Book Chapter Writing Tips

Are you writing a book wondering if your chapters are too long or too short? If you're wondering if your book chapter size is optimal, then this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of a fabulous self publishing services firm, Book Launchers. When you work with us, we'll pair you with a kind, compassionate and experienced book coach or professional writer. So you'll get personalized support with the challenge of how should I structure each chapter and how big should each chapter be? And it's one of those things that really is different for every book. There isn't a right or a wrong, and I know that can be good and bad news. Chapters are important though. They divide the body text into more consumable bits. Some people might not call them chapters, but ultimately, whether you have parts or sections or pieces, you're breaking your book up. A chapter can be really long or super short, and that's where it can be a struggle for a new author. Ultimately, your chapter should be long enough to get point across for that chapter, but short enough that you have kept the interest of the reader the entire way. We're all about noboringbooks at Book Launchers. See, we even put it on a T shirt and nothing says boring like a chapter that takes a reader seven sittings to get through. So we really don't want that. But cutting a topic off just to hit a word count for a chapter won't work either. That's why it can be easier to have that outsider perspective guiding you through chapter creation. That's also something that a content editor or or a developmental editor will address in your manuscript as well. Now, while I don't think you have to stick to similar chapter sizes in your book, you do want to consider the chapter format and keep that consistent. For example, if you're going to start with an epigraph, lead with a story and then teach a lesson, that's the structure of how each of your chapters should flow. Let's look at a couple examples. Raj Sundarasan's book the DAP Strategy follows the format of teaching a concept and ending the chapter with the the DAP to do's in Sink or Swimwear. Jennifer Weissman starts each chapter with a different story, taking you through the journey of becoming an entrepreneur in the fashion industry and surviving that cutthroat industry. At the same time as she dealt with ptsd, each chapter ends with a personal picture related to that chapter's story. Guy Blaise's book Love like the French sets each chapter up the same way a letter sent to him and then his response follows. And it's all inspired by the lessons he learned from his maternal French grandmother on relationships and love. Every chapter ends with a quote, which is a French proverb, and he shares it in French and English, like this one letters what he calls his chapters. A book you leave without extracting something from it is a book you haven't read. In each of these books, chapter lengths vary. Some of these chapters are quite short, probably less than 1500 words, while some of Raj's chapters are probably more than 5,000 words. So if you're looking for a typical nonfiction book chapter size range, it's 2500 to 5500 words. And the number of chapters in a typical book are 10 to 20. But there's examples on every every end of the spectrum. And you can look at what Seth Godin and Steven Pressfield have done. Their chapters are super short and there's tons of them. So rather than placing your focus on chapter size, I recommend focus on writing that makes a reader want to keep reading. No matter how long your chapter is, have a good pace. Use those chapters to break up the information into digestible chunks, make a point, and have the end of the chapter be a place where there's a natural reflection point on what was just shared or learned. Shorter chapters can make for easier reading, so I generally would lean towards shorter than longer, but again, not at the expense of important information. Your chapter should be as long as it takes to convey the story or the message of the story or the point that you're teaching in that chapter. Then you would send it to an editor who hopefully helped tighten it up if that's what's needed. If you're telling a story in your chapter, focus on the reader with that story. What do they need to know? Are you telling the story with emotion and descriptive words that bring your reader into the moment with you? Like saying the temperature had risen and the sweat was starting to form on my lower back, making me feel sticky. Or are you saying it was feeling hot in the room? You can see how those are very different. How you write is going to impact how long a chapter can feel to a reader. And that's really the question you need to ask yourself. How long will this chapter feel to my reader? If you have longer chapters, breaking up the chapter content with some catchy, intriguing or leading subheadings can make a world of difference to a reader as well. Great subheadings can also serve to re engage that reader that might just start slipping, skimming your content, a great subheading can catch their eye and suck them back into reading your words again. There isn't one way to write a chapter and there isn't one length to stick to. If you're writing right now, my advice is don't sweat it. Get the content out of your head onto the page and let a developmental editor dive in and help you figure out what chapters need to be broken up, where you need more material, and even what order those chapters should go in for the best flow. We have an all awesome crew of noboringbooks trained developmental editors on our team, so reach out to us@book launchers.com apply to set up a call and talk about how we can help you and your manuscript. And if you're looking for more tips to write a page turning book, this video is going to give you some awesome writing techniques for nonfiction. Or if you're now wondering what a developmental editor does, well, this is a perfect video for you. Both are a guaranteed good watch if I say so myself. And frankly I'd love to see you over there. So go ahead, click on over. I'm waiting.