Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

66%
+2 −0
Q&A Sizing of a chapter and how many should I use?

Chapter length is a stylist choice There is no correct answer to this. The length of the chapters in any given book is entirely dependant on writing style. How you use them can effect the tone of ...

posted 5y ago by linksassin‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:53:24Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42781
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:54:04Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42781
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T08:54:04Z (over 4 years ago)
# Chapter length is a stylist choice

There is no correct answer to this. The length of the chapters in any given book is entirely dependant on writing style. How you use them can effect the tone of your writing as well as the readability. However what is 'best' is entirely up to you.

Chapter length can be used to control the pacing of your work. A longer chapter gives a slowly pace while short chapters drive the plot more quickly. Some authors change the length of their chapters throughout the novel to control the pacing of the story.

This article [How long should a chapter be?](https://blog.reedsy.com/how-long-should-a-chapter-be/) analyses the average chapter length of popular works and find the most common length is between 3000 and 5000 words, but _Holes_ averages just 942 words per chapter and _One Hundred Years of Solitude_ averages 7226 words.

Ultimately word count shouldn't be the driving force behind chapter length. Instead let the feel and pacing of the story determine where and how your chapter end.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-01T00:04:26Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 0