What is the best length for each chapter?

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gamerz_1998

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Hi all,
I know that scribblehub demands very frequent chapter posts. Some have suggested 1.5k words per chapter. Could I cut it down to 1k if I post everyday?

My story is just your usual monster girl smut.
 
Tibbit

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It’s really personal preference and what feels right to you and your story. I shoot for 2500 words a chapter, that gives me enough to get the point of the chapter across without running it on, but I also miss that number by a bit depending on what is happening in the story at the time.

Its all about flow really, shorter chapters will allow for more frequent shifts in the story but may railroad you into having a single scene spanning a bunch of chapters while not advancing the story (this will help your numbers since you’ll be posting a bunch of chapters and your story will stay on the front page longer, but its also kind of annoying for the readers and is a bit of a jerk thing to do if you ask me). But if you make it to long you might end up adding too much detail and extra stuff that isn’t needed, which is just as annoying.

I find it best to kind of ignore the word count. Wright the chapter, re-read it and if it feels comfortable to read, then post it.
 
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PancakesWitch

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Whatever feels rigth to you.
I write novels where I only write 1.2k words per chapters
Others where I do 1.7k
Some where I do over 2k+
And there's some I do 4 to 6k words per chapter
 
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Arkus86

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It's a matter of preference, but the general agreement here seems to be that 1.5-2.5k is the optimal range for webnovels, while around 1k is the bottom range.
 
FRWriter

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Some websites punish you for shorter chapters. Other websites encourage it.


In my experience:

WN: 1,5k+ is required. Otherwise, your updates won't really show up.
RR: 1,5k+ or people will complain... ESPECIALLY if you do shoutouts. Slightly shorter chapters are acceptable, though, but really keep it above 1k.
SH: The more chapters you post, the better. Views affect the algorithm, and every chapter makes your story pop up on the front page. Still, even here, there is a limit. If you keep posting 500-600-word chapters, people won't bother. I'd suggest at least posting 1k chapters, but if you want to go for maximum visibility, maybe 500-word to 1k-word chapters are still okay.

Just think about how you feel as a reader when you like and follow a story. What would your reaction be to waiting for a day or two and then getting a 500-word chapter? If you are fine with it, then go ahead. This is all subjective, and everyone will tell you something different.

Personally, I'm always aiming for 1.5k to 2k-word chapters. In my opinion, that's the sweet spot.
 
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PancakesWitch

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FRWriter said:
Some websites punish you for shorter chapters. Other websites encourage it.


In my experience:

WN: 1,5k+ is required. Otherwise, your updates won't really show up.
RR: 1,5k+ or people will complain... ESPECIALLY if you do shoutouts. Slightly shorter chapters are acceptable, though, but really keep it above 1k.
SH: The more chapters you post, the better. Views affect the algorithm, and every chapter makes your story pop up on the front page. Still, even here, there is a limit. If you keep posting 500-600-word chapters, people won't bother. I'd suggest at least posting 1k chapters, but if you want to go for maximum visibility, maybe 500-word to 1k-word chapters are still okay.

Just think about how you feel as a reader when you like and follow a story. What would your reaction be to waiting for a day or two and then getting a 500-word chapter? If you are fine with it, then go ahead. This is all subjective, and everyone will tell you something different.

Personally, I'm always aiming for 1.5k to 2k-word chapters. In my opinion, that's the sweet spot.
Click to expand...
for webnovel that's mostly when you make a contract
also the requirement is for some win-win type of thing that gives you promotions based on sales anyway
and its based on words, not total chapters, most authors I see posting two 1k word chatpers instead
 
MFontana

MFontana

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gamerz_1998 said:
Hi all,
I know that scribblehub demands very frequent chapter posts. Some have suggested 1.5k words per chapter. Could I cut it down to 1k if I post everyday?

My story is just your usual monster girl smut.
Click to expand...
Personally, I'd say that you should do what works for you.
Consistency and Quality are a bit more important overall. Keep to your schedule, and post as frequently as you can manage without burning yourself out.
After all, it won't help anyone if you try to do 2500 words a week and burn yourself out in a month or two while the quality of your work drops.
But hey, that's just me.
 
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PancakesWitch

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gamerz_1998 said:
Thank you all for the advice!

I will have to evaluate, but 1k looks perfect for me.
Click to expand...
It depends how mcuh you can to acomplish in a chapter in terms of story progression, and how can you write that, less details mean less words, more details is more words, if you want multiple things happening the chapters will eventually be longer
 
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CharlesEBrown

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Whatever length you need to progress the story at that moment.
In the novel Howling Mad, Peter David had a chapter that consisted solely of one sentence ("It seemed the polite thing to do.") because that was what he needed in that moment.

In GENERAL, for print you want somewhere between 750 and 5000 words, and in a webnovel somewhere between 1250 and 3000 but really, whatever you need.
 
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