Questions about chapters?

Not the store...





Anywho, how long should the average chapter be. I mean, some books its a page, and others... it's 1/3rd of the book. I'm thinking normal chapters, how long should they be (in words, pages).





This one's for the writers out there, or those who enjoy writing for the hell of it; How long does it take you to complete a chapter? Or a whole book?





Thanks :)
Questions about chapters?
maybe about 10-15 pages





it took me about a year to write my book but it can take different amounts of time depending how elaborate you want to be with your book








as far as editing, you can always find something you think would be better





(I am still editing my book)





for chapters it took me about a week and a half for each...


you cant rush it...inspiration just comes to you
Questions about chapters?
My chapters are about 4 Microsoft Word pages long at about size 10 font. Sorry, I don't know the number of words.





Chapters vary-- I know some that are a page long, and others that go on for about 20 pages. Just when you stumble upon a good spot to stop, stop! =)





As for books, my novel was about 80 Microsoft Pages, again, I'm not sure how big that is in true-book form.





Hope I helped. Somehow I doubt that.





-An Author
Reply:A whole book--I wouldn't know. Chapters can be any length; I would say the average is between 10-20 pages of the books I read.





For me to write a chapter, if it's interesting I can get one done in a few hours. I wrote 4 and half chapters in about three hours because I had so many ideas and loved writing that part of the book. The average was about 8-10 pages for that book. There are about 250 words on one page, so do the math.





But you can do it however you like.





Good luck!
Reply:I average five pages at font 12, Times New Roman for each chapter. Unless the chapter is an extraordinary gripping one I believe five pages is sufficient for a chapter.
Reply:I think it depends on the style and theme of the book. Chapters are then can be either shorter if you want to go for straight dialouge and action or longer if you want to pack more detailed descriptiion into each chapter.





These are not hard and fast rules. Sometimes a chapter can serve as a filler/transition from one scene to another, or provide background material before introducing a new character into the plot.





I've seen various styles of both longer and shorter chapters done, but you can select your own style of doing chapters.


when writing.





Hope that helps, Karrenia
Reply:no matter how long you make them, always use a size 12 font. Editors read constantly, and anything smaller hurts their eyes. Also, 1 Microsoft Word page = 1 page of a manuscript.





Chapters should be between 10 + pages, because it takes 1 and 1/2 of your pages, to make 1 book page.





And one last thing: always make your pages double spaced, indent paragraphs 5 spaces each, never type on both sides of a page [assuming you use a type writer], and always start a new chapter about a 1/3 of the way down the page.
Reply:ive read books with like 3-6 pages worth of a chapter, and some books that are worth a whole honking 30 pages! it doesnt really depend on how long the chapter is, a chapter just moves on to another topic or thing that's happening in to book.
Reply:I don't put too much thought into the length of each chapter when I write, but they usually end up within the 13-15 page range--Times New Roman and size 12 font. The average chapter page count I see when I read is around 20, give or take 5.





How long it takes me to complete a chapter? Ohhh...dunno. I first write it out on pen and paper, and on a good day I can write up 3 pages. So if I keep that up, I could finish the rough-draft in a week. I edit as I type the draft into my compy, and that takes me forever because I get nick-picky with every-single-word.





So....maybe 2 weeks for me? As for a whole book...I'm been working on v.5 of my story ever since early winter of 2007, and I'm probably 1/3's done as of now. X_X
Reply:That is entirely up to the author. The shortest I know is Stephen King who had a very effective one word chapter in the book Misery. (The word by the way was "Rinse") He had a couple three word chapters in the same book.





I have also read a few two word chapters in different books. James Patterson averages about a page and a half. Cormac Mc Carthy didn't use chapters in The Road at all. It is entirely up to you and your writing style.





My theory is that it should be as long as the scene is. I break chapters when the scene changes. A very famous author once told me that I needed to vary the length more and once in a while throw in a "bridge chapter" - a very short chapter that bridges two longer chapters. Most of the time I finish the first draft of a chapter in one sitting. 3500 - 4500 is about normal for me.





There is no right or wrong. As always, the best answer is just write what you want and wait until you sell the book and let the editors take over. Pax-C
Reply:I think it varies between authors, but according to the Word Count on my computer...


My average chapter is 1,095 words long.


That's about two or three pages in 12 point Times New Roman.





So if you're like me, and your chapters are pretty short, you should probably combine Chapters 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, et cetera. I'm gonna do that now.





EDIT: Oh, and it takes me about a half hour to two hours to write the rough draft of a chapter. It depends on how much effort I put into it.
Reply:oh wow. nice to see someone else who enjoys writtting also.





ummm... probably about 15-20 pages per chapter. really up to you tho.





i've almost finished my first chapter and it's taken me 2 months i've altered and rewritten it loads though.





good luck with your story. What is it about?





hope this helps.