How long is too long?

[JayT]

4 minutes ago, William King said:

 

Okay, I understand the logic, but I don't agree. I like to divide chapters into sections, and the sections are each a scene. I might jump about in time and space with those scenes, but they all stay in the same chapter. The chapter is defined by reaching a certain point in the story that is a natural break. It could be arriving somewhere, it could be having resolved an issue. The chapters are also to some extent defined by length - maybe that comes from too much TV, but I like my chapters to be roughly equal in length, they are my episodes in the series.

 

Oh and be careful about mixing water and electric - You could get a shock!

 

We essentially said the same thing, semantics got in the way ...As far as length of chapters goes, I don't mind if some are longer than others. Sometimes more things happen all at once, and you always need a filler chapter or two to drop subtle plot introductions to be picked up later. 

[ReaderPaul]

On 8/28/2017 at 3:32 PM, Sam Wyer said:

Yes, OK, insert your own joke here and lets get it over with  

 

I'm currently posting an old story of mine (Cal) which I wrote a year or two ago, and each chapter is usually ~4000 words.  I've noticed that many stories posted here have shorter chapters than this, which is interesting only because stories I am working on more recently (and yes, they will be posted on GA I promise) are tending to have even longer chapters.

 

So my question is essentially; as a reader, do you care how long a chapter is?

 

Sam

     Yes, I do care!  On Nifty a long time ago, I read a story where the shortest chapter was 35,000 words, and the longest was 70,000 words.  With the exception of the first chapter, about 45,000 words, all the chapters could easily have been broken into two or three or even four parts.  I no longer have a reading speed of 1000+ words per minute, so that makes for too long of a read when one also has to exist in real life with many interruptions at home.

     Only about three or four authors can hold my attention now for those extra long chapters or over 20,000 words.  At this point, on Gay Authors, Dabeagle can, CraftingMom could, if the chapters were that long, and R. Eric can, and Cynus can, Timothy M, the super-talented Geron Kees definitely can,  and possibly Rob Colton and Mark Arbour, and MrM. (I reserve the right to discover others.)  There are a very few on other websites as well than can. 

 

     If there is a way to split the chapter so each chapter is less than 20,000 words, that is often good, because life can get in the way.  Since many authors do not approach that number of words in a chapter,  it is rarely a problem.

[Brayon]

To me, when posting online, and in serial story mode, the length of a chapter needs to be long enough to convey the intent of the chapter. It can be as small as 500-1000 words, or as long as 10,000 - 25,000 words. It all depends on what you are trying to get across to the reader in that one specific chapter.

 

Using my story Aeris as an Example. The first few chapters posted online were several story chapters put together because they were too small to stand alone, in my opinion. Now I write a chapter at a time to put what I want in the story out there for that specific point of the story. See Act 3 - Part 1 vrs Act 1 - Part 1.

[ReaderPaul]

3 hours ago, droughtquake said:

Corner Folding is not as bad as breaking the spine of a book! I made the mistake of loaning a book to a coworker who took a paperback that was so gently read that it still looked brand new and returned it with the spine broken in several places along with creases in the cover! I never loaned him any other books after that.

 

     Such mutilation as spine-breaking is unacceptable.  I have close to 7,000 physical books, and value all of them (some much more than others).  I have had too many returned in poor condition or not returned, and only rarely do I loan books at all.
     Less than a month ago I finally got a Kindle app because some things were way too expensive to find in physical form.

[Brayon]

"Books should be given away freely as gifts, never loaned." - Admiral William "Husker" Adama, Battlestar Galactica.

[Daddydavek]

CJAMES' story 'Circumnavigation' is the longest story onsite.  The chapters average at just about 6000 words and each was greatly anticipated when posted.  My point is write your story the way you think is best.

[FormerMember4]

The length of a chapter certainly doesn't matter. As long as the flow, consistency, and content are there to support a quality chapter. 
 Personally, the only time I don't like a long chapter... If it revolves around a deep subject matter like suicide. Sometimes you can only take so much on those subjects. 

[Former Member]

1 hour ago, ReaderPaul said:

 

     Such mutilation as spine-breaking is unacceptable.  I have close to 7,000 physical books, and value all of them (some much more than others).  I have had too many returned in poor condition or not returned, and only rarely do I loan books at all.

I just bought three hardcover Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin books to complete my collection. Foolishly, I left those same titles (as well as the complete Harry Potter series, also in hardcover) behind when I was evicted from my apartment and became homeless. All three were in New condition, but one was damaged in transit by poor packaging (possibly intentional to disguise the real condition of the book). I still own a few other physical books, but Tales means the most to me.

[Matthew Jacob]

SO long as what you're saying is moving the story forward and creating some good character development, a chapter can be a paragraph or a Bible, the plot will keep the reader enslaved to the prose, if it's good.

[LJCC]

The thing is, not all story novels are divided into chapters because let's face it...sometimes, we can read 100 pages or more in a day when reading a book, and chapters, most often than not, destroy the fluidity of the story, unless for all intents and purposes, that is how the writer intends it to be.

 

Personally speaking, there is no determinable limit to how long a chapter should require especially in this site's format unless there is...like 20k perhaps. Not sure. But you always have to adhere to YOUR OWN story's integrity. If you wish to post a 2k chapter because it is quintessential to the 10k chapter that follows, then go ahead. Do it to me baby. Uhuh uhuh. It's your story.

[Solivagant]

I honestly don't care as long as they're precise and concise. I have "devoured" tons of novels which had over one-thousand pages in one weekend because they were entertaining, interesting, and to the point. And I have spent over a month reading some books with fewer pages, since I thought the chapters were too long making the story boring, dull, repetitive, and tedious. I have even stopped reading some books altogether because of that. The same has happened with some movies and television shows. There is always a serious problem when they try to make the story longer than it should be, right? ("The Simpsons," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit": I'm looking at you!) My advice? No fillers: precise, concise, and to the point always make a story entertaining and interesting. 

 

 

[Thorn Wilde]

My chapters tend to average around 3000 words, but that's me. I don't really care whether chapters are long or short when I read other people's work, but when reading in this sort of online format, it does start to get tiring when you start pushing 10k+ words per chapter. In a physical book, I stick in a bookmark. Online, I feel like I need to finish.