Genres > Middle Grade (MG) & Chapter Books

chapter word-count

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Dionna:
Greetings, Blueboarders!

If I aim to write a 30,000-word middle-grade, would it be safe to say that I should make 30 chapters of about 1,000 words each?

Dionna

Kell:
Dionna, those chapters would be rather short, which could work for your story or not. I tend to plan, write, and THEN break into chapters. Others plan differently. But in my opinion, for 30,000 words, 12-20 chapters would be enough -- let the story determine.

Shelliep:
I agree with Kelly, the story will tell you. My finished MG manuscript has 21 chapters, about 1400 words per chapter. I think it's good to keep the chapters short in MG (actually, my chapters are short no matter what I write). But if I find myself under a thousand words, I try to stretch out the word count. 1200 words is an idea chapter length for me. However, if you prefer shorter chapters, I think that would be fine, but 30 chapters sounds like a lot because each chapter needs to earn its place in the story and move the story along. Happy writing!

ruecole:
My chapters tend to run 1200-2000 words, with the average being around 1500.

But I generally let the story dictate how long the chapters will be.

Hope that helps!

Rue

jenklein:
I let my chapter breaks fall where they make sense.  Occasionally -- but rarely -- a chapter may be as short as a page... or a paragraph... or even a line.  I think the shape of the story dictates when one should break.

My $.02. 

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