Writing Wrangling chapter length?

[HotConsensualSalt]

I'm too verbose. Whether it's including too many details, or my desire to paint more vivid scenes, or my affinity for dialogue, or the aftereffect of writing stories and commissions for audiences with very niche tastes, my word counts spiral out of control.

How do you, personally, keep your chapters short? How do you adhere to your allotted word count? I'd love to hear some techniques or habits that work for you.

I like taking. I like writing. I need to prevent the latter from inflating every chapter unnecessarily

 

[Little-Moon]

I think about what I want to say, what is important. Like I can describe a chair for two passages but the things that stand out / are important are maybe only color and material when reading over it.

Or a meadow full of blooming flowers, it is full of flowers but I do not need to go into detail about them being pink, rose, red, blue and yellow.

With Dialogue....well depends on the character. Some speak a lot, some little, some are very direct. And accordingly I write

Another thing working well is restricting myself to one or max two describing adjectives by word (I am not skilled enough in English to pull all of it off properly, but in my mother language I am) it requires me to find the correct word not write three sentences around the issue.

 

[Eldoria]

After writing for almost half a year, I can say that writing fiction with short chapters (~700 words per chapter) makes it easier to increase your novel's visibility. It can increase engagement. However, it also limits your creativity.

Initially, I was quite satisfied with short chapters because engagement was easy to increase. But as my narrative writing progressed, I felt uncomfortable looking at my old chapters. I saw chapters that were chaotic, difficult to imagine cinematically, too stiff.

Eventually, I abandoned the principle of writing short chapters in SH. I no longer limit my creativity to word count. I tend to let the narrative flow so that the chapters I rewrite and new chapters have more cinematic.

Engagement? So be it! I don't care much about engagement anymore. I value my creativity more. After all, my work isn't popular fiction.

 

[Avarice_Of_The_Seven]

there are some tricks for that which I use.

1. Decide what your chapter will include - this involves thinking about beginning and end hook. take the first chapter of my novel as an example;

beginning:
Within a high school classroom, a lesson was underway.
The teacher stood at the front with an indifferent, expressionless face, his voice a calm monotone that neither rose nor fell. He explained the material with mechanical clarity, and not a single student dared to break the rigid stillness that always accompanied his presence.

end:
‘I should sleep early. I have more lessons tomorrow.’

I closed my eyes expecting another ordinary morning—without realizing I’d never see that world again.


Always imagine these two things first before writing a chapter.

2. divide scenes and monitor their word count under intervals - now that you have decided the beginning and end of your chapter, you will imagine what scenes will be included in that chapter.
divide the chapter based on those scenes and then monitor your word count after you write each scene.


3. if chapter is too long then just divide it in half.

 

[foxes]

We need to define the concept of a scene. Of course, we can put a character in a room alone and make them think a lot, or we can create an epic battle. However, even these scenes can be divided into meaningful segments that shift the focus to something else. These segments may still be large, but they are no longer as cumbersome.

Basic principles:
One scene is one dramatic question.
Anything that doesn't help you ask or answer the question should be removed.
Start as late as possible and end as early as possible. Briefings, retellings, and "as you remember" should only be used if they cannot be replaced by action.
One point of view per scene. Choose the POV of the person who is most affected or interested in the moment. Budget for exposition: 1-2 new facts about the world per scene, a maximum of 3, and each fact should be introduced through action, conflict, or object.
Promise/payment: if something "comes out" in the climax, it should have been at least hinted at earlier (gesture, emblem, rumor, small detail).

Milling related scenes can be combined into a chapter, or a large scene can be made into a chapter.

 

[L1aei]

I'm too verbose. Whether it's including too many details, or my desire to paint more vivid scenes, or my affinity for dialogue, or the aftereffect of writing stories and commissions for audiences with very niche tastes, my word counts spiral out of control.

How do you, personally, keep your chapters short? How do you adhere to your allotted word count? I'd love to hear some techniques or habits that work for you.

I like taking. I like writing. I need to prevent the latter from inflating every chapter unnecessarily

Wait... there's a rule about chapter length? I must have missed that one!

 

[Blusky]

After writing for almost half a year, I can say that writing fiction with short chapters (~700 words per chapter) makes it easier to increase your novel's visibility. It can increase engagement. However, it also limits your creativity.

Initially, I was quite satisfied with short chapters because engagement was easy to increase. But as my narrative writing progressed, I felt uncomfortable looking at my old chapters. I saw chapters that were chaotic, difficult to imagine cinematically, too stiff.

Eventually, I abandoned the principle of writing short chapters in SH. I no longer limit my creativity to word count. I tend to let the narrative flow so that the chapters I rewrite and new chapters have more cinematic.

Engagement? So be it! I don't care much about engagement anymore. I value my creativity more. After all, my work isn't popular fiction.

700 words it's REALLY short, it's 2 pages! Do you really think that this helps with engagement?

