Chapter Section Length

I sit here staring at a 4 page chapter section.  I remember writing sections that were 8-13 pages long in the previous books with a few at 6 or 7.  So, I wonder if there is something wrong with a short section.  I’m editing, so it could just need to be flushed out, but I’m noticing a trend of shorter chapter sections now.

It could be possible that at the 4th book in my series, there is less going on beyond the main plot.  The characters know each other very well, so the ‘getting to know you’ conversations aren’t happening that often.  Luke’s love life is the same disaster it always is, but he’s appeased the intrusion of Nyx and Sari to make it a minor issue.  So, I wonder if I’m missing something.

The overall chapter is about 21 pages, but maybe I’m simply a short chapter writer instead of a lengthy writer.  Still, not sure if I should be worried because it’s only chapter 2.

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About Charles Yallowitz

Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn't working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. 'Legends of Windemere' is his first series, but it certainly won't be his last.
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4 Responses to Chapter Section Length

  1. Author Unpublished's avatar Cary Morton says:

    In my experience, the best advice for chapter lengths I’ve come across is this: Chapters should be just as long as they need to be – no more, no less. Or in normal-people’s terms. Chapters can be 50 pages and they can be 1 paragraph, the important part is that they end where it’s relevant to the story, not where it meets a particular page count. Don’t worry about it so much :3

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    • Charles Yallowitz's avatar slepsnor says:

      Thanks. I was just kind of shocked when I got to it and thought I had screwed up somewhere because I’m normally in the 7-8 page range.

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      • Author Unpublished's avatar Cary Morton says:

        haha it varies for me, but I tend to start watching my lengths at about 3,000 words, once i’ve hit that mark I start wrapping thins up . sometimes they end up being 5k words, sometimes it’s more like 2800 LOL but it’s a comfortable range for most of the stuff I write :3

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      • Charles Yallowitz's avatar slepsnor says:

        I never really paid attention to my word count. I tended to look more at the pages for some reason. I’m thinking of simply making sure what I write is good and the length be damned. 🙂

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