Klems of writers digest says that there are no hardandfast rules and that each chapter in your book tells a ministory that forwards your overall plot. May 11, 2018 each chapter is a mini story in its own right, so to work properly, just like any story, each chapter must have, as a bare minimum, a beginning, a middle, and an end. This averages to about 22 to 23 chapters per novel, with the average chapter length around 4,280 words. However, the true word count depends on the category in which youre writing. Young adult fiction allows for a lot of flexibility in word count. Chapters should be just long enough to serve a purpose and, once. And as you can see, it varies, depending on the story. I tend to be a very unconventional author when it comes to chapter length and word count for the entire novel. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. But remember, this is more of a guideline than a rule.
There are plenty of books that purposefully play with the word counts of their chapters. The standard minimum is 50,000 words, and the average number for a full length novel peaks somewhere at 90,000, with around 250 words. Each chapter in your book tells a ministory that forwards your overall plot. You could end a novels chapter after an interlude instead. When it comes to chapter length and layout, my rule is uniform throughout all my works. Given this, being aware of some of the reasons why you might endstart a chapter is helpful. And this ebook page length differs significantly depending on the book genre.
If your story justifies the length, you neednt worry if you get up to 150,000 words. Another way of determining chapter length is to use the scenesequelscene or sequelscenesequel approach. For that reason, writing a long, lengthy book just about their. While many agents say they wont reject a book solely based on length, many also say they take word count into consideration. The society of childrens book writers and illustrators scbwi does offer length guidelines in terms of the appropriate number of manuscript pages for various genres meaning the number of pages a writer would submit to a publisher. What is the average number of words per chapter for each. Chapters need to be relatively equal in length for the structure of the book to make sense. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing. If you know how long the book is, you can divide it into eighths to find the perfect timing for all your major turning points. Put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k.
Theres no hard and fast rule for when to end or start a new chapter. The highest word count was 115,000, the lowest was 47,000, and the average was 75,000. I generally write horrorfantasy, as a result much more description is required to properly tell the story. If you dont know how to find your documents word count, this article shows you how. The title with the shortest chapters, on average, was whirlwind in the thorn tree, averaging just 2,900 words each. Line count governs length irrespective of whether the line contains one word or ten or twelve. Virtually every book i try to shop by a debut author thats any longer than thatregardless of categoryreceives the same response from editors. This post unlocks the word counts of some popular ya series. If you have a 1,000 word chapter, a 4,000 word chapter, then a 2,000 word chapter, then you need to make it clear to the reader that each has a unique value. Childrens book manuscript chapter length consistency is what sort of keeps the engine of your pacing going.
However, many authors, frustrated with the low price of ebooks, have taken to writing ebooks that are between 40,000 and 50,000. Your guide to the world of wattpad by whatsawhizzer whatsawhizzer with 52,738 reads. Also, make sure your chapters are under 3,000 words. In other words, in a 75kword novel with an average chapter length of 3000 words, chapters should range from 27003300 words. Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. Within the publishing industry we tend to talk about the length of a book in words. The hunger games uses 3,700 word chapters, dividing each chapter into three parts. Some novels contain 50 or more and some extremely rarely contain none. For most publishers, a book is novel length when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. It makes quite a difference whether you want to publish a childrens picture book, a 50recipe smoothie book, a science fiction novel or a technical encyclopedia. Rules of the road chapter length and chapter length.
The answer is that there is not a fixed length or a precise word count you should follow when creating chapters for your book. The longest average chapter lengths were lord of the rings 7,500, prince of nothing 8,700, and the beefiest chapters were found in the black company, with. When im dividing my manuscript into chapters, how long should each chapter be. The average chapter length in my book is roughly nine pages. That gives us a rough range of 61,00089,000 words, with about 3 out of 4 queried ya books falling into that range. So the length of these affects the pacing of your story, and the way the reader. For full length novels on wattpad, the average or recommended length is generally 20003000 words per chapter. But those requests are extremely rare, as the majority will set a limit of 8k. Even if you dont have enough words to qualify as a novel, it will ultimately fall into one of the other categorizations. New writers tend to assume that a chapter must be a certain set length in order to maintain the average novel length of around 80,000 95,000 words, but in truth, chapters can be as long or as short as you need them to be. Oct 21, 2009 a story is technically a novel at 50000 words, but this would be a very slim novel.
