I'm in the process of writing a novel (aiming for around 50,000 words *fingers crossed*) and each chapter is around 1000-1500 words. is that too short??
Chapters should be however long you want them to be. Some authors have one or two page chapters (like in Holes or The Standby Game), others have "typical" chapter lengths (Twilight, City of Bones, Need, etc.), and some are insanely long or don't have any chapters at all (Lord of the Rings, Oakland Yesterday). The point is, a chapter is just another way novelists organize their writing. Your chapters don't even have to be consistent lengths, just end a section where it feels right, and if you end up with 700 words in 1 chapter and then 10,000 in the next, that's fine. You're the writer, you do whatever you want to.
If all the world is but a dream---fantastic posing greed---then we should feed our jewelry to the sea. For diamonds do appear to be just like broken glass to me.
Expanding on what Roo said, James Patterson's chapters are extremely short. When I read books by him they'll usually have over a hundred short chapters. This is nice because it keeps the reader engaged and it's really quick paced.
Personally, I love short chapters. I can't write long chapters. It's fine if they're short. In a story I'm working on right now, it doesn't really have 'chapters' it's more in the format of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and some of these little sections are only about 500 words.
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
Thanks, that really helped me! I was just wondering what type of chapter lengths publishers usually go for? Do they like the short and snappy ones or the long and paced out chapters? I recently went to a sykick and she told me to get a publisher for my (not completed yet) novel. What do you guys think? Thanks
First of all, don't try to get a publisher or agent until after you're completely finished and don't at least one edit of your book. I know. Kind of sucks but just think about this. Let's say you get an agent and they say 'I want to read the entire novel' and you only have half of it done. You're kind of screwed then I don't think publishers care that much about the chapter lengths. As long as everything flows and sounds good, I think that is their main concern. It probably just depends on the story.
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
Personally my chapters are usually 1000-3000 words long. I personally think that it's more important the chapter end in a place that makes sense than how many words you have. One of my favourite books, Exodus, has chapters (written in third person present tense, which is interesting) about 1-3 pages long. Another favourite book, Lady Of The Hay, has chapters averaging 8-15 pages. I don't know the word counts but that's an example; just about anything can work-it always depends on the story and where the story should have its breaks.
