Novel When is a chapter too long?

Hey, it's been a while since I've been active, pesky life has been tugging me away. Anyhow on to my question.

I've had to switch from scrivener to livingwriter due to a forced phone swap. I could have kept the old phone nearby but I did that once and it drove me batter so I found an android (all of them really) that suffices for now. While working with it a little box popped up recommending an under 10k chapter.

This got me thinking. I'm not against chopping a chapter up that needs it. Some of the best chapters are both long and short. I've had a page turner unfold in the space of 50ish pages. On the flip side I've read books where the chapters dragged on and on to where I hit the delete button. (Ebook reader here, I love carrying a mountain of books in my pocket.) However should a chapter be limited by how many words are in it? If so what is your opinion? If not then please explain why. I want to read your feedback.

 

Unless you're writing for a genre or place that forces you to have low word chapters (for example, middle grade/children's book expects shorts chapters and/or some websites force chapters to be below a certain word count), I would say there should never be a word count limit on chapters, mostly because I think each story is too unique to ever pin down a solid word limit number. The limit is the writer's intuition for how far a chapter should go that doesn't mess with the overall story's pacing.

 

When it gets boring.

 

I know for my part, I've put books down because the chapters were too long. Combining being a slow reader and only liking to break when I reach the end of a chapter, ends up making long chapter sizes feel intimidating.

The occasional long chapter is probably not going to ruin the book for me, but if they're consistently massive, it comes across like the author forgot about would-be readers while writing.

I know one of the goals while writing is to make a page-turner, but readers have their own lives too. Not everyone has the time or stamina to read an entire book in one sitting, and chapter breaks give convenient stopping points. When a chapter is too long, it's no longer convenient.

Now how long is too long is a complicated question. Given my own reading habits that 1ok words limit is as good an indicator as any for when a chapter has become long enough that deliberation is in order going forward.

 

I like long chapters. I tend to think chapters should be between 5k and 10k words, but I don't take that as a hard and fast rule.

 

I don't really worry about chapters until I have a good idea of all the scenes I need, as each chapter may include one or more scenes.

Each scene needs to change the story in some way, whether or not the characters achieve their immediate goals within that scene.

The common advice for scenes is to enter late and leave early. In other words, start as close to the "action" as possible and end the scene as soon as it accomplishes what you need it to accomplish. By "action", I mean just the important bits of the scene. If the important part is a dinner conversation between two characters, don't waste the reader's time by showing the POV character getting ready for the dinner and traveling to the restaurant. Get us to that conversation ASAP, and once the conversation has fulfilled its purpose, end the scene. The next scene will be soon enough for the character to think about the ramifications of that conversation.

 

Same. I read at the same rate as I think, or talk. And I only want to put the bookmark back in after I've finished a chapter. It's not a deal-breaker for me, though. If I have to stop reading before a chapter is over, so be it. It grinds my gears a bit, and makes me less likely to pick up the book again quickly, but it's not completely intolerable.

Two books with bafflingly long chapters come immediately to mind - the one I am reading right now, Hyperion, has a first chapter that is 102 pages long. What the hell? I put the bookmark in at page 83 during my first reading session with it a couple weeks ago and haven't gone back yet. I'll probably pick it up again today or tomorrow though, because it's hooked me in. The second book is Master and Commander. I'm reading that series on eBook, and the estimated reading time for every chapter is over an hour. I wish I could ask the authors about their intentions. I don't get it. Maybe as another has mentioned, they're (or their editors) simply not thinking about it from their readers' perspectives.

I haven't come across too many examples where I feel the chapters are too short. Not to the point that it's bothered me. Overly long chapters is what I'd focus on avoiding.

 

One bit of advice I have received is chapters should be potato chip length, about 2k. Which taps into the just one more chip mind set. Especially that late night reading, just one more chapter, then bed.

 

Thank you for your replies. I agree I hate leaving in the middle of a chapter. However as a writer I worry about boring the reader or writing too long I try to keep chapters around 8k myself. But one of my chapters wound up being 10k so I was thinking about chopping it up. Im still writing it so I'm not fussed but I just wanted to see what you guys thought. Thank you

 

With a chapter that long, personally I would look at adding scene breaks. My current project has a first chapter that is about 5k. It also has 5 different scenes, each introducing a different character. Keep in mind this is in the fantasy genre, and is a heroes journey tale. So each of those introductions is showing the characters ordinary world.

 

My mind boggled, on reading Salem's Lot, to discover Mister King has divided up his lengthy chapters into numbered sub-sections. Often as many as 9 sections to a single chapter. One section was only 5 sentences long, but that was the exception by a long shot. Most are a few pages.

 

I do use a ~*~ as a scene break when the scene isn't related to the next one It is fancier than three *s and I find it appealing. But I tend to keep chapters on the shorter side. I'll break up the monster chapter when I finish it. I had a great idea and decided to run with it.

 

I picked up somewhere that chapters are generally supposed to be in the 3k area, and I try to stick to that with a 500 word margin in either direction. I've also picked up somewhere that wildly varying chapter lengths are a clear sign that you're dealing with an amateur.
I don't wanna look like an amateur, so when a chapter clocks in at 2k, I try to stretch it up.
Which makes me look like an amateur.

I'm thinking having chapters as natural stopping points for the reader is smart, like you said.
Based on how I'll watch a whole season of 30 minute episodes in one sitting, yet only one movie, that suggests chapters should be short.

 

"When is a chapter too long?"

When my eyes glaze over or my mind starts to shut down. Ok nevermind, that's just when it's getting too late and I need to stop reading.

 

I don't think it needs a hard limit. It's interesting that some people like to read until a chapter is done. Personally I read until my eyelids close, then pick up again wherever that was, chapter be damned. I'm also not a fan of lots of particularly short chapters, but maybe it works better in some genres than others. My ideal length ends up being somewhere between 5 and 10k.

Ultimately the answer is within your own post there. Some chapters should be long and others short. It's pacing control, another artistic input you're responsible for as a creator.

 

Most people I have talked to, want a clear break point when they stop reading, just to make it easier to find their place when they resume. Chapters, and scene breaks fit that desire. So as a writer, why not take advantage of that?