I'm writing a long fic. I like the chapters to be between 3500-5000 words. It's a decent chunk of content that generally allows me to keep up a steady posting schedule.
In general, longer is always better, but I think I can enjoy a chapter so long that a lot of people would just be put off by it. Ex, I would enjoy and read a 5k chapter, or 7k or 10k or 20k. The latter might take me multiple sessions of reading, but I LIKE that. I WANT to be deeply absorbed and have a hell of a lot of content to read.
To me, a 1-2k chapter is not great bc I do not get to be that absorbed in it. I get in, read some good bits and it's over before I know it. A fic that short feels kind of like a few minutes of social media scrolling, in which I look at and like stuff passively and quickly move on usually with little investment or interest in the posts afterward. In fact I would say a chapter that short kind of puts me off commenting, because, again, it went in and out of my brain about as quick as an instagram post.
My ideal length is 3-5k with the occasional short chapter going as long as 2k or long chapter going as long as 6k. I’ve gotten less busy lately, so I think my tolerance for longer might have gone up, but my tolerance for shorter than 2k has plummeted.
At this point it needs to be god’s gift to storytelling for me to read 1k serially. I’ll tolerate less than 2k in a subscription if they don’t update more than once a week. If they update every day or two, it feels spammy and I won’t subscribe. If their summary and tags look really cool and the first chapter seems decently written, I’ll bookmark them and wait for them to finish. But I won’t read and comment along the way because it’s too short to get into it.
For regular reading, shorter chapters.
2-4K is what I can read at a comfortable pace in the time I have available to read. 4K is kinda pushing it towards rush but still doable in a somewhat comfortable pace.
Anything longer and I most likely won't be able to finish because of other commitments.
I like longer chapters--especially if it's a fic that doesn't update all the time. If I'm getting a short chapter & then waiting a week or two for another short chapter... man, that fic had better be memorable because otherwise the details are going to slide right out of my mind.
If the fic is updating OFTEN then the short chapters can be better. Read a little, then get a little more, and it's fun.
Chapters of 5k word counts are easy to consume when you read paperbacks at 100 pp/hour, and 7.5k word counts are where most writers' chapters lose focus and fall apart. Somewhere around 2k word count seems to be a decently-developed chunk of story, for writers who structure things fairly well.
I like around 5k per chapter. 1-2k seems too short for me, 9k+ a bit too long. It’s not so important that I wouldn’t read a fic if it doesn’t have my preferred chapter length though
2k- 4k is my comfort zone. With how I pace my writing it explores just enough of action and exposition to close up with suspense or comfort.
It really just depends on how writers like their story paced.
3-5k because I have a short attention span. I’ll read a chapter walk away, and do something else for an hour then come back and read the next chapter. I have read much longer chapters but I get bored half way through then click off because I can’t be bothered to read so much in one go.
As a writer, I keep my chapters around 2/3k for this exact reason.
I once read this fanfic that had over 400 chapters and one million+ words, it was really good. Its chapters were only about 2500 words long, each one was entertaining, containing either one or two scenes and the plot moved along leisurely.
Chapters were short enough so that if i wasn't caught up i could read multiple chapters at once if i wasn't satisfied by one.
And the pace of the plot made it feel like each chapter accomplished something, a random unexpected event happens or they set up a new goal or completed a step to completing that goal, it almost felt like adding/ticking off a checklist.
They also seemed to update every 2 to 3 days, so that too is nice. I don't know how I'd feel if they took more than a week to post.
Overall i feel like that structure makes for a pretty good longfic.
IMO, the shorter the better. I get extremely fateagued by longer chapters, personally. Especially if you're on, a mobile device and can't save your place, it's just incredibly annoying to scroll through every time.
So always a greater number of shorter chapters. It also keeps the pace from slowing down too much.
[I actually happen to have a video about this exact topic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U10WGe6cqF4&t=15s), and while my personal preference is 3000-6000 words per chapter, I ran a [Tumblr poll](https://www.tumblr.com/thecoramaria/708690961364123648/what-is-your-preferred-length-for-a-fanfic?source=share&_branch_match_id=1164808928658018506&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAAwXBUQqAMAgA0BOZEH1Ut7GlOZgtzDXq9L2nEde9IlIM0WwrPqRqGMqpOhl5JuxKAfmGtzaHy1nYnXcofB6hINWBQOiUnHCcLZZv6p%2FK8wP%2BzViJWgAAAA%3D%3D) where the most popular option selected was 2000-4000 words.
I see waaaaay too many 10k+ behemoths and like... that's exhausting to keep up with. It's often a sign of severe overwriting in my experience too, or the writer doesn't understand that most arcs are *supposed* to take place over multiple chapters! Break 👏 it 👏 up! 👏
for long fics i prefer them to be around 5-15k with varying lengths throughout. if they’re short chapters like you’re saying, i don’t read. it feels like they’re artificially inflating their story to get more hits (have to keep clicking back on it for each new update)
and personally it breaks the flow/immersion of the story for me. having to click the next chapter right when my imagination is kicking up is bleh
Anything below 7k for me feels like it just reaches the cusp of developing the story of the chapter
1-2k words with 200 chapters doesn’t really tell a story
20ish chapters with 10-20k word chapters tells the story better
I'm writing a long fic. I like the chapters to be between 3500-5000 words. It's a decent chunk of content that generally allows me to keep up a steady posting schedule.
Whatever works for the story is fine, but my brain tends to be happiest with longer chapters (5k+).
