As Authors, Do You Mind Writing or Reading Short Chapters?

[rileykifer]

I prefer reading short chapters over long chapters, but even 900 is too short. If you're consistently struggling to get over 1k, then you're probably doing something wrong. My first guess is too much telling and not enough showing. But it could also be lack of description, exposition, etc. It's worth looking into if you want to improve.

For the actual questions, I never go in thinking about word count. I start a chapter until I reach a spot where it feels natural to end it. (Usually it ends up anywhere between 1.8k and 2.5k words.) I've never seen readers complain about short chapters. And I prefer consistency over word count, but I would never DNF a story over it.