Chapter Length

Where stuff about fanfiction that doesn't fit into any other category goes. Try to make sure that new topics here actually couldn't actually go somewhere else.

Postby Gaming Ikari » Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:37 pm

Length is a terribly subjective topic, and can depend largely on the style in which an author chooses to write and the feeling they're going for. In regards to word count (which I find more accurate than file sizes, for a variety of reasons mentioned above), some of my stories have chapters averaging at 5k per, while others float between 2k to 3k words.

What determines chapter length for me is a question I ask myself at the end of every scene I've written thus far: What's happened in this chapter to advance the plot? If I answer to myself with "This, and this, and this," I consider that the cut-off point. Long chapters annoy me as an author because it means I've got to do a lot more work if I decide, mid-writing, that I want to go back and verify a particular plot-point. Besides, I've noticed that beyond roughly 4k words or so, my writing slows down significantly. Just a weird mental block, I guess.

As a reader, I don't necessarily care about length, I care about plot. I've been annoyed by 15k words of absolutely nothing happening and pleased by 2.5k words of plot advancement.
Gaming Ikari
User avatar
Senshi Cadet
Posts: 94
 

Postby Battlekrome » Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:40 pm

overall plot / pacing should determinehow long a chapter goes

so from a word count, 2k-10k is a good range with longer being good if you can pump it out fast enough but not if you take 6 months to put a chapter out
Through the sands of time I walk. Beyond time and space i call to those who awaken to the darkness and realize they are the light.
Battlekrome
User avatar
Chibi Sailor Senshi
Posts: 202
 

Postby Tenebrae » Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:33 am

I'm not too good at writing, and often have trouble with writers block. I won't settle for less than 1k, and prefer to get above 1.5k, but it's rare I get much above 2 or 3. My longest is about 5k, but that was after a major re-write just before I posted it, suggested by my beta.
Warning: the above post is the result of brainpan leakage. Do not take seriously or ingest.
Tenebrae
Senshi Candidate
Posts: 36
 

Previous

Return to Miscellaneous

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users

cron