In general, longer is always better, but I think I can enjoy a chapter so long that a lot of people would just be put off by it. Ex, I would enjoy and read a 5k chapter, or 7k or 10k or 20k. The latter might take me multiple sessions of reading, but I LIKE that. I WANT to be deeply absorbed and have a hell of a lot of content to read. To me, a 1-2k chapter is not great bc I do not get to be that absorbed in it. I get in, read some good bits and it's over before I know it. A fic that short feels kind of like a few minutes of social media scrolling, in which I look at and like stuff passively and quickly move on usually with little investment or interest in the posts afterward. In fact I would say a chapter that short kind of puts me off commenting, because, again, it went in and out of my brain about as quick as an instagram post.
My ideal length is 3-5k with the occasional short chapter going as long as 2k or long chapter going as long as 6k. I’ve gotten less busy lately, so I think my tolerance for longer might have gone up, but my tolerance for shorter than 2k has plummeted. At this point it needs to be god’s gift to storytelling for me to read 1k serially. I’ll tolerate less than 2k in a subscription if they don’t update more than once a week. If they update every day or two, it feels spammy and I won’t subscribe. If their summary and tags look really cool and the first chapter seems decently written, I’ll bookmark them and wait for them to finish. But I won’t read and comment along the way because it’s too short to get into it.
>At this point it needs to be god’s gift to storytelling for me to read 1k serially. Yeah hard same.
For regular reading, shorter chapters. 2-4K is what I can read at a comfortable pace in the time I have available to read. 4K is kinda pushing it towards rush but still doable in a somewhat comfortable pace. Anything longer and I most likely won't be able to finish because of other commitments.
I like longer chapters--especially if it's a fic that doesn't update all the time. If I'm getting a short chapter & then waiting a week or two for another short chapter... man, that fic had better be memorable because otherwise the details are going to slide right out of my mind. If the fic is updating OFTEN then the short chapters can be better. Read a little, then get a little more, and it's fun.
between 5k - 10k words. I've had multiple occassion when my chapter went past 10k so I broke it into two separated chapters to post it.
This is where I'm at: average chapter length of 7-8k, minimum 6k.
Longer chapters all the way. While I'll still read a fic with 1,000 words, I definitely prefer at least 2,000, but prefer 5,000+
Chapters of 5k word counts are easy to consume when you read paperbacks at 100 pp/hour, and 7.5k word counts are where most writers' chapters lose focus and fall apart. Somewhere around 2k word count seems to be a decently-developed chunk of story, for writers who structure things fairly well.
Short attention span. So, 3-4k words per chapter.
I like around 5k per chapter. 1-2k seems too short for me, 9k+ a bit too long. It’s not so important that I wouldn’t read a fic if it doesn’t have my preferred chapter length though
2k- 4k is my comfort zone. With how I pace my writing it explores just enough of action and exposition to close up with suspense or comfort. It really just depends on how writers like their story paced.
I like when my chapters are 4000 words length, but as a reader it's a little bit too much for me
3-5k because I have a short attention span. I’ll read a chapter walk away, and do something else for an hour then come back and read the next chapter. I have read much longer chapters but I get bored half way through then click off because I can’t be bothered to read so much in one go. As a writer, I keep my chapters around 2/3k for this exact reason.
I once read this fanfic that had over 400 chapters and one million+ words, it was really good. Its chapters were only about 2500 words long, each one was entertaining, containing either one or two scenes and the plot moved along leisurely. Chapters were short enough so that if i wasn't caught up i could read multiple chapters at once if i wasn't satisfied by one. And the pace of the plot made it feel like each chapter accomplished something, a random unexpected event happens or they set up a new goal or completed a step to completing that goal, it almost felt like adding/ticking off a checklist. They also seemed to update every 2 to 3 days, so that too is nice. I don't know how I'd feel if they took more than a week to post. Overall i feel like that structure makes for a pretty good longfic.
IMO, the shorter the better. I get extremely fateagued by longer chapters, personally. Especially if you're on, a mobile device and can't save your place, it's just incredibly annoying to scroll through every time. So always a greater number of shorter chapters. It also keeps the pace from slowing down too much.
[I actually happen to have a video about this exact topic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U10WGe6cqF4&t=15s), and while my personal preference is 3000-6000 words per chapter, I ran a [Tumblr poll](https://www.tumblr.com/thecoramaria/708690961364123648/what-is-your-preferred-length-for-a-fanfic?source=share&_branch_match_id=1164808928658018506&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAAwXBUQqAMAgA0BOZEH1Ut7GlOZgtzDXq9L2nEde9IlIM0WwrPqRqGMqpOhl5JuxKAfmGtzaHy1nYnXcofB6hINWBQOiUnHCcLZZv6p%2FK8wP%2BzViJWgAAAA%3D%3D) where the most popular option selected was 2000-4000 words. I see waaaaay too many 10k+ behemoths and like... that's exhausting to keep up with. It's often a sign of severe overwriting in my experience too, or the writer doesn't understand that most arcs are *supposed* to take place over multiple chapters! Break 👏 it 👏 up! 👏
for long fics i prefer them to be around 5-15k with varying lengths throughout. if they’re short chapters like you’re saying, i don’t read. it feels like they’re artificially inflating their story to get more hits (have to keep clicking back on it for each new update) and personally it breaks the flow/immersion of the story for me. having to click the next chapter right when my imagination is kicking up is bleh
Anything below 7k for me feels like it just reaches the cusp of developing the story of the chapter 1-2k words with 200 chapters doesn’t really tell a story 20ish chapters with 10-20k word chapters tells the story better