Novel Is this okay?

I'm nearly halfway done with my WIP right now, and I did come calculating. If I keep writing over 2K words a chapter, I may end up with a higher word count then I need, and I don't like the thought of cutting things when I'm finished. I have chapters right now that are between 2,100 words and 3K. Would it be okay if I lowered my chapter word count minimum to say - 1,800 words - and maybe I'll go over 2K words just a little? Would readers notice that the chapters are a little shorter? Would they even care?

 

I've never understood why anyone even thinks about chapter word counts at that level of precision--or, really, at all. Sure, if you have a bunch of single-page chapters, it could get weird, but otherwise?

On the other hand, I think that it's fairly unrealistic to assume that things won't be cut, added, massaged, pureed, pieced as patchwork, and otherwise changed when the first draft is done. They might not be, but.

 

I really wouldn't stress over the wordcount. Write what you think needs to be written, however much space it takes up. Trust me, you're gonna be cutting things up afterwards - editing is how we refine. It's better, I think, to have more material than you need than not enough.

That said, no, I don't think that readers would notice or care about slight alterations in chapter wc. It's a matter of content and pacing, not so much numbers.

 

Those seem like some pretty short chapters. I know some books have short chapters, but I find it hard to have something substantial happen in chapters that short. And if you plan on editing, like @ChickenFreak pointed out, you're chapters lengths and chapter word counts will likely change and maybe quite a bit. I don't see how or why you think making your chapters 200 words shorter is going to save the day or stand out too much. It probably won't do either. And if you're only halfway done, I really don't see how you can know these things. I guess you might be a super planner, but, still, you got to give creativity room to breathe.