Writing 1,000, 1,500, or 2,000 --- What’s the ideal word count per chapter

[HisDivineShadow]

What’s the ideal word count per chapter —- 1,000, 1,500, or 2,000?
With 1,000 words, I could easily post daily.
At 1,500, probably every other day.
2,000 words would mean an update every three or four days.
Given my genre and how I’ve structured the story, I’m aiming for around 60–70 chapters if I go with 2,000 words each.
But from what experienced authors say, readership tends to pick up only after chapter 30 or 40.
So posting 1,000-word chapters daily might make more sense that would give me around 120–140 chapters total.
The question is: would that pacing still be engaging and readable?

 

[Dec]

The ideal word count is the one you feel most comfortable with.
The average on SH is 1500~2500 words.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

The ideal word count is the one you feel most comfortable with.
The average on SH is 1500~2500 words.

Comfort is one thing, but I’m talking about strategy.

 

[just_darkjazz]

My favourite serial in this site used to dropthrice a week with 1k words per, that's the method I've been following as well with mine. At the same time though, I've figured out that for my story's plot doesn't move the way I want it to and will be changing to 2k chapters twice a week. I'm voting for 2k.

 

[aurifex]

Comfort is one thing, but I’m talking about strategy.

Rather than asking SH forums (or RR forums for that matter) and getting a bunch of incorrect and uninformed answers, you can go run a fiction search yourself and identify the typical word count found in successful stories.

Assuming you aren't writing smut or lgbt stuff, you should be focusing on royalroad, not scribblehub. The answer for royalroad is that chapters average between 2000-2500 words, but there is variance, and some stories do bigger chapters. No successful stories do 1000 words, and very few do 1500. Stick to 2000+. 1500-2000 at a minimum

Scribblehub does tend to have smaller chapters in the 1000-1500 range, but this site is for smut lgbt and fanfic. What do you write?

Also, why can you write 1000 word chapters daily, but a 2000 word chapter would take you...3 to 4 days? The math smells wrong there

 

[RainyLiquid]

Mine are 3 to 4k for one and 5 to 7k for another.

 

[MajorKerina]

There's no right answer but actually the right answer is 420 words a chapter or 6969 words

 

[Okram]

I feel like 1500-2000 is usually perfect

 

[HisDivineShadow]

Rather than asking SH forums (or RR forums for that matter) and getting a bunch of incorrect and uninformed answers, you can go run a fiction search yourself and identify the typical word count found in successful stories.

Assuming you aren't writing smut or lgbt stuff, you should be focusing on royalroad, not scribblehub. The answer for royalroad is that chapters average between 2000-2500 words, but there is variance, and some stories do bigger chapters. No successful stories do 1000 words, and very few do 1500. Stick to 2000+. 1500-2000 at a minimum

Scribblehub does tend to have smaller chapters in the 1000-1500 range, but this site is for smut lgbt and fanfic. What do you write?

Also, why can you write 1000 word chapters daily, but a 2000 word chapter would take you...3 to 4 days? The math smells wrong there

The first is speculative fiction with elements of psychology. It is already finished and currently in the editing stage. That is why I started thinking about chapter length. Right now I can either shorten them or combine some into longer chapters. It all depends on the strategy and the amount of time I am willing to invest in editing. At the moment, the chapters average around 1200 to 1500 words.
The second story is urban fantasy with elements of psychology and the personal growth of the main character. I believe that 1000-word chapters can be published daily, while longer ones take three or four days. The reason is simple. Short chapters are easier to write and have a simpler structure. Chapters of 2000 words or more require more attention to balance. You have to avoid overloading them with events and emotions and pay close attention to rhythm, logic, and pacing. It is not just about numbers.
The reason I’m asking for suggestions on Scribble Hub is that the community is responsive and many authors openly share their experiences.

 

[Xcalibur_Xc]

I started with 1200 words when I first started writing, then went to 1500 words. Right now, it's over 2k - 3k words, depending on the chapter.
Try to keep it between 1500 - 2k words.

 

[aurifex]

The first is speculative fiction with elements of psychology. It is already finished and currently in the editing stage. That is why I started thinking about chapter length. Right now I can either shorten them or combine some into longer chapters. It all depends on the strategy and the amount of time I am willing to invest in editing. At the moment, the chapters average around 1200 to 1500 words.
The second story is urban fantasy with elements of psychology and the personal growth of the main character. I believe that 1000-word chapters can be published daily, while longer ones take three or four days. The reason is simple. Short chapters are easier to write and have a simpler structure. Chapters of 2000 words or more require more attention to balance. You have to avoid overloading them with events and emotions and pay close attention to rhythm, logic, and pacing. It is not just about numbers.
The reason I’m asking for suggestions on Scribble Hub is that the community is responsive and many authors openly share their experiences.

