Yeah, But How Many Chapters Is It?
post by Michelle Griep
Here's how the conversation usually goes:
Them: "So, you're an author?"
Me: "Yep."
Them: "Are you writing a book right now?"
Me: "Yep."
(hey, cut me some slack...I'm a writer, not a conversationalist)
Them: "How many chapters is it?"
Me: "Uhh. . ."
And therein lies the problem. Why is that even a question? Do more chapters mean the book is better? Do less mean you're a schmuck of a writer? Do people not realize that there is no magic number of chapters that make a book because chapters are entirely subjective? Shoot, I've read some novels wherein a chapter consists of one word. Just one. Really.
So today I'm doing my duty to educate the readers of the world. Books are not generally gauged by a certain amount of chapters, but rather by word count. Here is a handy-dandy guideline (I got these figures from Wikipedia so you KNOW they're reliable) . . .
Novel over 40,000 words
Novella 17,500 to 40,000
Novelette 7,500 to 17,500
Short Story under 7,500 words
Now granted, these numbers are a bit fluid. You can find novels that error on the side of being shorter or longer. Most novels run in the 70,000-100,00 range. These numbers are simply the average counts.
Them: "So, you're an author?"
Me: "Yep."
Them: "Are you writing a book right now?"
Me: "Yep."
(hey, cut me some slack...I'm a writer, not a conversationalist)
Them: "How many chapters is it?"
Me: "Uhh. . ."
And therein lies the problem. Why is that even a question? Do more chapters mean the book is better? Do less mean you're a schmuck of a writer? Do people not realize that there is no magic number of chapters that make a book because chapters are entirely subjective? Shoot, I've read some novels wherein a chapter consists of one word. Just one. Really.
So today I'm doing my duty to educate the readers of the world. Books are not generally gauged by a certain amount of chapters, but rather by word count. Here is a handy-dandy guideline (I got these figures from Wikipedia so you KNOW they're reliable) . . .
Novel over 40,000 words
Novella 17,500 to 40,000
Novelette 7,500 to 17,500
Short Story under 7,500 words
Now granted, these numbers are a bit fluid. You can find novels that error on the side of being shorter or longer. Most novels run in the 70,000-100,00 range. These numbers are simply the average counts.