How long should a chapter be? Is the ever dreaded question.

No one really knows for sure. There's no rule. Lots of writers use a chapter to portray scenes that are related to each other. This means chapter length can be varied.

Honestly speaking, there's no point in worrying about length. Get your point across. It can take as many words as it needs. Before starting a chapter think about what information you want to give the reader. What is/are the take home message/s this chapter is supposed to give? Once you figure that out, write your chapter. It's as easy as that.

What if your chapter is too long? You just know it's too long. It shouldn't be this long. It's bothering you. What do you do?

Read over your work, find out why you feel this way. Remember a writer's hunch isn't always out to get you. EDIT! After reading, play around with what you have. Take out what you think isn't essential.

Yeah, yeah, I know it took you a gazillion years to write that sentence that you now think doesn't need to be there. Delete it. It's planning to disgrace your work. Get rid of it. NOW.

Now you come across this one paragraph. It doesn't fit well with your chapter. It's written really well but it's just not right. You're proud of it. You don't wanna delete it. It took up so much of your precious time to write and it's the most perfectly written section in your entire chapter. You'd rather lose your left arm than delete it. What other options have you got?

You could a) use it as a prompt and write a one-shot,

or b) cheat, change your chapter around so you don't lose the paragraph,

or c) lose that left arm and represent the struggles of writers all over the world.

I don't recommend c.

Reading and editing are your friends, said no writer ever. Let me tell you now, reading and editing are like those mean teachers at school that you really hate but these teachers help you polish your grades. You might even learn that your chapter is just fine at 100,000 words.

What if your chapter is too short?  Your writer's hunch is saying you need to make this chapter longer to make it stronger. Besides, all your other chapters are around 4000 words and this one is about 2000. It doesn't match. You're at your wits end. What will the readers think?

What do you do????

Fear not, for every problem has a solution.

First things first. Read through your chapter, think about what else you have to say that you haven't said.

You might find that there's nothing else to add. That's perfectly fine. It doesn't matter if your short chapter is too short. If you've written all that needs to be said, it's totally fine to have a short chapter. Don't worry about what your readers might think. So what if you update 2000 words, 1000 words or even 500 words? You updated! That's what matters. Give yourself a pat on the back.

What if the above paragraph isn't you? There's definitely stuff left to be said. You noticed this when you read over the chapter. Write more then. You, as the writer, know what needs to be typed up. You're the expert here. The story is in your head. No one else can write for you and please you at the same time. What are you waiting for? Get started now!

And remember, don't forget to have fun writing.