What do we think about chapters?

[E G Logan]

I have to rethink my chapters urgently. (I'll explain*.)

So I'm seeking consensus. I'm pretty clear about the need for discrete chunks, but:

1. Ideal length? 2. Simple numbering or thematic/literary/witty chapter headings? 3. What works/what doesn't?


*I'm fighting down the urge to make a truly grovelling apology to someone I've just sent the full ms to with the chapters only indicated, not 'properly' differentiated, e.g. with page breaks, etc.
No one has asked for the ms so far (!), and I'd forgotten I hadn't finished doing that. I believe I can retrieve the situation if I can quickly send a finished version, with an 'Oops, should have been this one' message. But for that...

 

[Marc Joan]

It probably depends on genre & audience ... Personally, I like chapter titles, even long and complex ones. I also like quotations with each chapter heading. But then I like prologues too, which apparently puts me in a minority...

 

[Nikky Lee]

I've was once told chapters are ideally ~2000 words long, but I think it is a bit of an archaic convention these days as I often see it ignored (I also ignore it, rightly or wrongly I don't know). I usually write to the end of the scene, or wait for natural pause (or cliffhanger) to end on. Sometimes, if the scenes are short I'll combine them together, but on the flip side, I've had chapters 6000 words long. At the time of writing them, I felt they were on the longer end of my preferred length. I realise that's not much of an answer, so maybe look at other titles comparable to yours and see what lengths they go for?

Witty chapter headings or just numbers -- I've seen it work both ways, I'd go with whatever you're comfortable with.

As for not formatting the chapters, do agents/publishers get hung up on this sort of thing? (Anyone with publishing experience able to help here?) I know I personally wouldn't, I'd be evaluating the quality of the writing, not whether a writer has remembered to page break.

 

[Carol Rose]

Depends on the genre. They each have specific reader expectations for those types of things. I'd suggest finding other books where yours would fit on the bookshelf and looking at their chapter setups for general guidelines. And yes, publishers do get hung up on those types of things but only if the chapters are far outside the expected length, etc. for the genre.

 

[E G Logan]

It probably depends on genre & audience ... Personally, I like chapter titles, even long and complex ones. I also like quotations with each chapter heading. But then I like prologues too, which apparently puts me in a minority...

I've got a Prologue (set another place, another time), because my first 3 chapters don't introduce the hero, only the heroine... It's the only part NOT in the present, and, sadly, it seems to confuse people. On balance, though, I think it works.

 

[E G Logan]

Depends on the genre. They each have specific reader expectations for those types of things. I'd suggest finding other books where yours would fit on the bookshelf and looking at their chapter setups for general guidelines. And yes, publishers do get hung up on those types of things but only if the chapters are far outside the expected length, etc. for the genre.

I tried that -- I just checked two books by Sarah Dunant, and in one her chapters are very much the (short) length of mine, and numbered. In the other they have chapter headings... But thank you for the hint.
The ms is not all just in a gigantic chunk as it stands: it does have 3-line spaces and the word Chapter on a new line. But clearly it's not finished. And I'm having palpitations + raging indecision.

 

[Eva Ulian]

I've had quite a few problems with chapters. Initially I wrote minimum 6,000 for a chapter. Then I read somewhere that readers like short chapters because they feel they are "progressing." So I gave it a think, and shortened them considerably. But when I read chapters should vary, I thought I would do just that- after all variety is the spice of life. However, since then, I've decided upon what @Nmlee says: "I'd go with whatever you're comfortable with."

 

[Amber]

I have an opinion.

In general -- about 2k.

Discrete units which can often stand alone.

It's just an opinion.

 

[Webbwalker]

A chaper is as long as it needs to be, surely?

 

[Carol Rose]

I tried that -- I just checked two books by Sarah Dunant, and in one her chapters are very much the (short) length of mine, and numbered. In the other they have chapter headings... But thank you for the hint.
The ms is not all just in a gigantic chunk as it stands: it does have 3-line spaces and the word Chapter on a new line. But clearly it's not finished. And I'm having palpitations + raging indecision.

Well, I'd check a few more than just two books in the genre. How about ending each chapter where it feels right to end it? You've read lots of books. Surely you have a feel for where chapters end. So maybe instead of focusing on the word count, focus on the scenes in the chapter?

 

[E G Logan]

Well, I'd check a few more than just two books in the genre. How about ending each chapter where it feels right to end it? You've read lots of books. Surely you have a feel for where chapters end. So maybe instead of focusing on the word count, focus on the scenes in the chapter?

Thank you. Yes, I did have a definite 'feel', as you suggest. And I had marked the chapters accordingly, if not in the best way. I was panic-stricken that they were too short, and, if numbered, too many...
With a bit of calm, and a pause, my sense of proportion has returned. (Headless chicken time over.) I'm going for simple numbers + page breaks at chapter-ends, with 3-line spaces for scene-breaks, just working through it steadily.

 

[David Weller]

A chapter is as long as it needs to be, surely?

I agree with Webbwalker on that issue. However trying to reach a particular word count for each chapter does help when it comes to achieving the overall word count for the novel. As for chapter numbers or chapter headings, that's purely a stylistic thing.

Depends on the genre. They each have specific reader expectations for those types of things. I'd suggest finding other books where yours would fit on the bookshelf and looking at their chapter setups for general guidelines. And yes, publishers do get hung up on those types of things but only if the chapters are far outside the expected length, etc. for the genre.

