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Hey Saxon Scribes,

Today’s Monday, so we’re back to out yearly theme discussion of character development. I wanted to share something I’ve picked up recently that has been hugely impactful in my writing.

Longer chapters.

I used to write chapters that were about 2,000-2,500 words long on average. 800 was my lowest. 4,000 something was my absolute highest.

Then I wrote a chapter that was 5,362 words long. I thought that was crazy, but I realized it wasn’t a boring chapter. In fact, if it had been any bit shorter, the chapter wouldn’t have been the same.

So I decided to do it again.

I now aim to write chapters around the 5,000 word range with the rare one between 3,000 and 4,000. The result I’ve seen is that I’m writing the same basic plot I would have otherwise, but it’s forcing me to include more characterization and subplots. My characters have more conversations now, more thoughts, more personality, more backstory.

If you have the problem where your plot never goes anywhere, this might not be the solution for you, but if like me you tend to focus too much on the plot to the exclusion of characterization, longer chapters can really help.

How about you? Have you noticed chapter length making a difference in your writing?

@mcnoggin @cindy @kate @ethryndal @elizabeth @girlsetfree @theresa-play @r-m-archer @literatureforthelight @livgiordano @lady-iliara @m_corinnemusic @j-parkhurst @j.a.penrose @sierra @cassandraia