A writing buddy of mine told me that writing a chapter takes longer then a day, and that a person cannot write a chapter in a day, and that it takes longer. Do you think it takes long, or can people write a chapter in a day?
How long does it take to write a chapter?
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Depends entirely on the writer. I have some friends who can crank out several chapters in one day (14,000 plus words). I don't know how well they are writing at that speed, though. I have written an entire chapter in one day, but gone back and changed things, and sometimes completely rewritten them.
The "rule" is: There is no rule.
The "rule" is: There is no rule.
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Luckily, I have my book, Advanced Chapter Mathenomics, lying around.
time (in days) = words in chapter / words written per day
Exercise question 1.1b:
John is 6'3 and weighs 260 lbs, and he leaves Cleveland jump-roping east at 10 mph. Stacy is 5'9 and weighs 135 lbs, and she leaves Des Moines north, electric sliding at 12 mph, balancing a typewriter on her head. Stacy writes a 5,000 word chapter in two days. How many words did she write per day?
time (in days) = words in chapter / words written per day
Exercise question 1.1b:
John is 6'3 and weighs 260 lbs, and he leaves Cleveland jump-roping east at 10 mph. Stacy is 5'9 and weighs 135 lbs, and she leaves Des Moines north, electric sliding at 12 mph, balancing a typewriter on her head. Stacy writes a 5,000 word chapter in two days. How many words did she write per day?
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I believe that it all depends on the writer, like a few other people have stated. Sometimes a chapter is easy to come up with and therefore the words come willingly, but other times a chapter may be more complicated, needing more information with major events taking place.
I've written a chapter in a day once no problem--but other times it takes me a few days.
I've written a chapter in a day once no problem--but other times it takes me a few days.
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Yup. And chapter lengths can vary tremendously. I've read books that had 300 word and less chapters, and some which have had gargantuan length chapters of likely over 12,000 words. I gauge my output personally on a words per day goal, rather than say, "half a chapter a day" or something like that.
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There are too many variables. I have had chapters that have taken me a few hours, some a few days, a few weeks...I even have a few that I have yet to finish that I started a year ago or more. So the answer is...there is no real answer.
Eight hours on Earth, up to 592 hours on Saturn's moon Titan. (I don't mean to be flippant, but it is kind of a silly question. You work on the chapter till it's finished.)
Chapters can be as short as 0 words, and as long as 80,000 - if the book is one, continual story without breaks - so... your buddy knows not of which he speaks.
Personally, I'd be irked if it took me more than a day to write a chapter.
Personally, I'd be irked if it took me more than a day to write a chapter.
For me, it usually takes up to 4 days. I don't think I've ever written a chapter in just one day.
When on a roll, I've written 3-4 chapters in one day (then collapsed for 2). When having to do a lot of research, a chapter can take a week or more. And, as others have stated in various terms - how long is a chapter? How many pages? How many words?
It is a silly thing to say. Ignore him.
It is a silly thing to say. Ignore him.
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It just depends on the writer, as well as other circumstances. The important thing is to just write. 
Cliffhanger
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Depends on the writer, the book, the genre, the format (children's, adults, etc), how many words the writer shoots for in a day, on and on.
There's no easy math for this, but nice joke.
There's no easy math for this, but nice joke.
Some a day. Some a week. That's for the first draft. But the re-writing and editing seems to go on forever.
Yeah.... toooooooooooo many variables! I don't even write in chapters, I write in scenes, and worry about chapters later. And I've changed around what constitutes a 'chapter' several times, from making each scene a chapter to a few scenes per chapter to a couple. I do write all of a scene at a time, but they vary too... short scenes, I can write a few in a day, or one long emotional scene. Plus how much I write per day varies too. I couldn't even tell you what my average number of scenes per day would be, let alone chapters. Just as a personal example of how messy that question is!
Does it matter?
Does it matter?
It depends on the writer, the day, the chapter, and the book. Certain books have long chapters, other have shorter chapters, and how long it takes varies accordingly.
Personally, I like my chapters to be about 6-7 pages long, and I usually write two-three pages a day. So, for me, it can take about two to three days. That said, I've certainly written whole chapters in a day and then some. At the end of the day, though, there's really no definite answer to this question.
If you're spending less than 8 minutes contemplating each and every word (and 12.5 or more per comma), you're doing it wrong.
I started writing this before you even posted the question.
I started writing this before you even posted the question.
As nearly everyone has said, it all depends.
For my memoir, the first chapter took a few days. I hated it. Started all over again and it took me a whole month including countless re-writes before I finished it and got on with the rest of the chapters. The next 12 chapters took three months (excluding editing).
For my other works-in-progress, the first chapters took anything between a day and a week.
With so many variables, a writer's frame of mind being key, there really is not hard and fast rule.
As Nymotc says, you work on it till it's finished.
For my memoir, the first chapter took a few days. I hated it. Started all over again and it took me a whole month including countless re-writes before I finished it and got on with the rest of the chapters. The next 12 chapters took three months (excluding editing).
For my other works-in-progress, the first chapters took anything between a day and a week.
With so many variables, a writer's frame of mind being key, there really is not hard and fast rule.
As Nymotc says, you work on it till it's finished.
I guess it depends on how long a chapter is. I easily write 3,000 to 6,000 words in one sitting. I often write a short story in one sitting. I often writer chapters in one sitting, which is 3-6 hours.
You can safely ignore advice of this type. It doesn't help you in any meaningful way to believe that the writing process can be defined in this manner. A chapter takes as long as it takes. Perhaps your writing buddy can't write a chapter in a day, and if so there's nothing wrong with that, but your buddy doesn't speak for all writers. I've seen some very short chapters. Besides, what does 'writing a chapter' even mean? Some writers revise and polish as they go, some crash out an imperfect draft and don't polish until the imperfect draft is complete. It takes all sorts, and we all have to find the way that works best for us - which can change over time.
We have so many of these "How long" threads that we really need a sticky "How long does it take" thread.
It takes as long as it takes to get the thing done.
caw
It takes as long as it takes to get the thing done.
caw
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