When writing a book, a number of queries can strike your mind. How many chapters are in a book is one of them.
The word count and number of chapters in a book are two things that can interrupt your writing process. You cannot easily determine the number of the chapter, as it has no simple answer.
So, to solve these questions of the new writers, in this blog, let's talk about the number of chapters in a book and number of words in a chapter.
There are some factors that affect the number of chapters and their length in a book. Expectations of different genres differ immensely, both on the length and number of chapters.
Additionally, the pace at which you are telling the story is also another factor that shaped the word count. How you reveal the story and give it to the readers can also determine the optimal breakdown of the chapters.
Apart from that, the interest of the readers and the audience engagement are also important aspects to be taken into account. The interest and the attention span of the readers may also affect the chapter length.
Related Blog must be read : Book Word Count Guide
There is no right answer to this question. There is no minimum or maximum number of chapters in a novel. Since chapters are simply the parts where authors interrupt the stream of their stories.
Yet, you do have the option to take the traditional approach and use 12-28 chapters in your novel.
Let's check out some certain genres to figure out how many chapters in a book.
Fantasy books are usually longer compared to other books, so you can anticipate having more chapters and words. Nevertheless, it actually relies on the authors' personal preference and the context of the story.
Although there are fantasy novels with longer chapters. For instance, The Hobbit is longer in chapters but not so many. There's no golden rule for the number of chapters a fantasy novel should have and how much longer they should be; it's just about what you put in a chapter.
For example, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien consists of 59 chapters while the average size of each chapter is 7,500 words. Compare to this, The Hobbit written by the same author, consists of a mere 19 chapters whose length is 5000 words.
Number of chapters in romance novels varies with the author. Most romance authors such as Jane Austen write extensively, while some other authors like to have short or books of average size.
In romance literature, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen contains 61 chapters, while The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks contains just 21 chapters.
When the issue of chapter length is concerned, the romance novels are also in the same length as science fiction, 3000 words. But don't forget, this is a mean length; there is always an exception regardless of the genre.
Science fiction novels are usually longer similar to fantasy novels, but that is not always the case. Sometimes chapters can be longer at times.
Although the number of chapters can be more, the word count is average in the science fiction novels. The word count of the majority of science fiction novels is approximately 3000 words.
The number of chapters in the novels of mystery, suspense and thriller can varies but generally is in the range of 12-100 chapters. A popular guideline of this genre is 12-15 chapters but some novels, particularly those of the fast paced story, can probably have 100 chapters.
The chapter length is shorter compared to other types of writing, typically below 1000 words. Many authors say short chapter length assists in fast pacing of the narrative, holding the readers and captivating them.
Non fiction books usually have between 5-20 chapters, based on the subject matter of the book, its length and style of writing of the author. Non fiction books may have 30-40 chapters, whereas the ones with shorter chapters may even have over 50. There is no fixed rule for the chapter count, just what is most suitable for the particular book needs.
The word count of non fiction book may range from 50,000 words to 80,000 words. The count may differ because of various reasons and may also be based on the genre of the book. As for instance, the self help books may be of 40,000-50,000 words, whereas the history and biographies books may be longer, i.e., 80,000-120,000.
Following are some practical suggestions of determining the number and length of chapters in your book. Look at this
There is no good answer to the question of how many words are in a chapter of a book. Number of chapters and their word count varies on what you want to include in your book as well as how you want to tell your story. It is not rocket science, just get the idea of the topic, create an outline and allocate one chapter to one key point, a well written book will be done.
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