How long are your first chapters?

[blushiemagic]

There’s been lots of discussion about how long each chapter should be, with lots of different answers. But the first chapter is always the most important. How long are people’s chapter 1’s compared to their other chapters? Are readers more willing to tolerate a particularly long or short chapter if it’s the first one?

 

[Worthy39]

Mine is around 1.5K words, the rest range from 1 to 2 thousand words.

 

[TinaMigarlo]

WHEN do you mean.
Historically, I used to write a first chapter thoroughly representative of the other chapters in the book.
Nowadays though, I honestly think of the "first chapter" (in my head) as chapter 0.
by that I mean...
its done after the story is completed, and its contrived.
polling advice seems to say...
1. short.
2. punchy. (I *hate* this over used term. I prefer "hard hitting".)
3. doesn't give much away.
4. differs in style/narration to set it apart.
5. contains some type of immediate action or peril or big concern.
6. Doesn't lead @Eldoria "the Oracle" to club me down with a thick "advanced calculus narrative" textbook. (she does that)

PS - @Eldoria:
(jumps up and down)
I did it! I did it!
I used the word "narration" in context, and it seemed natural !
(I probably used the word wrong, and now I'm in for another lecture)

as an example?
A typical story for me, might be first person all through.
say, 5k chapters all over the place though some less.
my chapter 0 (first chapter) though, 1k or 1.5k would be what I'd use.
will be something, anything, exciting or unsettling.
third person without going into too much detail, just showing you a scene for impact.

best example I can give?
watch any James Bond film. Opening is always the same.
Bond is in the middle of some big huge mission.
heavy drama, followed by explosive action and high stakes.
It goes into no details who people are or why, its just... ACTION.

then the opening credits can start.
some naked chick can parade around with a cartoon over her naked bod,
while some popular band does their special song they wrote for the film.

then? the story settles down.
they can do the slow build up to the conflict and premise now.
I tend to do a slow build up to things,
so the opening chapter lets you know things won't stay slow.
there will be sex or violence coming, but your patience will be rewarded.

 

[Zagaroth]

They started off shorter.

Editing added a lot of content when I came back to them years later...

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Done all three. Depends on my mood and the type of story.

 

[Kurayami]

My first chapter is generally one of the shortest ones. Since it is a hook

 

[Eldoria]

The first chapter (read: prologue) usually contains the overall premise of the fiction. This chapter is usually designed with a fast pace and an instant payoff at the end (hook) to make the reader care about your story, especially your protagonist.

How long should it be? Well, there's no rule. But generally, 1k-2k words is the average; beyond that, readers might get bored halfway through the chapter before even getting to the hook.

 

[thegingernut]

My first chapter is less than 2000 words. It might be one of the shortest chapters. However, I will note that I dropped the first six chapters at once to bootstrap engagement. Those six chapters together add up to over 10000 words. So like: You don't need a long establishment chapter to draw readers in. You can split it and you even get statistics about how many people like your story from the gap between the first and second chapter's viewcounts

 

[TheNonexistentOne]

My first chapter is 1900± words and it's the shortest chapter by far, lol.

And nowadays I hear that first impression is most important, that's why the longer the first chapter, the better.

I don't believe that though.

While it's true that first impression matters... But if I can make the reader tap the 'next chapter' with even just 1000 words, I would just go for it without any hesitation.

 

[MFontana]

There’s been lots of discussion about how long each chapter should be, with lots of different answers. But the first chapter is always the most important. How long are people’s chapter 1’s compared to their other chapters? Are readers more willing to tolerate a particularly long or short chapter if it’s the first one?

Most of my story chapters average out to be within the range of 5500 - 6500 words, those that end up significantly longer, I tend to break down into smaller parts (IE: Chapter 1.1 & 1.2 are both halves of chapter 1 in Duskfall, since the chapter ended up being upwards of 8,000 words.)
As for readers themselves, that will vary by your target audience, and individual personal preferences as well as the literary style and goals you have.
Typically Light Novels tend to be on the shorter side (2500 - 5000 words / chapter) but most novels lean more towards longer chapters, and typically follow the trend of a chapter being as long, or short, as it needs to be for the overall narrative.

However, if you're talking prologues and preludes, those tend to be shorter to set the immediate tone or themes, while delivering a bit of necessary background information for the reader on the story's setting and character(s). And yes, a Prelude and a Prologue are two very different things. A Prologue tends towards being more like a functional half-chapter, and a Prelude leans more towards a reflective internal monologue from one of the characters before the story begins. (At least in my experience, and in the execution of my literary works).

 

[Sunsetinapainting]

My first book is a mess but I ain't got the nerves to delete it, first chapter is less than 500 words. I might edit it in the future though.
Second books first chapter is more than a thousand words, I'm getting better I guess.
Second book

Being a cursed blessing

In the kingdom of Mitico were people were given tanks: The Blessed and The Cursed. The blessed hold the power to build, grow and create, they were considered necessary for the growth of any civilisation. They became farmers, workers, officials, leaders governors and Presidents. They were an...

www.scribblehub.com

 

[Feudyn]

750 words for my very first chapter and averaging around 1000 - 1200 for the next 4 or 5 after that.
Although, I am in the process of revising my first chapter so that number might increase to around 1200 words when I'm done.

Are readers more willing to tolerate a particularly long or short chapter if it’s the first one?

And to answer your question; honestly (and as shitty as it may sound), it all depends on whether readers like your writing ie. I have read first chapters that are at least 4000+ words long and they were an absolute pleasure to read, whilst also having come across web-novels where the first chapter were only 1000 words and I didn't even get through halfway (this is also part of the reason why I want to revise my first chapter in order to hopefully retain more readers just from them reading the first one).

At the end of the day, you won't have 100% control on who reads your first few chapters, but you can always write in a way that readers might prefer your web-novel over the next one.

Keep in mind that readers that read online mostly read off their phone, so they like to scroll. And reader's fatigue s a thing. So your sentence and paragraph structuring can play a big part to how comfortably they get through your chapter.