Most Common Writing Errors (ONGOING)

How Long Should A Chapter Be?

Read the disclaimer if you haven't already.

This chapter talks about chapter lengths and how long they should be.

On Quotev, one of the most-asked questions I received was "How long should a chapter be?"

Answering this question is tricky since every writer has a different perspective on it. So, let me try to give you different perspectives before I get into my own.

Just a small note that most writers go by word count, not page count. Page count doesn't really mean much to me since every writing platform counts pages differently. Some count one page as 300 words, others count one page as 500, etc. That's why, for this chapter, I will be saying chapter lengths based on word count.

Let's get into it.

From a technical standpoint, Wattpad likes to push stories with chapters that are 1k - 2.5k words. That means the chapters can be, on average, anywhere in that range and Wattpad will push it. Not always, but Wattpad tends to like those kinds of books.

It's not worth panicking over if you're under or over that word count, but, in general, Wattpad likes to push those stories. Stories under or over that count can still succeed, they're just less likely to be favored by Wattpad.

An audience's attention span can be short. Don't lie, you know it's true, just look at TikTokers adding all those Subway Surfers videos so you don't get bored while listening to a one-minute Reddit story. That's why Wattpad pushes those types of stories (in my opinion, I'm not Wattpad so I can't really tell you exactly why, but that seems to be the most likely reason).

Those chapters are short to medium in length. I'll translate to page count and, going based on 300 words per page, that puts the chapter length range at about 3.2 - 8.5 pages.

FYI, I consider a short chapter anything under 5 pages, a medium chapter anything from 5-10 pages, and a long chapter anything longer than 10 pages.

That's Wattpad's perspective on an ideal chapter.

Writers have different perspectives. Some writers believe any chapter under 1k words isn't a chapter. Some writers believe any chapter over 5k words is way too long and shouldn't be a chapter. Some writers don't care and think it's about quality and content.

I think you can probably guess which belief I align myself with, especially if you've read my stories like Psycho, Adrift, and Starfield.

In case you haven't read any of those stories, let me give you the average chapter word count from each:

Psycho: 800-950

Adrift: 4.5k-5.5k

Starfield: 6k+

To me, it's not about how long or short a chapter is. It's about what's in the chapter. If you have a chapter that's 2k words but most of it is filler, it's not going to feel like a fulfilling chapter. I'd rather an 800 word chapter of content than a 2k word chapter of filler.

If you can write an entire story in under a thousand words, I don't see a problem with writing a chapter under that. When I took my creative writing classes, the challenge was always to write a coherent story with the least amount of words as possible. So if we were challenged to write entire stories with a limited word count, what's stopping you from writing a story chapter that's short?

I'm not trying to encourage you to write chapters that are under 1k words, but it is something to consider. In general, I believe how many words your chapters should be depends on the story you're telling. For example, many fantasies and sci fis tend to have longer chapters (I mean... look at Adrift and Starfield-). Meanwhile, many romcoms have 800-2k word chapters.

So genre is a factor, but it's mostly content and how much you're doing with your story. Adrift was a massive space epic with three full parts (it's like a trilogy where each part is its own "book") that have different plots. There's a lot of sci fi crap going on. Starfield is even worse because it has a lot more conceptual sci fi going on with even whackier ideas and settings.

More description and worldbuilding is needed, so the chapters tend to be longer.

However, my chapters being long for those stories isn't inherently a bad thing. As long as I'm using that time wisely, it's fine and not an issue. Many readers may not want to read long chapters, and that's fine, but that just means they aren't in my target audience.

The same applies for the other side. Some readers prefer much shorter chapters and will flock to 800-2k word chapters. Others may hate that length and prefer longer chapters. Some don't care and will read any chapter length. Don't let readers' personal preferences sway you. Write what you think works for the book.

This is a long way to say chapter length isn't determined by a list you can check off. Instead, it depends on your story, your genre, and what content you have in the chapter.

You can create a coherent and great chapter with only 800 words. At the same time, you might need 2k-5k or even more words to create a chapter you're satisfied with.

Okay, that was a lot. Let's summarize.

- Wattpad pushes 1k - 2.5k words per chapter.

- Some authors believe anything less than 1k is too little.

- Some authors believe anything more than 5k is too much.

- Most authors believe word count per chapter doesn't matter, it's the quality and content in the chapter that matters.

- Chapter length can vary depending on the genre you're writing in.

- Your chapter length is based on the story you're telling and there's no one right way to go about determining chapter length. It varies from author to author.

So, long story short, many beginner writers are scared to write too many or too little words. Don't be! Write what you think your chapter needs. 

If you're reading your work and think scenes shouldn't be there, cut them and tighten the chapter. On the opposite end, if you're reading your work and think you need more, add more. Don't be scared to modify your chapter to better fit what the story needs.

Chapter Endings

Chapter endings are a little complicated because, again, there is no list you can check off to determine if your endings are good or not.

So, here are some general tips to help strengthen your endings. Keep in mind not all of these will work for you. Maybe none of them will. These are just general tips that may fit your story, but they may not depending on the story you're writing.

1) End on a cliffhanger

2) End with a character making a big realization

3) End with a conversation coming to a comfortable and satisfying close

4) End with a new plot point being discovered

5) Similarly, end with a plot point being concluded

6) End with a new character being introduced

Those are just a few ideas, but I hope they help you with ending your chapters!

The key to ending chapters is making sure you wrap up the conflict in that chapter. Even though every book has a core conflict/plot, chapters have conflicts and plots too. Even if the plot is just two characters talking, make sure you properly wrap that up, otherwise you risk the chapter ending abruptly.

End

I have a bunch of topics to cover, so be on the look out for them!

Also, I just saw Dune Part 2 and it absolutely blew me away. I loved every second of it. This is coming from someone who only read 75 pages of the book before dropping it and was lukewarm about the first part. I adored Dune Part 2, and I hope it makes a crap ton of money so we can get part 3.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know if you have any questions or have a specific topic you want me to cover.