some do variable chapter lengths.

    I wouldn't worry about it.


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    #3
    H. Flashman
    Registered Users Posts: 112 ✭✭H. Flashman


    I don't think there's any upper limit. On top of that they can vary wildly in length without any issue. Now, not that I'm a personification of literary perfection but just as an example, mine usually come in between 3k and 4k but the occasional 6k/7k chapter is not unknown. As for lower limit well I don't know really, but to put it bluntly 250 words is not a viable chapter. You should probably either expand it or merge it with another chapter imo.

    The way it sounds to me is this 250 'runt' chapter follows directly as a result of an action by a character in the previous chapter. If that is the case merging it with that chapter should not be a problem. Just as a quick example say some dude dies in a battle a hundred miles away. There is nothing wrong with switching scene to I dunno - his wife back home who suddenly feels a shiver down her spine or whatever.


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    #4
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,194 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    The second chapter is a quick scene in a village close to the one where the first one takes place. They're related, but there are no characters common to both. I could probably just use asterisks or something; I'm not all that bothered.


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    #5
    H. Flashman
    Registered Users Posts: 112 ✭✭H. Flashman


    yeah i would think a simple 'scene break' (be that asterisks or whatever seperation device you choose) would be sufficient without the need to put it in a new chapter. Otherwise you could end up in a situation where you finish the book and find 3 or 4 of these 'runt' chapters hanging around looking rather poorly.


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