Chapter length, and why it matters. Or doesn't.

So, while Emily was scanning photos for the new Albion Fire Department book, I finished up the first draft of Still Slightly Off the Mark: The Prequel.

(Keep in mind that, with first drafts, the title is just a suggestion.)

"That sounds a lot like one of your other books."

Of course, there will be changes. For one thing, I'm putting a few pictures into the book. Don't tell Emily, she's up to her arms in pictures for another book, and just might strangle me. That would increase sales, I suppose.

As I was looking over the draft, I also counted chapter lengths. I'm not OCD by any means, much, usually, but I like my chapters to be approximately the same length. There's no particular reason for that; in fact, chapters should be the length they are, along the lines of "start at the beginning, go on to the end, then stop".

But in this rough draft, my longest chapter is nineteen pages ... and my shortest is three.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

This is a humor book, and I think a humor book chapter should be no longer than, say, the average bathroom break. So I'm thinking of chopping up the longer chapters into short ones, which will probably leave me with around two dozen or so. What do you think? Do you prefer long or short chapters? And does it bother you if they vary greatly in one book?

And how much do you think it annoyed the dog to find himself holding a copy of the original Slightly Off the Mark? I mean, he got his picture on the cover, so who is he to complain?

http://markrhunter.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Mark-R-Hunter/e/B0058CL6OO