Mar
18th
2015
Your Thoughts on Chapter Length, Please! · 11:16pm Mar 18th, 2015
Good news! Despite a flood of real-life intrusions and other obligations, it appears that I'm on track (pending editor and pre-reader approval, of course) to release the next update to Sunset Shimmer: Element Bearer this weekend. 
Before a certain someone or two asks, I'll set up the dropbox link tonight after the Empress of Editors (yes, I went there, my friend) takes an initial look. 
But, I have a question for you, because the draft exceeds 11,000 words. Is this too long for a single chapter, or should I split it into two chapters?
Thanks in advance for your advice, though I can't promise I'll take it! 
Have a wonderful night!
The longer the better I would say, but that is just me! :)
I'm of the opinion that chapter lengths should be consistent more than that they should be a particular length. After Chapter 9, the chapters are all longer than seven thousand words, longer than an eleven thousand-word chapter would be if it were cut in half. And Chapter 16 approaches eleven thousand words.
That being said, more important than consistency is how chapter breaks serve the story. If one can be inserted without mussing up the pacing somehow, or if inserting a chapter break helps in some way other than just cutting individual chapter lengths, by all means go for it.
I don't know what would be best for the story, but I'd just put off reading it 'cause that amount of words intimidates me.
I don't really care about length. So long as the words are there, written well, and entertaining, I'm down for however many of them there are.
Long chapters are good for long car rides!
I'd go ahead and post it as one big thing.
Chapters should be as long as they need to be and no longer.
Arbitrary values like wordcount are irrelevant. It's the content that matters. Break when it makes sense to break.
2890360 and 2889954, thank you very much for your continued interest in the story and for the incredible advice you both continue to give me. I'm flattered any time you choose to stop by and check out a chapter or blog post. Your recommendations, as always, are outstanding. I appreciate the caution about focusing too much on word count, especially as my chapters have grown over time.
And along with that, thank you for the analysis and reminder, 2889932 . There's one spot where a break might be perceived as a minor cliffhanger (or the break between two season premiere episodes
), but I'm not so sure it'll work.
2890046, 2890014 and 2889927, I'll restate the obvious - you favor a large update! I'm sorry, 2889946, unless I reread things in editing or get advice that strongly recommends a split, it looks like this will be a long chapter, Thanks for sharing your thoughts, everyone!
I'm of many minds when it comes to chapter length. I prefer longer chapters, but then I prefer longer stories. However, I think that the most important thing to decide whether a chapter should be should be split or not should be whether it fits the story to do so.
I think it makes a story look more organized if most of the chapters are roughly the same length barring a prologue or epilogue. This also somewhat avoids the feeling of a reader's disappointment when a noticeably short chapter is released. However, each chapter needs to be able to entertain your audience on its own. In this medium, this encapsulation is probably the more important aspect.
Remember that you're not writing a book no matter what the end result may look like. You're writing a newspaper serial from a century or so ago. A completed book can get away with shortened or uninteresting chapters; a new chapter is just a page away. But in a serial, with days to weeks between each chapter, the reader will be directly, though not wholly, influenced on whether to read the next chapter based on what happened last. If it looks like the author is losing their mojo, then the reader starts to think that maybe they are. Of course, if two chapters are released at the same time, then this problem can be mitigated more or less.
--Spade
PS
Of course, the real answer to your quandary is to Ask Ceramic Sunset.
2889927
2889954
2890046
2890014
What they said
Post it all!!!
I mean.......if that's ok with you.
Blasphemy! I ordered the deluxe Galactic Overlord package! I demand a refund!
But yeah, you already know my feelings on chapter lengths. Personally, I like it if you can stay under 10K, but hey, more pony for the pony people.
Normally I'd say just go ahead, I'm used to reading chapters of fics that exceed 11 000 words easily, but you cut it off where you feel it should be cut off.
2890869 I know your reservations about longer chapters, and appreciate your advice, but it looks like we'll go with a single large update once we're ready to press "publish."
2890481 I appreciate your excellent advice about keeping expectations fairly level or continually increasing. This certainly feels like a book now in many ways, but I don't have the luxury of seeing it from the reader's perspective. And, I should ask ceramic Sunset, but my daughter has stolen her for the time being.
2890674 Hey, you are a big help. I appreciate the point of view. I think the chapter will end on a very appropriate note. You'll see!
2890732, 2890834, 2891035 and 2892655: You win! It will be pretty large when published. Microsoft Word tells me that it tips the scales at 11,531 words as of tonight.
I say that a chapter should be exactly the length it needs to. If the chapter's content would be better written short, then do so. If there's a lot that needs to be conveyed, then there's certainly no problem with a longer chapter. Being someone who commonly reads stories with word counts in the hundreds of thousands (and one with over a million), I can honestly say that when it comes to adventurous stories, being in the long haul only makes it more epic. Well, as long as it's done well, at least.
I think under 20,000 words is good, but if the story really requires it to be longer then that's fine. It would just be a bit hard for me to read in one go.