If you write in 12 point times new roman font, tha. To give you a general idea of the average chapter length, the range is usually between 3,000 to 5,000 words. The collection as a whole posted an average chapter length of 6,100 words. The average fantasy novel should have between 50,000 and 150,000 words.
As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. If im writing a novel, this gives me 40 chapters and 70,000 words when im done. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words. T he indie author chris fox coined the term potato chip chapters for easilydigestible book chapters of a certain size. Is one microsoft word sheet a full one sided page of a.
Somewhere around the 20page mark is about the average. Beginning writers often ask how long the chapters in the novel they are working on should be. Romance is a unique genre because the plot is all about two characters and their adventure with one another. Jun 15, 2017 this is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. I use the target average of 1,500 words per chapter. Jun 27, 2019 word counts give writers something to aim for and an idea of what a readers expectations might be. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. Or to put it another way every chapter needs a three line plot. Though the average word count of a chapter is around 2,000 5,000 words, it all depends on your story. Also, the chapters are evenly divided into 3 titled parts. The english word novella derives from the italian novella, feminine of novello, which means new.
My question is about novel structure and word counts. Generally a paperback novel contains 250 and 300 words per page. Like word choice or sentence length, its a matter of feel, of craftsmanship. A short story has a word count of under 20,000 words though anything over 10,000 puts it into that no mans land along with novellas where its a long slog for a short story but too short for anything resembling a novel. Even more frustrating is the conflicting information from online sources if you really want your novel to fit within the genre, its helpful to know the proper length of the competition.
The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. The figure was found through looking at a number of books text stats, until brave new worlds 64,531 word count landed in the exact center of all books50% of books have fewer words and 50% of books have more words. And ya novels, which have grown in popularity, can often be the same length as a standard novel 80,000 words. What is the average word count for a scene in a chapter. The 300,000 word novel will be so expensive to print that you may not be able to turn a profit without charging a salesdestroying price. But again as a surprise to me, dune was a close second, averaging just 3,800 words per chapter. A single novel can be longer, but once the length is above 110,000 words publishers may look at cutting it back, unless it is a particular kind of book books over the 110k word count are usually considered epics. While 50,000 words is a fairly firm minimum, plenty of ya books reach up to 100,000 words, with a sweet spot at. Upper middle grade can hit in the 50k word count range possibly longer, if its something really special. Ive seen very strong opinions on this, most on the side of keeping chapter lengths within a particular work within a narrow range. If youre curious about how long a chapter should be, check out this post thats all about chapter length. But while the length of a novel is to a large extent up to its writer, lengths may also vary by subgenre.
Because novels mostly cluster at the shorter end of that 70120k spectrum. I just wrote a prologue that ended up right at 500 words, and i wanted to know the same. What do most writers see as a good average chapter length. I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading. Jul 18, 20 the longest average chapter lengths were lord of the rings 7,500, prince of nothing 8,700, and the beefiest chapters were found in the black company, with an average chapter length of 11,300 words.
In comparison, the database gives an average length of 89,000 words for adult fiction excluding fantasy, smack in the middle of the commonlycited range of 80,000100,000. The hunger games has 27 untitled chapters, and about 3700 words per chapter. What is the average chapter length in a young adult novel. Each chapter is a mini story in its own right, so to work properly, just like any story, each chapter must have, as a bare minimum, a beginning, a middle, and an end. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. Analyzing chapter lengths in fantasy fiction creativity hacker. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction.
The 30,000 word novel is going to feel mighty thin when the customer takes it out of the amazon box. Apr 05, 2015 generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. Dec 15, 2009 now, on to chapter length consistency. You dont have to pick a number like 80,000 and then divide it by 30 chapters to give you 2500 words a chapter average. Why chapter length matters more than you think medium. The average length of the novels we publish varies, but is almost never fewer than 80,000 words. Publishers and literary award societies typically consider a novella s word count to be between 15,000 and 40,000 words, although definitions vary. You shouldnt set manuscript guidelines for yourself on chapter length. The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the. Another interesting way to find a good chapter length i think, would be to sit down and read a book from the first chapter, for about 510 minutes, or however long you wish your chapters to be, and see how many words you have read in that amount of time. Mar 03, 2015 17 thoughts on how long should novel chapters be. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. Still, there ought to be a good reason for beginning and ending a chapter. Oct 18, 2017 and as you can see, it varies, depending on the story.