 

[L1aei]

700 words it's REALLY short, it's 2 pages! Do you really think that this helps with engagement?

That's plenty for a vignette.

 

[Eldoria]

700 words it's REALLY short, it's 2 pages! Do you really think that this helps with engagement?

This is purely based on my experience. Short chapters are just one factor among others, such as synopsis, cover art, update schedule, genre, and content.

Why do short chapters increase visibility? Because the majority of SH readers read on mobile phones. Long chapters tend to be tiring. Short chapters, on the other hand, are light, and you can read them without blinking.

Of course, that's not the only factor. I don't really care much about the length of a chapter anymore, so this discussion is irrelevant to me.

 

[L1aei]

This is purely based on my experience. Short chapters are just one factor among others, such as synopsis, cover art, update schedule, genre, and content.

Why do short chapters increase visibility? Because the majority of SH readers read on mobile phones. Long chapters tend to be tiring. Short chapters, on the other hand, are light, and you can read them without blinking.

Of course, that's not the only factor. I don't really care much about the length of a chapter anymore, so this discussion is irrelevant to me.

Don't forget those with ADHD.

 

[Arkus86]

But as my narrative writing progressed, I felt uncomfortable looking at my old chapters. I saw chapters that were chaotic, difficult to imagine cinematically, too stiff.

Now you see why I don't bother to read anything that has around 1000 words or less per chapter.

I'm not arguing that it might help with readership. But it's plain quantity over quality.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

I'm too verbose. Whether it's including too many details, or my desire to paint more vivid scenes, or my affinity for dialogue, or the aftereffect of writing stories and commissions for audiences with very niche tastes, my word counts spiral out of control.

How do you, personally, keep your chapters short? How do you adhere to your allotted word count? I'd love to hear some techniques or habits that work for you.

I like taking. I like writing. I need to prevent the latter from inflating every chapter unnecessarily

You guys shorten your chapters and lessen word counts? ?

 

[Eldoria]

You guys shorten your chapters and lessen word counts? ?

Shortening the chapter is just one trick to increase visibility. The benefits of shortening the chapter:

1. Makes the chapter easier to read in a concise manner.
2. Speeds up chapter updates.
3. Makes chapters appear more in number. Potential readers are more interested in seeing 100 chapters with 100K words than 30 chapters with 100K words.

Ultimately, it will increase engagement. Although it doesn't necessarily mean the novel will be popular - market factors are more than just the short chapters.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

Shortening the chapter is just one trick to increase visibility. The benefits of shortening the chapter:

1. Makes the chapter easier to read in a concise manner.
2. Speeds up chapter updates.
3. Makes chapters appear more in number. Potential readers are more interested in seeing 100 chapters with 100K words than 30 chapters with 100K words.

Ultimately, it will increase engagement. Although it doesn't necessarily mean the novel will be popular - market factors are more than just the short chapters.

I'm actually joking here. I'm in the process of shortening/fixing my chapters by fixing sentences and removing adverbs, which I have...a lot.

 

[Joelle]

Personally, the length of a chapter depends on how creative or how motivated you are to write that chapter, and no, I'm not a pro. writer but know this because I recently started writing.
Most times, my chapter length is around ~1200+ when I feel like 'Okay, I can write' and then its about ~1000+ when I just want to write the idea out and get it off my back.
The best way, though, to keep your chapters short is just pouring out your creativity and then revising what you've written. It happened to me once, in the middle of writing a chapter when I wrote it out first, it came out as ~3,452 words or so, but when I revised and started cutting out redundancies, it shortened to ~1132 words.
Though, I don't know if this will help, but you should try it.??

 

[HotConsensualSalt]

I think about what I want to say, what is important. Like I can describe a chair for two passages but the things that stand out / are important are maybe only color and material when reading over it.

Or a meadow full of blooming flowers, it is full of flowers but I do not need to go into detail about them being pink, rose, red, blue and yellow.

With Dialogue....well depends on the character. Some speak a lot, some little, some are very direct. And accordingly I write

Another thing working well is restricting myself to one or max two describing adjectives by word (I am not skilled enough in English to pull all of it off properly, but in my mother language I am) it requires me to find the correct word not write three sentences around the issue.

there are some tricks for that which I use.

1. Decide what your chapter will include - this involves thinking about beginning and end hook. take the first chapter of my novel as an example;

beginning:
Within a high school classroom, a lesson was underway.
The teacher stood at the front with an indifferent, expressionless face, his voice a calm monotone that neither rose nor fell. He explained the material with mechanical clarity, and not a single student dared to break the rigid stillness that always accompanied his presence.

end:
‘I should sleep early. I have more lessons tomorrow.’

I closed my eyes expecting another ordinary morning—without realizing I’d never see that world again.


Always imagine these two things first before writing a chapter.

