Chapter 2 is now complete!

[washingtonwriter1968]

Of my Current WIP

[DanielaTorre]

Umm... Congrats?

No really, congratulations. Every completed chapter is one chapter closer to finishing! I myself am savoring the 20K or so words I have left to finished. But it's the first draft so I still have much to go, as do you.

[washingtonwriter1968]

Let's see I am now standing at 16,468 words. I guess my chapters are pretty long. This is my first draft though so I am sure I will be shave off some in future drafts. This chapter is 15pages double spaces pages. I am wondering if this chapter is long enough? anybody know how long is to long and how small is to small when it comes to chapters?

[Collectonian]

Too long: reader starts going "where is the end already"
Too short: reader goes "WTF?" when they see the chapter is over....

Seriously, its about that arbitrary Some novels are broken into hundreds of little 1-2 page chapters, others into just 3-4 ginormous ones, while many float somewhere in between. It depends on genre, pacing, etc. Suspense novels and thrillers, for example, tend to go with shorter chapters to match the faster pace, while romances and fantasy often have longer ones. A general guideline is that each chapter should center around a single event or setting in the novel, that may or may not span multiple scenes. Folks often end chapters at a crucial moment, as well, so readers are inclined to continue on to the next rather than go "good stopping place."

It might help to study some of your favorite novels in the genre you're writing to see hot they did it, but in the end go with your gut. And yes, you're right, once you're done and into the editing, you'll likely rewrite, remove words, add words, and shift the chapter divides and even whole chapters around all together.

[DanielaTorre]

Wow. 16k in and only 2 chapters? I'm 42k in and I haven't even divided it into chapters yet.

Writer circles, publishers, agents, etc., don't go by chapters. They go by word count. Although its all subjective, word count lengths vary by genre. There are some guidelines over ar the Absolute Write forums as well as Nathan's blog archives. You'll find it on various agent blogs as well.

Btw, its a rule of thumb that 250 word equals 1 page. So don't concern yourself too much with chapter length. Besides, a chapter can be as long or as short as you want it to be.

Good luck. Do your research. Learn the tools of the trade.

[Writecastlesinthesky]

Hurrah for forward motion. I keep thinking of Finding Nemo.
"Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming".....infinity.