What do people think of short chapters in novels?

Are they off putting or are they a plus?

For me, I like short chapters, as the writer gets to the point with fewer words, plus I feel more involved with the story.

As a reader what do you think?

Dawn, (not a member of the MTV Generation, honest).

Dawn,

I like short chapters. Makes a storyline more exciting, keeps the pace quick, keeps the reader on edge. Like Alistait MacLean. Sock it to the reader with a tour-de-force of words in motion. I also think it gives a book a direction if a writer can keep a quick pace up.

Steven

I think it’s a matter of personal choice. I’ve never stopped reading a book because I thought the chapters were too long or too short. Do whatever you feel comfortable with. You’ll still have to write the same amount of words, and remember - if you don’t get your reader past the first page it won’t matter a damn what length your chapters are.

Dee

Thanks guys,

I know it sounds potty, but once started, I tend to find more time to read books with shorter chapters. I think it’s psychological, the gripping "just one more chapter" scenario.

James Patterson does it well. Maybe it depends on the genre. It works wonders with mystery and crime.

I agree with getting the reader past the first page, but I do feel some writers tend to waffle - filling a chapter.

At the moment it appears to be fashionable, the new black in fiction.

Dawn,

Waffle, Dawn? Did you have someone in mind? And are you saying waffling is fashionable? Or short chapters?
Sorry, but I'm confused now.

Dee.

I've always been worried about my chapters being too short. I think it's just been good fortune so far that my chapters form naturally every 3500 words or so and most of my novels are about 24 chapters - giving me a 84,000 words (approx) novel. I think that if I opened up a book on a shop shelf and saw it had 40 chapters I'd think that it went on for far too long even though it might be only 80,000 words or so long. I don't know. I guess it is a psychological thing, and I suppose as Dee said, if the first page has gripped me then I will want to read it regardless of how many chapters it has or how long or short they are...

Okay I've just gone round in circles...Dawn, I think I may be one of those wafflers...

Honey with your waffles anyone??

Nahed

I like short chapters. I don't have a lot of time to read, so if a book has short chapters I can fit in one or two here and there, and easily find my place when I come back to it. If the chapters are too long, I have to stop in the middle of a page, and spend the first few minutes next time trying to remember where I got up to.

Sam

Dee - Perhaps ‘padding’ is a better word than 'waffle'.

I don’t have a particular writer in mind, just ‘some’.

Recently I have found, short chapters have kept me in the story – so wondered if perhaps it does have a major effect on storytelling. I was curious what writers thought, didn’t mean to upset anyone, or point fingers.

Dawn,

Nahed – I’ll have a waffle with honey, thanks.

I have no particular preference, really; horses for courses, I suppose. But, if it's short chapters you want, the master is Kurt Vonnegut: boy, do his books have zip and swing! I think you probably read faster and more with short chapters, because there isn't a great mass of text looming intimidatingly ahead. Maybe. Maybe not.

Mike

There's a very short chapter in Iain Banks's novel Dead Air - it's only two words long.

James Patterson has never done anything well!

Short chapters rule!!!

Waffle. Padding. Means the same thing to me but I think I know what you mean, Dawn. I think there is a danger, if there is too much emphasis on chapter length, to concentrate on that rather than the quality of the writing, which could lead to padding.

Personally, I don’t worry about chapter length when I’m writing. I don’t even write in chapters. I write the novel and then divide it into chapters at suitable break-points after it’s finished. Some of my chapters are around 3000 words, some are more than 8000.

But, I read too and I do understand a reader’s need for a breather. I’m very particular about POV so, whenever I switch characters, I insert a break space which means that there are plenty of places for a reader to stop without needing to get to the end of the chapter.

I’ve even begun to think about dispensing with chapters altogether… but that might be a step too far… dunno…

Dee

I wouldn't like to be thought of as a writer who uses either waffle or padding. Both are too damn negative for me. And they go against my firm belief that every single word has to be working for the story - and if that's not the case, they need to be cut out - very quickly!!

As for chapter length - I think it's possible to vary the underlying pace or heart-beat of the work by using a combination of longer and shorter chapters. And, perhaps, shorter chapters do add a snappy, more urgent feel to the writing - but a similar feeling could also be achieved by using frequent scene changes within a single longer chapter.

Must admit, I don't like the idea of writing chapters to a given word count! Sounds much too prescriptive to me!

I don't believe there's a definitive answer to this one. It may be necessary to try different combinations of chapter length to gain the overall effect you want

John

Goodness me, Dee. Writing without chapters. There's a radical thought. I actually have a chapter plan in place before I write - not the word count, but an outline of what will happen. It helps me to focus and move the story on. Shows how we all write in different ways, doesn't it. I'm always fascinated by the ways other writers actually write. As for short of long chapters - I think the character can determine that depending on POV. I don't think it matters too much, although if I read a book that has roughly the same length chapters and then a very short one is plonked it, I notice it as an oddity. I think a sign of a good story it that is should be read without noticing the writer. I'm writing a children's novel which naturally lends itself to shorter chapters - or does it? Maybe that's another subject entirely.
Sue

For this question, I use the example of my Star Wars novels, which use small chapters, and are mostly mindless little romps I used to read on the train, against something like The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which have huge chapters, and is the finest fantasy trilogy I have ever heard of.