length of chapters

[Kathy BurrusParticipant]

Hi there! Not sure where this question fit, but it felt like this might be as good as any. I’m in the process of writing my first book. It’s my journey and I have discovered is just as my life began to grow in fullness, so do my chapters. Early chapters are 1500plus words. Later chapters pick up at 2500 and the last section they are about 4000.

My question how important is it to have the chapters similar in length? Some of the topics seem to need to stay together.

suggestions?
kathy

[Abby FlynnKeymaster]

Hi Kathy!

That’s a great question. I would definitely say as much as possible it’s important to try and keep chapters at semi-equal lengths. Especial as it comes toward the end of the book, to have your longest chapters there could be a bit laborious for the reader.

I really like the book writing tips Jeff has in this article on word counts for books http://goinswriter.com/tips-writing-book/.

Definitely understand it can be hard breaking up a section, but there are definitely creative ways of doing that give readers a chance to catch their breath. Hope this helps a bit!

Abby
Goins Writer Team

[Kathy BurrusParticipant]

Thank you Abby! I had come to that conclusion ales also, but I was sure he had addressed it. Appreciate the link.

[Jeff PickettParticipant]

Kathy:
Shawn Coyne, author of the Story Grid, recommends chapters be around 2000 words or less. He chooses this length because its the right amount of words to squeeze in a read before bedtime, etc.

I suspect Shawn and Jeff are “related” in some way. Shawn’s website appears to use the Tribe theme.

Jeff

[Author]

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