How do you predict how long the chapters will be and how long it will take to write?

I'm not the best one to help with nonfiction, but with novels, I get a pretty good feel from the first chapter. I already have a feel for how fast paced the book is going to be and how much the action is going to change scenes. From there, I do a first chapter writing to that feel. It usually comes out about where I've ball-parked it at.

From there, I write each successive chapter with that same mental format and they seem to come out similarly. Chapter lengths for me seem to vary by maybe 20-30%, but overall, most are within a few pages of each other in most formats.

Developing a rhythm in your writing is a good way to ensure they all follow suite. Establish it early and you're probably going to be fairly consistent with chapter length.

As far as how long it will take - well, that's something else entirely. That's all based on how fast you write, how much time and effort you'll have to put into editing, and how often you pick the book up to work on it.

When I'm writing, I like a standard, set rate of progress. It helps move the book along as it should. You can feel it in the written page. I typically crank out 2,500-5,000 words at a setting, with more recent work probably at the higher end of that. In fact, as I've written more, the number is probably closer to 5,000-6,000 when I'm really going at it.

If you know the rough outline of the book, you should know the rough page count it should be, and you should be able to get an estimate of how long it's going to take based on the known factors.

I know that's a fiction writer's point of view, but still probably holds at least somewhat true for non-fiction. Hope it helps.

Got sample chapters? Use those as a guide: how long are they, how long did they take to write.

If you don't have sample chapters, write a couple.

Make your guesstimates based on these. And heed Scotty's Rule: Always tell them it will take longer than you think it will, so they'll be impressed when you finish "early."

I think the mods may come along and move this.

You're writing non-fiction, are you not?

This is the novels section.

Generally your publisher will want to see a sample chapter. So once you have written that you will have some idea.

It's in the non-fiction forum, now. A good thing because non-fiction and fiction are totally different to write, just as they are very different to read. Fiction is for entertainment, non-fiction for education.

How-to's have a formula, because they are the description of a process. That makes them easy to outline. Each chapter should be a step in that process to make it easier for the reader, especially if they have to go back to that book at some point.

Instead of trying to pull a number out of thin air or some bodily orifice, go visit a bookstore or the library and check out some how-to's on a similar subject. And start counting pages in the chapters. Then give an estimate that includes a range.

When it comes to how long it will take you, that's going to depend on a couple of factors. First, do you have all the material handy and just need to assemble it, or are you going to have to research and assemble it first? That's going to make a big difference in time involved.

Other big factors: How much time can you devote to writing? How fast can you write?

Mix it all together and estimate.

My experience:

I've been sitting on a self-help book that I wrote some years ago. Self-helps are a type of how-to. I'm finally ready to write the final chapter and release it.

The initial research took me about 6 years. I wrote the first draft in two and a half weeks. It underwent a savage revision, and two professional editors worked on it.

And then I decided that it needed one more chapter. More research was needed-that was 4 years ago.

YMMV

Focus

As I'm sure you know, before submitting you have to create a proposal, outline, and sample chapters. These things alone should give you a pretty good idea of how many words the final manuscript will run. And if you say (for example) 50,000 words and come in at 60,000 words it's not the end of the world. The agent or publisher might accept the work as is or ask you to cut.

Unless you have written previous books for them I would be highly suspicious of a press that accepted a book and offered a contract without seeing sample chapters.

veinglory said:

Unless you have written previous books for them I would be highly suspicious of a press that accepted a book and offered a contract without seeing sample chapters.

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This.

And I wouldn't send anything out, not a query or outline, without having a completed proposal for fear of appearing unprofessional or unaware of the industry requirements.

Royal Mercury said:

Okay, I have the outline and the publisher seems to like it. But now they want to know how long the chapters will be and how long it will take to write it. Fair enough.

It's a how-to book and the real answer is that I don't know. With pictures and diagrams and text, they will be as long as they will be, and that my first impulse would be to write it all out and then edit it down to size. But I don't think that is okay with them. And since this is my first book, I'm not really sure how long all of this will take.

Any help?

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The simple answer is it really depends on you and how you write and edit.