by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
From time to time I get emails or
comments asking about manuscript basics.
The emails are frequently apologetic in nature as if the writer were
asking something that everyone knew but her.
That’s just not the case because I see shifts in areas even relating to
manuscript formatting—it’s always worth asking.
I used to write longer chapters than I do
now. There are several reasons why I
think I did…although I didn’t put much thought into it at the time. One reason is that I built in a good number
of section breaks into each chapter. My
chapters frequently encompassed several scenes (so, there’d be a big change of
some kind at several points in the chapter: a change of setting, a change of
characters my sleuth was talking to, etc.)
Another reason is that I put my chapter breaks in as I wrote—and I don’t
think I paid very much attention when the last chapter had occurred or how many
pages I was into the new chapter. There
would simply seem to be a great spot for a chapter break and I’d stick it in
and go merrily on my way. My editors didn’t mind this…I was never asked to
change the location of a break or to make my chapters a different length.
What made me switch to short chapters
were the readers. Obviously, we’re
talking about genre fiction/commercial fiction here—if you’re writing literary
fiction, this probably won’t apply. But the readers actually complained about my
chapter length—both directly to me in email and in customer reviews on online
retailers like Amazon.
That made me immediately change
course. Readers said that their busy
lives meant that they needed more frequent chapter breaks so that they could
find their place easier (these are obviously readers who are reading the mass
market paperbacks and not the ebooks.)
They also felt that longer chapters set a slower pace…they felt they
weren’t making progress.
At this point, I’ve usually got one scene
per chapter. My chapters are ordinarily
10 pages (double-spaced Word docs…each page at 250 words…although sometimes my
pages have fewer than 250 words since I use a lot of dialogue.) I haven’t heard a bit of criticism on my
chapter length since then. And no
comment from Penguin on my change….they don’t seem to mind one way or the
other.
My other change in the way I approached
chapters was that I inserted chapter breaks at the end of the first draft. This helps me to keep the breaks fairly
regular and helps me adhere to my 10 page-break goal. Sometimes, obviously, I’m not exactly 10
pages between breaks. There will be some
areas in a book where a chapter break is perfect…cliffhanger moments. So, if I’ve got a body discovered, I’m not
sticking that right in the middle of chapter ten. I’ll either make chapter ten super-short or change the length of bordering chapters.
Again, as I like to reiterate on these
kinds of posts—there is no wrong or right method. I’ve never had an editor talk with me about
chapter length.
How long are your chapters, as a
writer? As a reader, do you have a
preference?
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