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

[CharlesEBrown]

I aim for 1500 and usually miss by 200 in one direction or the other.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

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?

Done

Good, because, honestly, it doesn't matter. You write a chapter until it's done. And if you think it's giving too much, you can cut it. Chapters shouldn't really focus on word count. They should focus on how much of your story you want to tell and when. *^^*

 

[Eldoria]

This is an interesting question. I once released a novel with an average of 700 words per chapter, and it immediately gained a large readership and even went viral. However, when I released another novel with an average of 1,500 words per chapter, it received few readers. Although I planned my second novel carefully, it received only a few readers. Meanwhile, my first novel was just a wild idea that I accidentally released as a novel without any planning at all.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

This is an interesting question. I once released a novel with an average of 700 words per chapter, and it immediately gained a large readership and even went viral. However, when I released another novel with an average of 1,500 words per chapter, it received few readers. Although I planned my second novel carefully, it received only a few readers. Meanwhile, my first novel was just a wild idea that I accidentally released as a novel without any planning at all.

That’s interesting…
Was it the same genre?

 

[Eldoria]

That’s interesting…
Was it the same genre?

The genre is the same, dark fantasy. The first novel is a sequel, and the second is a prequel. However, the second novel was not well received.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

The genre is the same, dark fantasy. The first novel is a sequel, and the second is a prequel. However, the second novel was not well received.

That’s really interesting...

 

[Alski]

That’s really interesting...

I assume shes talking about her 2 blood rose stories here . There are other reasons like release frequency and overall length that play a bigger part.

 

[Garolymar]

It's been chapter dependent for me. I try to figure out what each chapter is supposed to do for the main story, if it's a big event it tends to be longer, if it's a small character building moment it is usually shorter.

 

[Deleted member 166465]

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

Blaze it.

 

[zephyrtrillian]

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.

What do you mean about 2k 1x/week being the sweet spot? Is this the sweet spot in terms of gaining/keeping readers, or in workload, or both?

 

[GreenLemonShark]

My chapters usually end up around 2K words, but it’s not something I plan too specifically. For me, chapters feel more like natural breaks in the story, usually when the characters are moving on to a new scene or there’s a shift in focus.

Instead of writing out every little transition between scenes, I tend to treat chapters as a way to “jump ahead,” whether it’s just a few minutes, a few hours or the next day. It helps keep the pacing smoother and makes those shifts feel more intentional without mudding the story. ?

 

[Ai-chan]

There are pros and contras to any length. For short chapters, it's much easier to binge read, making people unable to put down your work due to the age-old wisdom of 'just one more chapter'. Long chapters is often considered more 'proper' but it makes readers feel tired after reading just one chapter.

James Patterson is famous for writing very short chapters ~500 words. It works for him.

As for strategy, zerg rush as soon as you can make 4 zerglings. Don't bother targetting barracks, command center or nexus, just pick away at the workers. At this point, they can't mount a proper resistance and will have to waste their time and resources killing zerglings with their worker units. Send 6-8 more zerglings to reinforce. This would ensure that they waste like 5-10 minutes dealing with your harassment units.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

There are pros and contras to any length. For short chapters, it's much easier to binge read, making people unable to put down your work due to the age-old wisdom of 'just one more chapter'. Long chapters is often considered more 'proper' but it makes readers feel tired after reading just one chapter.

James Patterson is famous for writing very short chapters ~500 words. It works for him.

As for strategy, zerg rush as soon as you can make 4 zerglings. Don't bother targetting barracks, command center or nexus, just pick away at the workers. At this point, they can't mount a proper resistance and will have to waste their time and resources killing zerglings with their worker units. Send 6-8 more zerglings to reinforce. This would ensure that they waste like 5-10 minutes dealing with your harassment units.

I have no clue who the Zorgs are. ?
Looks like we’re reading different books and watching different movies.
But maybe you meant Zod? ?
If that’s the case, there’s only one strategy
call Kal-El.
Otherwise… Kneel Before Zod.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I have no clue who the Zorgs are. ?
Looks like we’re reading different books and watching different movies.
But maybe you meant Zod? ?
If that’s the case, there’s only one strategy
call Kal-El.
Otherwise… Kneel Before Zod.

Zergs - one of the classic Starcraft races. The most effective strategy when using them is to use their fast propagation ability, create massive, low power armies, and swarm over everything in sight; the Zerg Rush.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

Zergs - one of the classic Starcraft races. The most effective strategy when using them is to use their fast propagation ability, create massive, low power armies, and swarm over everything in sight; the Zerg Rush.

I like my interpretation better ?