Our weekly discussion.
Last week I missed and maybe burnt bridges with some of my readers but I want to rebuild and converse the weekly discussion conversations with other bloggers.
I discussed last week, at the moment I am reading, The Tower on the Rift by Ian Irvine. Here is the link if you want to join the discussions.
This weekly discussion is: chapter length.
How long do you think a chapter should be?
In my point of view and after reading a vast amount of different authors in the fantasy genre, as a writer, there are two major factors that contribute to chapter length:
The Scene and Point of View.
The scene. For me, it is a major factor to determine chapter length. Each chapter, if you base it on a scene, should have the story structure of a short story with an introduction, climatic moment and a resolution. However, it must contribute to the plot otherwise it will be a collection of short stories.
Point of View.Another major factor for chapter length. A point of view change makes a smoother transition for each chapter, with the scene intertwined. As a writer, I love it when a book has multiple characters like Kate Forsyths – Witches of Eileanan there is more depth in the plot structuring and foreshadowing.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?
Post your comments and answers below. If you think someone has an interesting point of view and answer, please invite them or share this post to them.
#DWTSmith #pointofview
Douglas W.T. Smith 
when I wrote my 1st book, they hated how I finished it . But my opinion I like it, because I know it make people want more, they want to know what will happen. I believe in setting the scene and I hope I did second book will be as thrilling as the first.
LikeLike
Thank you for the input, it is always refreshing to see other authors perspective on the matter. I agree, if you do it by scene it will entice the reader and make them want more. Goodluck with the second book 🙂
LikeLike
I think another thing to consider is format. Is it a novella, a novel, or an epic? I wrote a novella (which is coming out in a couple months 😀 ) and decided to keep the chapters short so that I could have more of them. The chapters ended up mostly being a single scene each, from 1500-200 words, ish. I think it helped create the illusion of more content. Plus I was doing shifting POV, which the smaller sections helped. For an epic, I wouldn’t want too short of chapters. I don’t really care for books that have like 80-100 chapters. It just seems ridiculous. In the end, I think the reality is as you hint, chapter length depends more on the work itself than a standard rule or convention.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes definitely format! Of course the chapter length shouldn’t rely on conventional rules but it helps for the authors to understand those rules to twist, bend or break them.
I am excited to see it 😄 I agree, 80-100 chapters seem too much, it confuses the reader with the constant jumping of POV and are the scenes worth the chapter end.
Thank you contributing, like always 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the shifting point of view chapters are a bit self-explanatory, since they occur sort of naturally where you would change points of view.
I tend to go by scenes as far as how long a chapter should be. Does the scene come to a satisfactory close at the end of the chapter? Does the next chapter open the next scene? If the beginning of one chapter feels like it’s a continuation of the previous chapter, it annoys me, because then I feel like the break wasn’t necessary.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are self explanatory but for some reason in books I have read, they leave a white space instead of ending the chapter.
They are the questions that create a smoother transition from one to scene to another; and chapter to chapter.
If there is no flow, there is no river 😃
LikeLike
Oh, I know what you mean! Oh, no, no, I hate that. xD It drives me bonkers, because I’m thinking there’s a minor scene shift or something, not a POV shift, and I find that extremely jarring.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know! It is so frustrating and jarring like listening to a skipping song 😆
LikeLike