There are many rules that exist within writing, and even more for each subcategory of writing. For novels, one of those rules is that the whole is divided into chapters. As rules go, that’s about as universally recognized as you can get.
But what about the length of those chapters? That’s a whole different story.
My own philosophy on chapter length has changed quite a lot over the course of my creative journey – and since that journey is far from finished, it may change yet again. Similarly, over time the accepted length of a novel chapter has changed dramatically. The average chapter in The Lord of the Rings is over 7,500 words long, far longer than would be considered proper in the modern day.
When I started writing, my chapters vacillated between too long and ludicrously long. I had somehow got the idea into my head that an average chapter should be 6,000 words; some of mine were a good deal longer, and I was worried if I wrote a chapter that was only 3,000 words. It took me years to figure out that those lengths were wrong, and to arrive at a better standard for chapter length.
Disclaimer
Before I get into anything else, I’ll get the most important rule on chapter length out of the way first.
Don’t focus on it.
The biggest mistake I made early on was paying too much attention to my lengths, trying to hit some arbitrary target in my head. When you’re writing to a word target, you start to subconsciously write differently. Don’t be like me. Don’t do that. This post is intended as a guideline, not a hard rule to follow. Don’t trust my rules, and don’t trust anyone else’s.
What goes into a chapter
Before you can start to think about the length of a chapter in terms of words, you need to think about it in terms of what it actually contains: scenes.
As with most things in writing, it’s a matter of personal style how many scenes are handled in a single chapter. Some writers believe that each chapter should contain only a single scene. Others write chapters spanning multiple scenes, multiple days, or even multiple characters.
My personal rule is that a chapter should cover a single event. The number of scenes isn’t important so much as that the whole chapter is driven by a single narrative event; a meeting, an encounter on the road, maybe a duel. Each of these events might contain several scenes or maybe only one, but they’re all strung together by the same immediate plot thread.
With that out of the way, how long should it be?
Short enough to comfortably break the narrative into convenient pieces for even a slow reader, but long enough to feel like it has weight of its own. I like to aim for 3,000 words as an average chapter, but I by no means consider that a hard rule.
What I do consider a hard rule is the upper limit. In a complete reversal of how I did things when I began, I now strictly limit myself to 6,000 words for a chapter. If I feel I need more than that, it’s time to take a step back and look at the plotting. I’ll either break the chapter into two or just cut it down in scope. It’s one of the only rules I don’t break.
With my first manuscript now behind me (at least for the moment), I’ve found that my average chapter length has dropped as I’ve begun writing the sequel. Mid-to-high 2,000s has been typical so far, with a few in the 3,000-4,000 range thrown in.
The advantage of this shorter chapter length as a guideline (not a target!) is that it encourages tighter plotting and writing. Shorter chapters are more focused, and a sequence of more shorter chapters lends itself to snappier pacing than fewer long chapters. The unimportant bits are easy to leave between chapters, without the need to create organic bridges in the text. Basically, everyone wins.
And following that rule, that’s where I’ll stop. My recommendation is 2,000 to 4,000 words. Practice short chapters. One event per chapter. Cheers!