2. divide scenes and monitor their word count under intervals - now that you have decided the beginning and end of your chapter, you will imagine what scenes will be included in that chapter.
divide the chapter based on those scenes and then monitor your word count after you write each scene.


3. if chapter is too long then just divide it in half.

We need to define the concept of a scene. Of course, we can put a character in a room alone and make them think a lot, or we can create an epic battle. However, even these scenes can be divided into meaningful segments that shift the focus to something else. These segments may still be large, but they are no longer as cumbersome.

Basic principles:
One scene is one dramatic question.
Anything that doesn't help you ask or answer the question should be removed.
Start as late as possible and end as early as possible. Briefings, retellings, and "as you remember" should only be used if they cannot be replaced by action.
One point of view per scene. Choose the POV of the person who is most affected or interested in the moment. Budget for exposition: 1-2 new facts about the world per scene, a maximum of 3, and each fact should be introduced through action, conflict, or object.
Promise/payment: if something "comes out" in the climax, it should have been at least hinted at earlier (gesture, emblem, rumor, small detail).

Milling related scenes can be combined into a chapter, or a large scene can be made into a chapter.

Wait... there's a rule about chapter length? I must have missed that one!

I'm actually joking here. I'm in the process of shortening/fixing my chapters by fixing sentences and removing adverbs, which I have...a lot.

Personally, the length of a chapter depends on how creative or how motivated you are to write that chapter, and no, I'm not a pro. writer but know this because I recently started writing.
Most times, my chapter length is around ~1200+ when I feel like 'Okay, I can write' and then its about ~1000+ when I just want to write the idea out and get it off my back.
The best way, though, to keep your chapters short is just pouring out your creativity and then revising what you've written. It happened to me once, in the middle of writing a chapter when I wrote it out first, it came out as ~3,452 words or so, but when I revised and started cutting out redundancies, it shortened to ~1132 words.
Though, I don't know if this will help, but you should try it.

Thanks all!

There's some really useful feedback here. Ive been writing for a decade, always as a hobby, but there's always things i can work on.

I'll look at some common issues or guidelines as well as the ones mentioned here. I'm excited.

I think asking some other writers or readers for feedback might provide useful illumination; the beta readers i current use are likely too familiar with my writing style to point out the phrases and facts i don't actually need.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

In situations where the enumeration of words is paramount, verbosity can be justly viewed as a godsend, justifying the pomposity of garrulous, meandering commentary akin to this reply.

The rest of the time, brevity soul wit.

 

[L1aei]

In situations where the enumeration of words is paramount, verbosity can be justly viewed as a godsend, justifying the pomposity of garrulous, meandering commentary akin to this reply.

The rest of the time, brevity soul wit.

I will be brief. Your noble son is mad.

 

[MFontana]

I'm too verbose. Whether it's including too many details, or my desire to paint more vivid scenes, or my affinity for dialogue, or the aftereffect of writing stories and commissions for audiences with very niche tastes, my word counts spiral out of control.

How do you, personally, keep your chapters short? How do you adhere to your allotted word count? I'd love to hear some techniques or habits that work for you.

I like taking. I like writing. I need to prevent the latter from inflating every chapter unnecessarily

Keep in mind as well, some readers enjoy dense prose.
What matters is the execution and depth.
Additionally, different people have different definitions of "too much".
So before getting further into this, what exactly, are you defining as "too verbose"?
Are we talking 13,000 / chapter, 15,000 / chapter, or even higher?
If not, I'd personally just say "Keep doing what you're doing. Write what you know, and enjoy writing. Your readers will find you."

 

[HotConsensualSalt]

Keep in mind as well, some readers enjoy dense prose.
What matters is the execution and depth.
Additionally, different people have different definitions of "too much".
So before getting further into this, what exactly, are you defining as "too verbose"?
Are we talking 13,000 / chapter, 15,000 / chapter, or even higher?
If not, I'd personally just say "Keep doing what you're doing. Write what you know, and enjoy writing. Your readers will find you."

Good question.

I like writing (sexy) fights in MMA, pro Wrestling, or Boxing leagues. Each time i say "oh, I'll write this fight as short, truncated, summary," i end up with something more detailed. More character work. More impact. "Describe a fight in 400 words becomes 800”

Im splitting chapters too keep each under 4k words, but on a scene by scene, fight by fight basis, I'm writing 30-75% more than intended. This is an improvement from years back where i was routinely doubling my intended length.

I'm getting better, but yes, the readership ive attracted (mostly elsewhere) is here for those fights (and accompanying sex scenes) so i embellish those.

Specifically:

i originally planned to get

Beat, Prey, Love - 1.2 Jade Tides | Scribble Hub

www.scribblehub.com

Beat, Prey, Love - 1.3 Jade Submerged | Scribble Hub

www.scribblehub.com

to fit as one chapter, and

https://www.scribblehub.com/read/1867593-beat-prey-love/chapter/2022206/

was intended to be 2k words max