I am writing a childrens/young adult novel somewhat along the lines of Harry Potter but not really. I have never written a novel before so I don't know how long a chapter should be or how to determine if something would begin a new chapter. I have mostly written poetry and sports articles so this is a new venture and I could use all the advice I could get. Suggestions? I currently have just over 4,000 words and although it is paragraphed that s about it. Thanks!
Chapters vary depending entirely on the author. James Patterson, for example, uses chapters which are as short as a page. Tom Clancy has chapters which last forty or fifty pages. There are no set guidelines for chapters, but for children's books it might be wise to keep them short. You want to keep their attention (which may be a little short at that age) so long chapters aren't going to help in that respect.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. A chapter (or novel, or sentence, or paragraph, or story) should be like a miniskirt: long enough to cover the essentials and short enough to maintain interest.
