| So you're writing a book with chapters, and you | | | | scenes in a play. So one chapter could be 15 |
| want to know how long the chapters should be. | | | | pages and another 2 pages. |
| Cool. You've spent all day looking without success. | | | | The third issue has to do with a physical element |
| Should have been simple to get an answer. But it | | | | of the market. How long does it take to read a |
| wasn't! | | | | chapter? When we read a fiction book especially, |
| Why not? | | | | but also with executive or popular how-to books, |
| The answer and the reason for the difficulty are | | | | readers use chapters to split up our reading. In |
| related. The answer is "It depends". And that | | | | other words, most people like to stop at a |
| wasn't the answer you wanted. But don't get | | | | chapter end. That way they are picking up the |
| discouraged, I'll give you a more precise answer | | | | book at a point the author has indicated is a stop. |
| shortly. | | | | Most people can read 10 pages in a half-hour to |
| But first, I need to explain why you've been | | | | an hour. Most people get to read in half-hour or |
| having difficulty and why it depends is the answer. | | | | hour blocks. So the market tends to favor books |
| First off you need to realize that what you are | | | | of 10 pages or so. |
| writing will affect the length of chapter you want | | | | But just because most books have 10 pages per |
| to use. The more formal the book, the longer the | | | | chapter doesn't mean that your book should have |
| chapters can be. A text book can have chapters | | | | 10 pages per chapter. |
| as long as 20 or 30 standard double spaced | | | | So you need to do some market research. Go to |
| pages. An executive how-to book should be | | | | a bookstore and check some of the bestsellers in |
| around 10 pages. Fiction can have chapters as | | | | your niche. Or better still check some of the |
| short as four or five pages. And even less. | | | | books accepted by your editor in your genre. |
| Second, chapters are used to organize your book. | | | | Then count the number of pages in the chapters. |
| Especially with executive or popular how-to books, | | | | Is there a lot of variation? Or are all chapters the |
| the mind's ability to process information is | | | | same length? For one book are most chapters 10 |
| important. The length isn't as important as the | | | | pages long and another 15 on average? Or are |
| number of chapters. The cognitive limit suggests | | | | they all the same length. Are they generally longer |
| that we should have between 5 and 9 chapters. | | | | than 10 pages? The variation from book to book |
| Chapter length will vary in order to work with | | | | and within the book will give you an indication of |
| that limit. | | | | how firm the requirement is for chapter length. |
| In fiction, the number of chapters is related to | | | | Once you know how open the market is to |
| the story -- the number of scene changes and | | | | variation in chapter length, you'll know if you need |
| time changes. Generally, a chapter or sub-chapter | | | | to stick to 10 pages per chapter, or 15 pages or |
| is used to underscore the change of scenery or | | | | if you have complete artistic control. |
| time. This corresponds to the use of acts and | | | | |