Splitting Chapters?

[ThisAdamGuy]

I was discussing my future upload schedule on the litrpg subreddit, and I mentioned that I was worried about burning through my backlog too quickly and having to go on hiatus. When I told them my chapters range from about 3000 to 6000 words, a few people suggested that I should split the longer chapters into multiple smaller chapters. Not only will that increase my backlog, but webserial readers generally prefer chapters around 2000-3000 words long. I like the idea of using smaller chapters to increase my buffer, but if there's one thing online authors can never seem to agree on, it's chapter length. Some people say 1000-2000 word chapters are best. Others say that anything less than 3000 words isn't long enough to be satisfying, and preferably they'll be over 5000 words long.

So I tried out what they said and tried splitting my chapters. If a chapter was 4000 words or longer, I split it into as many chapters as I could without making them too short. While a couple are around the 1700 to 1800 word mark (and I plan to touch those up later) most of them are now somewhere between 2000 and 3000 words long, and my chapter count went from 35 to 46. But that also means that a lot of scenes that used to be one single chapter got broken up into two or more chapters. I feel like I've done a fair job bringing each chapter to a satisfying ending point so it leads into the next chapter without feeling like I'm ending things mid

What do you guys think? Am I better off changing the story back so that it has a smaller number of big chapters, or sticking with a bigger number of small chapters?

 

[naosu]

I've run into this same problem. What I would suggest is DO split chapters.

I had people say they like longer chapters. And I also had people say they like them shorter. There were 2 different groups. So I studied it out. And neither choice is wrong.

HOWEVER....

One of the reasons why its good to split chapters is that when you go to do editing its too hard to always catch things that you need to catch on really long chapters! It makes editing a huge headache also if there's like 5k or more words in a chapter. The whole thing just goes better by splitting. And the worst part is people say they won't ding you for spelling or whatever, but somehow they do, and all that its in editing. I do wish I'd found this out earlier on. Long chapters also take so much more time to edit also.

People will sometimes say do something and then ding you for it in the ratings even though they suggested it. :S

 

[CharlesEBrown]

For print, any length is valid (Peter David had a chapter of a book that was literally just the chapter number and "It seemed the polite thing to do." in Howling Mad), but 3000-7000 is considered standard.
For webnovels. 1000-5000 is "valid" with 1500 to 2500 the "sweet spot" to aim for. At least that's what readers and PocketFM have been telling me.

 

[Krilatixuy]

Honestly I don't really get why small chapters are such an issue if people can just press the next chapter button.

Large chapter on the other hand...

With the attention span people have, most can barely read past 2k words I'd guess. So splitting makes sense.

But I also think that each chapter should make a point. If a chapter doesn't make a cohesive point then it's not a chapter, just a text that has been cut. If a scene is cut in half to make two chapters, then the first chapter risks alienating the reader.

 

[rainchip]

I'd say split them unless the chapter really calls for the length. As a writer you probably think 2-3k words isn't much but for the average reader that's plenty to sink their teeth into. Plus, you can always edit later if you decide to novelize it or something. I've recently cut back from the larger chapters and it's not just easier to write, it's a lot easier to edit. Stopping points are definitely a bit tough at times. That I haven't quite figured out fully.

 

[DireBadger]

When it comes to posting chapters, I think splitting them up is generally the best, 1000-2000 words each.
publishing? 'natural' chapters run best. They are there for your whole book, not something they can just pick up after school and then put down to do their homework.

Published, I have had a 600-word chapter followed by a 6000-word chapter. It works fine for books, but places like here, big chapters fail.