Hello.  Sarah asked about how long a chapter should be, or something close to that.  I think she said she had about 30 pages.  I haven't thought about chapters much myself, but that inspired me to research it a little bit.
Every book has a different pacing, so I can't really tell you how to divide your chapters.  Chapters have to end at a crucial moment.  You probably know already, but you can't just end at some random place and then open right up again.  Like: Bob looked at a brick.  CHAPTER FIVE.  Bob looked at the brick again and saw it was not red.
Most chapters end with either 1) Closure: one part of the problem has been resolved, or something has been discovered, or the character is slipping away to sleep.  The moment just feels finished.  2)Suspense: a cliffhanger, something big has just happened and you know another thing is going to happen very soon.  This doesn't have to be a new chapter but it can be.  3)A quirky line.  Something funny or just smart.  This will make it sound more finished even if there isn't a big reason to end the chapter.
Okay, so the question was about length, so I won't ramble on about any other obscure things.  I read that page-turning thrillers have short chapters, like 2-3 pages, but anything else usually has around ten pages.  It could go anyway.  Just depends on what's in the writing, not how long it is :D





Sarah
1/23/2011 07:38:21 am

Thanks Jaime!

I was hoping around 3 pages or something, like I have now. (basically!) thanks for answering so fast! :)

Reply
1/26/2011 06:53:01 am

Good interpretation Jaime! That makes me feel a little better about my very short chapters

Reply



Leave a Reply.