If your writing changes so significantly with chapter length, and chapter word count isn't simply about choosing where you put breakpoints, then you should pick a chapter length that best serves your story. Is your story structure better told at 1k words per chapter's arc, or 2k? And if you insist on caring about strategy over story quality...then as I said, RR prefers 2000-2500 words.
Altering your narrative structure and pacing to squeeze into arbitrary word counts is VERY strange to me, though, I have to mention that. I write how I write, and chapter length is just about choosing where split points fit. Every author works diffferently, I guess

The reason I’m asking for suggestions on Scribble Hub is that the community is responsive and many authors openly share their experiences.

Also, this was kind of a given, but my point was that if you're seeking strategy advice and are looking for success, why would you go to other amateurs? It's like wanting to be a pro golfer and walking up to some random guy on the green and asking what the best way to go pro is.
...go ask a pro instead (in this context, go read one of the many guides written by successful web fiction authors)

 

[LeilaniOtter]

I wish the poll included: "It doesn't matter". *^^*

 

[HisDivineShadow]

Altering your narrative structure and pacing to squeeze into arbitrary word counts is VERY strange to me, though, I have to mention that. I write how I write, and chapter length is just about choosing where split points fit. Every author works diffferently, I guess

The thing is, the sci-fi story is fairly straightforward. I was using it to practice moving the plot forward in a linear way with a limited number of characters. That’s why it won’t lose much in quality if I adjust the word count to fit the format. The main thing is not to cut it randomly, but to choose a logical point to end each chapter. For me, it could be another good exercise in skill-building.

...go ask a pro instead (in this context, go read one of the many guides written by successful web fiction authors)

Are you talking about someone specific you'd like to recommend?

I wish the poll included: "It doesn't matter". *^^*

Done

 

[aurifex]

The thing is, the sci-fi story is fairly straightforward. I was using it to practice moving the plot forward in a linear way with a limited number of characters. That’s why it won’t lose much in quality if I adjust the word count to fit the format. The main thing is not to cut it randomly, but to choose a logical point to end each chapter. For me, it could be another good exercise in skill-building.

Are you talking about someone specific you'd like to recommend?

If you want to take web fiction seriously as a career then reading this guide is a must: https://www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/116847
Written by the author of DOTF
It addresses meta elements/the business side of writing though. The first requirement is knowing how to write a good story of course
But there are many guides out there, just use google and look around. Don't get advice from nobodies. There is so much misinformation and nonsense posted to forums like these. Tbh there's a lot of bad advice given even by the pros...don't muddy the waters more than you have to.

 

[Kurotsuki007]

When I started out I was posting ~1k-1.5k daily and that drummed up a lot of readers for me as it was a daily posting. However, as a hobby writer I find that a weekly 2k upload seems to be a sweet spot for a lot of novels, my own included, even more so if you write multiple at once.

I am a SOL style writer so the 2k chapter seems to encase a "day" pretty well unless there is a lot going on.

 

[Siegburn]

In my case I say that it doesn't matter the number of pages but two things:
How you feel at the moment of writing, tired or with energy
And also what you want to tell in that chapter.
Once I wrote 8000 words and I could write more, but I was already about 40 pages long hahaha.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

If you want to take web fiction seriously as a career then reading this guide is a must: https://www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/116847
Written by the author of DOTF
It addresses meta elements/the business side of writing though. The first requirement is knowing how to write a good story of course
But there are many guides out there, just use google and look around. Don't get advice from nobodies. There is so much misinformation and nonsense posted to forums like these. Tbh there's a lot of bad advice given even by the pros...don't muddy the waters more than you have to.

I understand what you mean. But for a beginning writer it’s important to connect with others who are going through or have gone through the same experience. In-person interaction matters. A book or a guide just can’t offer the same.

 

[Sabruness]

2K is the good balance minimum. As a reader, though, i dont mind waiting a little bit longer for chapters that are 3k or more.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

2K is the good balance minimum. As a reader, though, i dont mind waiting a little bit longer for chapters that are 3k or more.

Thanks .

A reader’s opinion is especially important
after all, stories are written to be read.

 

[Kenjona]

Enough to keep my interest, I prefer a longer versus a shorter chapter. But as long as it keeps my interest, it is all good. I can always skip a few days if I desire, to build up chapters, if I feel that they are to short.