Faye's stupid writing questions #1

[Faye]

As regards differences in chapter length, how much is too much?

Obviously every chapter isn't going to end bang on the projected word count, but if I have one chapter ending at about 4,000 words and another that's closer to 5,000 is that reasonable or do I need to rethink the positioning of my chapter endings?

[spyndleshanks]

I think that's reasonable. I have no problem at all with varying chapter length. It's better than having a writer rush through a particularly good section because they're trying to hit a word count.

[Faye]

Thanks - I'm hoping that it won't show in the finished piece.

[spyndleshanks]

I'd like to think there are no general readers out there who are mad enough to count the word length of each chapter as they read, but reality has taught me otherwise.

I know that if I'm enjoying a book, chapter length and word count don't matter. Unless they're one of those authors who have a chapter every three pages, that's annoying.