How many distinct sections of conveniently readable yet engrossing length are there?

@Socrates Dissatisfied: Yeah, well, the book isn't finished yet and it's Dutch, so...

@semck83: Like I said, not finished yet, but probably... I don't know, 8 perhaps? Alternatively, more like 15. I'm asking before I finished the book because I plan on making clear in the text where new chapters start, without even needing the actual chapter titles in the book, although they will be there.

The issue now is that I don't know wether I should start a new chapter...
The main character has gone through a change of mood, a couple of revelations and a lot of mysteries by now. I suppose the question now is:

Do I start the new chapter when the change of mood becomes evident, and if so, would the change of mood be the last thing in the old chapter or the first thing in the new chapter?

Or should the change of mood be more like the middle of the chapter, with the chapter 'built around' the change of mood?

Alternatively, I might make every chapter title a one-word question, with the most likely order being:

Who?
When?
Where?
How?
Why?

I think that works. Thanks for inspiring me, although you guys didn't say much :)

If someone has a better idea, do shout :)

If it would be more like 10 chapters, I might go for:

Who?
When?
Where?
How?
Why?
Who not?
When not?
Where not?
How not?
Why not?

Please note that sounds better in Dutch. Good idea?
Thanks again :)

Wow, steephie, you're on a roll with posts like these :-)

The amoun of chapters is an author's prerogative, there is no good practice. I've seen chapters of less than a page, and I've seen books with one chapter. It all depends on what serves your dramatic goal with the writing.

Hmm, perhaps it makes more sense with 9 chapters, skipping 'How not?', because it's a bit out of touch in a sense...

Let me think...

What's the book about?

When I write, I tend to make the chapter structure first, and put a single line in each chapter outlining what my point is with that section.

Those are important artistic decisions, steephie, so I really don't think there's a rule, nor can we tell you. You have to take into account the whole flow of the book, the story, the impact that the different options would have on the reader, etc.

Indeed, semck83, I just needed a little inspiration. This was probably enough.

More is probably even better though :P

one more piece of inspiration: if it fits the storyline, i would like if better if the "not" questions came first, because i think it sounds better when the last chapter is "why" than "why not".

*"why" instead of "why not".

@TheMinisterOfWar:

While I have many idea's, they are all sort of borderline realistic, especially in combination with eachother, and I can't write down the whole point with one line, since there's still some factors I haven't decided on yet...

Instead, I make it up as I go while I keep a special notes page where I put all the clues as I write them, as well as various idea's. From there, I can use some of those clues, should I run out of things for the main character to think about, for example. The chapter titles I made up above are about to go into that list.

Moreover, I don't want to spoil it, lolz...
I'll probably translate it to English at some point so you can witness my master piece, although you might not know it was me... :)

I just think I can't explain it without 'wasting' a couple thousand words on it or simply not making it clear, so then I might as well just continue with the book and translate it later, since then I'll be able to accurately tell/show you what's in it...

Thanks again guys.

@kasimax: I might play with that a little indeed. Most likely, the titles with and without not will be mixed up, depending on which title fits which chapter best.

I'll keep that in mind though. Thanks.

60,000.

Not in a Dutch book.

Wrong question. Chapters are based upon the content of the book, not the other way around, and not the word count. I've read a book before with an effective entire chapter was as much as little as a single paragraph...because that is what was necessary for the author to convey a point/event/whatever.

If you are basing chapter count by word count, then I can assure you already your book sucks.

I just wanted to have a clue how much would get too crazy.

I agree with what you're saying in a sense, but if you do that with every paragraph you could end up with, like, 60 chapters, which seems a little crazy...

The thing is that you have various sensible options. You don't have to make a chapter for every event, since some events are sort of chained together. You could start a new chapter on every clue, but maybe it's better to start a new chapter after a load of clues. You can also base chapters on changes of the characters in the book.

So I am definitely able to increase or decrease the amount of chapters without 'harming' the book in some cases.

The way I plotted out my current manuscript it should end up around 55,000 words and be just under 30 chapters. I spend each writing session getting down at least a third of a final-chapter's worth of plot progression, and I have a step outline of all of the major events. Minor things I sort of leave till when I'm working on a particular chapter.

Ideally you'll want chapters, or at least line breaks of some sort every few thousand words, simply because the time requirements of reading need some sort of breaks. As much as the ideal situation would be a reader going through the entire manuscript in one sitting, that's a very rare opportunity. I use chapters as scene breaks, POV shifts, or for other changes in the narrative. For instance, I may end a chapter with someone pulling a knife on the protagonist, and the dramatic need of how exactly the protagonist will deal with the threat drives a reader to continue past that chapter break.

It also depends on the way you're distributing chapters. If they are released serially, you have to have each chapter be sort of self-contained, but not necessarily a particular length.

A story I edit that is being released serially is currently at ~111,000 words and 16 chapters, but within those chapters there are plenty of breaks in the narrative. For that story, chapters each show a single progression in the story, describe a key event or shift in a character, or the like. But it all depends on what impression you want to accomplish in the story.