Pacing is one place where writers really struggle. A beta reader may tell them that a chapter feels laggy, but it’s actually fast-paced. Another beta reader may tell them that one chapter feels incomplete, but it’s a full scene.
There’s a reason for this, and it actually has nothing to do with how much space a scene takes up. Rather, it’s because readers experience books differently than writers do.
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Readers often experience chapters primarily as units of time rather than structural units of story.
When applying theory of mind to our writing, we also must consider how readers conceptualize a book. Instead of considering pacing as the speed of a specific scene, readers think about how fast a chapter takes to read.
In other words: you think in word counts, but readers think in units of time. This is a different dimension of what I discussed before in etiquette for writers, which is that readers consider page count rather than word count.
Why do readers think in page count? Because this allows them to predict how long your book takes to read. They are familiar with typical page counts for other books and remember about how long they spent on it.
If you say your book is 400 pages, they think, “Ah, it’s something to settle in with for a few days, read after work.” Whereas, a 100-page book is a quick read that they can bang out in one afternoon.
The pacing of two 400-page books could be completely different: one might have massive chapters and dense prose, or it could cover a lot of territory very fast. Regardless, readers will adjust their expectations depending on the dozens (or hundreds) of books they have read around that page count.
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Regular chapter breaks provide an optimal blend of predictability + novelty.
When you start to think of chapters less as scenes and more as units of time, you will understand why they’re important to readers.
A unique aspect of the human brain is that we crave novelty within a specific range of tolerance. Everyone has different ranges for novelty they can tolerate, but the most satisfying kinds of novelty are paired with a certain level of predictability.
I love rock climbing because it is in a predictable environment, with predictable procedures, but with new problems each time. I know what to expect when I go to the gym; I know the safety procedures that will (hopefully) keep me from dying; and I know how to do all moves I might use on a given route.
However, each route forces me to use the same moves in different ways and in different sequences. This provides novelty in a familiar framework so that I can focus on the challenge rather than second-guessing every little thing.
Reading a book is the same way. Chapter breaks provide the framework and predictability, while unique plot twists and interesting characters provide the novelty.
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Readers want natural stopping points where they can take a break.
My first book, 9 Years Yearning, has been called slow, even though it is only 33,000 words. This is likely because the chapters were very long, so readers don’t get a break. I went back and fixed this so that instead of nine chapters, we have a prologue, epilogue, and 23 chapters. Exact same word count, completely different pace.
Readers always want to know when they can set the book down and pick it up again without feeling lost. They are likely reading between other things: on the bus, during a break at work, after the kids have gone to bed. When chapters are around the same length, they can guess when they’ll get relief without feeling they are going to miss something.
It’s easier to remember that you just finished chapter 21 rather than remembering you were on page 221 when reading a physical book. However, this still applies when readers are using e-books that automatically open to the same page; their brain will not feel “done” with the chapter until they get to the next rest point, so they’re left frustrated.
It’s the same reason that I tend to write my articles in one go rather than stopping in the middle and returning; I have a cognitive loose thread that I want to complete.
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The word count of your second and third chapters determines how much read time that a reader expects.
Readers can often a tolerate a shorter first chapter because they recognize it as the opening scene, which is often meant to be punchier and more exciting. It’s around the second and third chapters where readers home in on expected chapter length and adjust their expectations.
For example, if you have a 1,900-word second chapter, then readers will expect that each chapter will take about 9.5 minutes to read, or 13 minutes for denser prose. They will then pace themselves through the rest of the book and continue zipping along through it, even during the slower-paced chapters, because they’re ready for their next stopping point.
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You can alternate chapter lengths, but this should be set up early.
Most books establish a typical chapter length, and readers subconsciously calibrate their expectations around that rhythm. There are exceptions of course, but those writers have primed their readers to accept different lengths, such as by having a long first chapter and a short second chapter. Again, readers will start to calibrate around the third chapter and predict what you’re going to do.
Say that most of your chapters sit at around 2,400 words. Then you have one 1,800-word chapter that has only one scene, followed by a 3,000-word chapter that has three scenes.
Readers will likely feel the 1,800-word chapter is incomplete, while the 3,000-word chapter drags, even if it gets through a lot in that time. It all has to do with the fact that the chapter is a unit of time, not a unit of scene. The reader has apportioned a certain time block to that chapter, so when it is shorter or longer than that time block, it feels wrong.
Think about how you feel cheated if you paid for 30-minute massage, but the masseuse decided to dip out after 20 minutes, thinking you’d be so relaxed that you wouldn’t notice. Given that the human brain has a little mental clock embedded in it, you would notice, and you’d be annoyed. Likewise, a massage that was meant to last 30 minutes but actually lasted 45 would feel weird to you, even if you couldn’t articulate why.
But, if you start out with a 3k chapter, then a 1.8k chapter, then a 3k chapter, readers will catch on. You could compare this to when you had a 30-minute college class, then a 1.5 hour one, then another 30-minute class. Now you recognize how to organize your day, and you won’t feel cheated.