Carol Rose's advice is particularly relevant if you are writing for children.

 

[E G Logan]

Thank you. I agree about the word count -- though roughly, not slavishly.

And I'm sure that if it ever gets to the publication stage, the publisher may well have a house style for chapters. Would I care?? I just don't want to put off any potential agent/publisher/whatever. Or have them think I'm slapdash, ditzy and unprofessional.

 

[Carol Rose]

And I'm sure that if it ever gets to the publication stage, the publisher may well have a house style for chapters.

Yes, they will. And your editor will fix that for you, once you get to that stage.

 

[Tim James]

I'm a bit late to this thread but here are my feelings.
Chapters should be as long as is necessary for the scene or scenes. However, most popular fiction has them at around 12-20 pages or around 25 to 40 minutes of reading.
One reason may be that most readers will pause their reading session at a chapter break, so having very long chapters (or none at all) may annoy the reader as there isn't a convenient place to stop.
Similarly short chapters tend to disrupt the reading flow. I read one very popular book and found that a large number of the chapters were no more than one or two pages long, some were just half a page! The longest chapter was 10 pages. I found it very annoying and tedious, not to mention disjointed and a waste of white-space. 70 odd chapters in a 300 page novel was OTT in my opinion
A comfortable size would be about 20 pages per chapter but make it flexible. Variation is the key. And don't insert a disrupting chapter break just because the scene is a long one, go with it if you need to.
As far as numbering is concerned, simple numbering is by far the best option if you will be submitting to an agent. Don't try to be too clever (greek letters, roman numbers, etc.) There is plenty of time to add those flourishes later if you get an interested agent or publisher. Chapter titles might be interesting if they are relevant and short, but don't try to be too clever.

 

[E G Logan]

Thank you very much. I did, in fact, go for simple numbering, and chapter length variation based on content (as you kindly suggested). I just wanted to look reasonably professional and not put anyone off.

I think the 'Dickens-type' long period headings require chapters a good bit longer than mine to justify them. Also, striving for wit is potentially dangerous in anything other than a comic novel.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I sometimes think that short chapters are written to satisfy what surveys say are decreasing attention spans. They're more common in genre writing of a cookie cutter variety where a best-selling author has found a winning formula. In thrillers where the longest word is Kalashnikov, for the assault rifle, then you know that you're reading dumbed down writing aimed at people who breathe through their mouths while moving their lips as they read!

Nevertheless, I think that short chapters do serve a purpose, apart from giving a sense of achievement to struggling readers. I've noticed a trend in crime novels published recently, to have a short opening chapter—one that might once have been called a prologue, though that term is frowned upon these days by writing gurus. I had a short Chapter 1 in my latest Cornish Detective novel, which introduced a likeable young painter who was thrown to her death from her third floor studio on Page 3. Hopefully, this unpredictable murder hooks the reader in. She makes a ghastly reappearance on Page 3 of Chapter 2, when her corpse is recovered from the seabed encased in a concrete statue.

Even well-respected authors are using short chapters. Last night, I started reading Alafair Burke's latest psychological thriller The Wife which has an untitled prologue of two-and-a-half pages, with three two page chapters in the first dozen; the author appears to be using them for the internal dialogue of her main character.

In my own writing, my chapters average four pages, though the longest was 6,000 words...divided by three chapter breaks, which I love, as they enable me to show what antagonist characters are doing while my detective protagonist is searching for clues to track them down. For me, it's the writing equivalent of a film editing technique called cross-cutting.

 

[Eva Ulian]

I sometimes think that short chapters are written to satisfy what surveys say are decreasing attention spans. They're more common in genre writing of a cookie cutter variety where a best-selling author has found a winning formula. In thrillers where the longest word is Kalashnikov, for the assault rifle, then you know that you're reading dumbed down writing aimed at people who breathe through their mouths while moving their lips as they read!

Nevertheless, I think that short chapters do serve a purpose, apart from giving a sense of achievement to struggling readers. I've noticed a trend in crime novels published recently, to have a short opening chapter—one that might once have been called a prologue, though that term is frowned upon these days by writing gurus. I had a short Chapter 1 in my latest Cornish Detective novel, which introduced a likeable young painter who was thrown to her death from her third floor studio on Page 3. Hopefully, this unpredictable murder hooks the reader in. She makes a ghastly reappearance on Page 3 of Chapter 2, when her corpse is recovered from the seabed encased in a concrete statue.

Even well-respected authors are using short chapters. Last night, I started reading Alafair Burke's latest psychological thriller The Wife which has an untitled prologue of two-and-a-half pages, with three two page chapters in the first dozen; the author appears to be using them for the internal dialogue of her main character.

In my own writing, my chapters average four pages, though the longest was 6,000 words...divided by three chapter breaks, which I love, as they enable me to show what antagonist characters are doing while my detective protagonist is searching for clues to track them down. For me, it's the writing equivalent of a film editing technique called cross-cutting.

Fantastic cartoon Paul... and the description of your opening sounds great and what happens to the corpse even more surprising- I can't understand those who turn down detectives like that.

 

[Tim James]

Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol had over 130 chapters! Some were only half a page long. I felt that was going a little too far, really.