Chapter Length in Fanfiction

[Gonnabefamous]

Opening this up to all fanfiction readers and writers. Reading over my old fanfiction, I have found that when I get to my really long chapters I get frustrated with how long it takes me to finish reading them.

I wonder, what do you guys prefer when reading/writing fanfiction?

Do you prefer to have an update very often, with somewhat shorter chapters? Or to wait a while for a very long, quality chapter?

Just curious, and I thought it would be a good discussion topic!

[Euca]

I think that depends on the fanfiction I'm reading, but generally, I prefer moderately long chapters. I think it's better to wait a while and get a long chapter rather than update often with shorter chapters that look like you wrote 'em without putting in much thought. Long chapters are obviously more detailed and if written properly, they're better than shorter chapters which dont explain much of anything and just increase the number of chapters.

A lot depends on what the author is comfortable with, and his/her ability to hold the attention of the reader for a long chapter (which is very hard to do). But as a reader, anything from 15-25 pages is the ideal length for me. If it's too long I feel it'll take too much time reading so I might not read it at all. Which is why it has to be just the right length.

[Boss Crystall]

I prefer long chapters, but I also prefer long stories, so. But, yeah, I agree with euca. I'd rather wait awhile for a long, well-written chapter than read a short chapter that didn't have much thought put into it. I think it's also easier to hold the readers attention, even if you take a long time to update, if you put more effort into what you're writing. Because not all people who write short chapters have bad stories, just like not all people who usually write long chapters have good stories. I think it also depends on the fic. I've been reading a lot of fanfiction lately on the kink memes on LJ and a lot of the time, the authors there post really short chapters, but I've still read lots of really good fanfiction on there.

[Gonnabefamous]

Yeahh. See, I always used to like really really long chapters, but I think it's because back when I was reading them, I had more time and I thought of chapter length as synonymous with writing skill. I always thought it showed a lot of talent to be able to construct a long chapter that held my attention the whole time.

I am re-reading my fanfiction right now, like I said before, and it's funny- the story is 44 chapters long, and like 295,000 words, and I'm on chapter 35 and I'm probably only 60% of the way done reading it!

Then there's this one story I've been reading and I've been flying through the chapters, but I kind of like being able to read a chapter when I have a few minutes and come back to the story later.

[The Taco]

I like long chapters and long stories... The story 'Because You're Mine' has really long chapters, and it took me a long time to read it. I read it in the same amount of time I read a normal book.

[Euca]

The only reason I dont like particularly long chapters is that they're often not good enough to hold my attention, and the sheer number of words just sort of dissuade me from reading it. It's a psychological thing I guess.

[Sadira Black]

I like really long stories with really long chapters. There's nothing better, to me, than a story that takes quality time to read.

[greenorange]

Thank you for this write-up. That is all I can say. You most unquestionably have produced this blog into a thing particular. You clearly know what that you are carrying out, you have covered a lot of bases.Thanks!