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The shorter the average chapter, the faster the pace will feel.
Thrillers, romances, and horror stories often have very short chapters, maybe two or three pages. Being able to complete multiple chapters in one session makes the book feel faster than it might actually be because readers are clocking the time it takes to read each chapter.
Two readers might read for the exact same amount of time, say 30 minutes. If they can get through only one chapter in that 30 minutes, then they will feel the book goes along at a smooth and steady clip. But if they can read five or six chapters in that 30 minutes, the book seems to go much faster because there are more stopping points embedded in the pacing.
They may choose to keep reading much longer than they would otherwise because they keep getting little completionists hits each time they finish a chapter.
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Consider the potential attention span of your readers and adjust chapter length accordingly.
Again, I ran into this issue with 9 Years Yearning, which is why I can tell you that 3k is about where people stop paying attention and feel the book is slow. My books with chapter lengths of around 2k to 2.5k have gotten the best feedback because they’re around 15 to 20 minutes long.
Remember the Pomodoro method, which suggests people should work in 25 minute blocks? That’s about how long the average person can provide sustained attention to a given task. Keeping your chapter read time a little shorter than that means readers can give each chapter full attention without getting bored or lost.
As always, there are exceptions. Different genres attract different readers. Those who gravitate toward dense, fact-heavy historical fiction will likely have a longer attention span and prefer longer chapters. YA has short chapters because children have short attention spans. And so on. Knowing your genre and audience helps you decide what those readers will expect from your book.
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Vary whether chapters end on a resolution point or a cliffhanger depending on how you want readers to progress.
If every chapter hangs on a mini cliffhanger, readers might start to get fatigued. Their adrenaline spikes right before each chapter break where they feel the urge to continue.
However, as I said in my article about melodrama, you can only ramp up the pressure so much before readers begin checking out.
Just as you need breathing room in your plot (a la my Plot Mountain method), you also need to provide that breathing room at your stopping points. Let some chapters finish with a small resolution, and let some chapters finish at a cliffhanger.
This is where the “one more chapter” feeling hits readers very hard, and it pulls them toward the next mini resolution. If they keep getting the “one more chapter” urge, then they start feeling dragged along without their consent.
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One or two short “shocker” chapters will feel more intense, even if not much is happening.
In my fanfic “Joya no Kane,” I got the most hype for Chapter 6; people in my Discord were exploding over it even though nothing really happens.
Why? Because it’s drastically shorter than all the other chapters. Basically just a mission directive. Given how the plot had been progressing, readers knew this was the turning point where everything would spiral out of control.
Ensure that this shorter chapter comes within similarly paced sections rather than scattering them all over the place, or sandwiching a standard-length chapter between two. That sandwiched chapter will feel sluggish even if it’s only one scene.
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A longer climax will feel more complete and engaging than one that is shorter than your standard length.
Now, you might think, based on what I said, that the climax should also be short, but I would argue that the climax should be the longest chapter. This is where reader engagement is highest and where they expect the most depth.
A climax is the focal point of your story, so it deserves the greatest attention. Readers might feel cheated by a short climax because they feel like everything was working up to this, but then they received a “skimpy” chapter.
This is true even if you draw the climax out over several chapters. Readers are waiting for that hit, and they may not even realize they’re in the climax if it’s not noticeably longer than the other parts of the book.
I would suggest having your climax as one chapter that is about 1.25 or 1.5 times longer than your standard length, but ideally within about 30 minutes reading time based on the Pomodoro method. Readers can stretch their attention span a little longer than 25 minutes if they’re deeply engaged, but not over the entire book.
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To ensure your chapters are about the same length, do a reconciliation process after your first draft.
Reconciliation is a concept in accounting where the accountant will check that all internal financial records match any external documentation. For example, if an invoice says the company owed a contracted $25,000, but accounts payable only says $20,000, that’s a serious issue.
I’ve coopted the term for how I ensure that all chapters are around the same length. Unlike accounting, though, I give myself some wiggle room: about 200 words on either side.
This step is done after the drafting phase, which is only about getting the words down. Only after I understand where I’m going and have a full idea of the plot do I think about adding more.
To do this, I make a spreadsheet where I input each chapter length into a cell. I then use a formula (included below) where I set a standard word count, then determine how many words each chapter needs to get to that standard word count. This helps me see about how much more each chapter needs.
Once I know which chapters need more, I reread that chapter and leave a note for myself about additions. For example, if one chapter needs 600 more words, that means a whole new scene. One that only needs 200 more words can just have a bit of environmental description sprinkled in, or a short additional conversation.
I then go in and see which chapters are significantly above my standard word count and cut them down, or switch things around so that count is added to another chapter.
One little trick here is to check your current word count, then set your required addition as your stopping point. Keep an eye on how your word count is going up and you’ll know about how much you have left to do.
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Writing is a purely cognitive process – and reading is too. As such, a bit of psychology can make a huge difference in how your writing is perceived. By considering chapters as time blocks instead of scenes, you can coax readers into steady movement through your book without changing your writing style at all.