Have you researched the length of chapters in successful contemporary novels?
In the best-selling novels I have studied, it appears there is a standard length of between twelve and fifteen pages. There are exceptions, but not many exceed that length. If this is the publishing industry standard then we should take note.
However, the best-selling, award-winning author, Sharon Creech, of Walk Two Moons, The Wanderer, and Bloomability fame, has chapters that are a quarter, a half or three quarters of a page. And one of her chapters is only one sentence.
It is rare for chapters to be longer than fifteen pages. Those that are twenty plus pages, are usually split by two landmarks.
I believe a chapter should only be as long as what you have to say, and no longer, but fifteen pages or less seems reasonable.
Completely agree, and I have found the 'how many pages in this chapter' has cropped up when my wife has been reading through my first draft – we have a very young son, and so for her to find the time to read through a chapter or two takes some real planning.
I probably don't read as much as I would like to, It is restricted to tube journeys, as if I am not at work, I am at home and home life takes priority over reading. Then there is my writing time, and often that is done on the tube and so reading becomes even more limited.
Weekends tend to be a little freer, I can spend an hour or two doing some writing/reading, and as I can help her with baby and the house work she can find time to read my book, as well as the other things she likes to do.
So with all that in mind, I suppose deep down in the back of my mind I know that others will share a similar experience when at home/work. So I know I have to keep the chapters manageable so that they can be read and enjoyed if someone only has half an hour put aside to read.
Maybe our subconscious influences how much we write per chapter/segment?
The length of chapters has to do with modern lifestyles. Finding time to read is a luxury for some people. Depending on how much time I have left to read, I flick forward to see how many pages are left in a chapter, and the next one or two.
Hi Adrian,
I think I would agree with you that a chapter should only be as long as what you have to say.
I haven't really looked at how long each of my chapters are in regards to how they would appear in a printed book, but when printed double spaced on A4, they are between 8 and 15 pages.
In some cases, they are shorter though.