Another Chapter Under My Belt! & Chapter Length.

I'm feeling very encouraged as I get closer to the conclusion of my story. Chapter eleven is now done. It's going to need a slight rewrite, but I can do that later.

I've been giving myself a maximum chapter length of 2500 words each. I think it's important for me to keep my target audience in mind. Young Adults have so many things competing for their time. I think it's good to keep the chapters short, start the chapter off with something that grabs them in and then end the chapter with a big of cliffhanger or questions left unanswered, so they'll feel compelled to turn the page and start the next chapter.

I wonder if other authors worry or concern themselves with chapter lengths. I think with an adult target audience, I wouldn't be so concerned about it. I've written stories in the past with up to 5000 words in a chapter and then next chapter might have 3,000 words.

My last chapter has 2,255 words. I reread it and I am sure I can removed two small scenes in it that will bring the word count down.

I'm thinking that there will be four more chapters. The days are clicking by. I have to get all four chapters written in nine days. I can do that. In fact, I plan to write some of chapter twelve after I get back from Bible Study tonight. I'd love to have two days between this novel and Nanowrimo. :)