Its a question often asked by aspiring authors wondering if their manuscript is several thousand words too long or short, but its also an intriguing one for readers to consider. The overall average for all five books is 5145 wordschapter 1. Literary agent danielle zigner takes a look at typical novel lengths per genre and what appeals to publishers within the current marketplace. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. I have counted chapter length in one famous older mg adventure novel and found all chapters to be within two hundred words of each other. But here, for example, are some famous novels, along with word counts and chapter lengths. However, most agents and writers say your mystery novel should be the same word count as general fiction, 80,000 to 90,000 words. Every book is different and for any suggested word or page count you see, you are likely to encounter several popular fantasy books that are outside. How many words are in an average chapter in a novel. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. Jun 05, 2017 childrens book manuscript chapter length consistency is what sort of keeps the engine of your pacing going. And when im reading, i definitely notice, you know, with my editorial clients, i have manuscripts in front of me all the time.
Well do more research on this, but if in doubt, shoot for 80,000 words. Well, as to be expected with a book niche like ours, somebody decided to write an article for a howto site on how to go about writing and publishing a light novel in america. Analyzing chapter lengths in fantasy fiction creativity. Id guess that the actual average number of words in a novel was somewhere close to 90,000 words. Words counts of bestselling novels better novel project. Some will tell you 2,500 words is the average, while others will say that 3,000 to 5,000 word chapters are more likely to be the norm. This makes me wonder if publishers choose book sizes based on average scene length, to create the illusion of a certain pace. Before you decide your average chapter length, its a good idea to think about the purpose behind dividing a book into chapters. Before diving into the specifics of genrebased word counts, lets look at the broader picture of average book length. I definitely notice when a chapter is a lot shorter or a lot longer than sort of what has been established. Remember that a light novel is under 20,000 words but more than 15,000 words, so if ever wanting to publish it, be sure to convince the publisher that this is not a kids book. The length can vary greatly between genres, though. In other words, in a 75k word novel with an average chapter length of 3000 words, chapters should range from 27003300 words.
Young adult novels have a wide variation in lengths. Thats generally considered enough information to make a reader feel like an update was worth it, its long enough for most people to read in under ten minutes, its mobiledevice friendly, and its plenty of time for things to happen. As with everything else when it comes to writing a book, these are only guidelinesnot rules. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors.
Right now, when it comes to novellength word count, its all about 90,000 words. A first book, is preferred by publishing houses to be anywhere from 60000 90000, any more than that and apparently, they tell you to do some slashing, because they dont want to risk spending lots of money on print costs then have you novel be just like the other thousands of novels out there that dont make. If you have a 1,000word chapter, a 4,000word chapter, then a 2,000word chapter, then you need to make it clear to the reader that each has a unique value. A suitable boy, by vikram seth, 592,000 words, 19 chapter, average. A novella is a work of narrative prose fiction, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. Romance novels often run between 50,000 and 90,000 words on average. So, the average wordcount for a typical novel is anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 words. Word counts give writers something to aim for and an idea of what a readers expectations might be. As far as word count goes, there was another question posted that pertained to that, and the answer i gave for that question should give you a guideline for the different types of books. May 11, 2009 word count seems like a leftover from typewrited days. Way back when, the average short story was 20 pages and a collection of them and a novel would be about 150 pages long.
The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages. As previously discussed, there are different requirements for both fiction and nonfiction genres. They can vary in length between just a couple of pages and 50 or 60. Armed with these word counts, i now have a range of lengths that have been proven popular. With fun, lighthearted, simple middle grade youll want to stay around the 20k30k word count range. Ive heard and read several reasons for this, including. Now that weve covered how many words are in a novel, its time to break it down even further by finding out the ideal number of chapters in a novel and how many words are used in a typical chapter depending on the writing genre, word count in book chapters can vary considerably. And i was sweating over wordpage length of my new novel. Learn the average wordcount for every type of novel, novella, genre, etc. Stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation.