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I read Ignite Me not too long ago, which, like the other Shatter Me books, has very short chapters. It has 416 pages and seventy-eight chapters, which averages about five pages a chapter. And I noticed, while reading, that I had a tendency of saying “one more chapter” over and over and over again because they were so short, it was easy to read another chapter without worrying about a major time commitment.
A few days ago, however, I was reading a book with 377 pages and twenty-five chapters, which averages about fifteen pages a chapter. And it was a good book, and I enjoyed it, but I noticed when I reached the end of the chapter, I was way less likely to read another chapter if I had any time constraints whatsoever.
I imagine this is partially because I don’t like to stop reading mid-chapter (though I will if I have to for some reason), so before starting the next chapter, I sometimes have to consider how much time it’s going to take me to finish the chapter. And if it’s getting really late, or I’m getting tired, for example, chances are I’m going to put it down for another day. (Note: This only applies to print books, because I don’t usually go through the trouble of checking with e-books).
But not so with short chapters. I’ve been known to breeze through three or four short chapters (even though it’s the equivalent of one long chapter) because psychologically I guess, it just seems like it’s not going to take me too long. Which is silly. But I do it anyway.
So I’m curious to see if anyone else does this, too. Do short chapters encourage you to read more, or is it just me?
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29 comments:
The exact contrary occurs to me. Chapter break sounds like an invitation to stop reading, while long ones push me to read more as I never stop reading in a middle of a chapter.
One of my favourite books, "The Dreaming Void" by Peter F. Hamilton (part one of a trilogy), has got only 6 chapters in 570 pages! I've read it in no time. :)
Hands down, I totally agree.
Short chapters give me lots of opportunity for stopping points, something you need when you have a kid who wants your attention every half hour. Having said that, books with NO chapters, like the road, also have this affect on me because I create the stopping points.
Either way, I'm less likely to re-pick up a book with long chapters at any time of the day. Books with long chapters mean I have to delegate time for them, time I don't always feel I have...
Ahhh! That's crazy! I'd have trouble with this... lol
That's so funny! I suppose I understand the temptation to stop at a break, as I don't like to stop in the middle of a chapter either, but I think my slowness comes from being less likely to start reading the next chapter if I know it's going to be long. A book with 570 and six chapters I would almost definitely stop part-way through a chapter and be very hesitant to start another chapter.
I can't even imagine reading a book without chapters. I'd be hesitant to pick it up at all! But otherwise I totally agree, and I can see how it'd especially be helpful if you're also trying to take care of a kid while reading...
You don't stop if you want to know what happens next. ;) Besides, some scenes are 30 pages long!
Oh, absolutely! I'm exactly the same with chapters. If the chapters are long, I'll flick ahead to see how many pages and usually decide it's too long and it'll have to wait for another time. If the chapters are short, I may well stay up all night reading because I have the "just one more chapter" mentality.
I think one of my least favourite books to read (content/writing aside, though I didn't enjoy those much either) was Saturday by Ian McEwan, which has precisely four chapters. There aren't any convenient stopping points either, and I would have given up if I hadn't been reading it for a class!
30-page-long scenes? @.@ I suspect that book would lose me. lol
LOL :D
Well, it's space opera. And there are two more books. The whole trilogy is about 2000 pages.
You know, I love and envy this author. He is able to publish a 300k-word novel almost every year. And they are all great! But you must like the genre. ;)
I think short chapters can be a good psychological move...they're a fast payoff, but also a trail of breadcrumbs. They lead you along, because you want to know more, and because they AREN'T long, well, you can read just one more right? And another?
Ahhhh that doesn't sound fun. Chapters that long seem to be more like parts to me than actual chapters...yikes.
But otherwise, you're definitely right that short chapters help enable the "one more chapter" mentality.
Wow! That's so intense! I tend to be wary of books that are THAT long unless I already know I love the author.
Breadcrumbs! I like that analogy. You're totally right.
Definitely. I'm the same. I just read a book that had very short chapters and largely because of that fact I read almost the first half if the book in one setting. That's amazing for me as it normally takes me at least a month to finish reading a book.
Also don't you find that when you do go for just one more it turns out to be the longest chapter in the book? Maybe it's just me.
As far as stopping points go, I'm not picky, but I prefer shorter chapters over longer ones because the plot seems to move faster. Chapters generally end on some sort of cliffhanger or miniature turning point, so to me shorter chapters equal a more intense plot and a more interesting read. Some of my favorite books have lengthy chapters, but they definitely took me longer to read than books like The Maze Runner. If the chapters are long, I tend to create stopping points because I feel like I'm being dragged.
It's amazing how the "one more chapter" mindset can make you fly through a book...
Ha ha while this doesn't happen every time, I've had that happen. And it figures...but to be honest, I usually don't mind. :D
I totally get that. You make an interesting point about chapter endings usually having a cliffhanger or mini-turning point—you're completely right, so I suppose in a way, books with shorter chapters would have more of those, thus giving the feeling of a more intense plot. I hadn't thought of it that way, but it makes sense to me...
I love books with built-in stopping points, whether chapter breaks or scene breaks within a chapter. Stephen King's books always follow this style and I can read his stuff quite quickly because of it. I, like you, cannot stand stopping in the middle of a chapter. I have a harder time jumping back in, for some reason. I know it's purely psychological, but there it is.
Scene breaks are another good resting point—oftentimes if the chapter is going on too long or if I really need to stop even though I don't want to, I'll read to the next scene break. For me, I find it harder to jump back in mid-scene because I tend to have to re-read a bit to remind myself what I'm jumping back into.
It makes no difference to me. If the story is well written and holds my interest, then I'll read it to the end. The length of chapters is a non-issue.
Since every story is uniquely different, so is the way of dividing a story into chapters. There is no right or wrong way to do it as long as the chapter divisions work for the individual story.
I completely agree that there isn't a right or wrong way to set chapters up—what works for the story works for the story. I was just commenting on how I'd noticed chapter length affected my reading pace. I can still enjoy books with longer chapters just as much as books with shorter chapters, it just tends to take me a little longer to get through them. :)
Yes, longer chapters do take longer to get through, but in my case I tend to get annoyed if I'm really into a book and someone or something (human, feline, or chapter break) disrupts my "flow." But that's me, and I speak for myself and no one else. :-)
I can understand that. Very interesting how different people's reading habits can be. :)
I much prefer shorter chapters. Im of the "one more chapter" mindset if they are short. But if they are longer I find myself constantly checking how much I have left at night as I can't stop mid chapter.
Yeah, I've definitely done that too, with longer chapters. I don't like stopping mid-chapter, either (though lately, I've been doing that more if I felt like I had to).
I'm writing a book right now for only a couple people and I'm making the chapters short because I don't like having any type of cliffhanger in the middle of a chapter. If I make the chapter too long then people would eventually loose what they had that kept them going through the chapter. That happens to me a lot in books with long chapter and it ends up taking me a long time to finish the book that I'm reading. Even as I'm writing if I get too bored with the part that I'm on then I go back and change part of it to make it more interesting. This usually leads to the chapter being shorter since, like I said before, I dont like having any type of cliffhanger in the middle of a chapter,
That's interesting! I do find that I'm much less likely to put down a book in the middle of a chapter if it's a short chapter (because just a couple more pages!). But with longer chapters if I know it'll take too long to finish the chapter, I could hypothetically put it down anywhere.
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