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ivanskilling
Jul '20

I haven't had the character limit problem since my chapters are broken up naturally into 3-4 parts. :smiley: Since each part belongs to a different character POV and focuses on a single scene, it tends to fall below 2k words.

For some of the short stories in Dark Bytes, I did have to break the original scene into two parts but luckily, it was easy to find that break point! I just had to do a bit more editing to make sure it flowed between parts.

(Shackles didn't have a problem either)

People like to read shorter episodes, especially on app. And I guess if the limit really bothers you, one way is to split the chapter up and then post those episodes at the same time. That way, people get the full scene anyway. :wink:

silverraven0
Jul '20

It kind of a troublesome at first because I can wrote a long chapter and doesn't really like to split my chapters in two, but as time goes, I kind of just let it be. Like everyone said, tapas promote itself as a bite size comic and novel platform, and having short chapters usually benefit you because you can show up on the FRESH section more often.

I still doesn't particularly like the limit but what can I do. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Mostly just split the chapters and be done with it.

The last chapter I wrote is kind of a trouble because I wrote it over the characters limit by 800 characters, so I need to edit it for a few days because I'm too stubborn about chapter splitting when it's less than 1000 characters, and then I somehow ended up with exactly 15000 characters on that chapter.

If you have PC, there's a trick someone told us on discord to bypass the limit. The link is down there I'd you're interested :

darkone4587
Jul '20

I honestly don't have that much of a problem with it. I normally keep my chapters way shorter than that to keep the pace and give my works a pretty decent reading speed. In fact I tend to really hate chapters that feel like they go on for to long.
I normally change chapters whenever the 'scene' changes which allows me to keep a decent pace and not have to describe a so many different setting in a single chapter. There are some exceptions but that's normally the way I do things.


mbeutchakevinjunior
Jul '20

The best would be to write short chapters because longer chapters tend to not keep the reader interested.
You could have a look at my novel THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR via the link below. PLease leave a comment to also help improve.

Leverance
Jul '20

Usually, I don't have an issue since I keep between 1-2K words.

Though, when writing genres like Fantasy and Science-Fiction I will normally aim between 4-8K words chapters on other sites but on Tapas I will probably keep them at 2K with multiple parts like; Diana's Key Part 1 etc.

There is normally a solution to such things one only has to look for it and adapt. Like on Wattpad I can write long chapters without the page saying is too long meanwhile on Tapas I would have to shorten them and put them in parts.

Jen-Jen
Jul '20
Aykay

I was already working on my novel when I started publishing on Tapas. That's probably the root of the problem.

Aykay
Jul '20

I see. I found out on Tapas rather randomly from one of the creators on here. I just didnt have a cover ready when I first joined.

Berserker
Jul '20

I think I've only been above 10,000 characters on a chapter once or twice. I think 1500 words is kind of a sweet spot for chapter length.

Yisa4ever
Jul '20

A good chapter length in a standard novel is usually between 3,000 - 5,000 words. Any less or more will usually be too much for readers. I keep this in mind when writing out my chapters. However, I will usually be the first to say that chapters can be as long or as short as it needs to be to tell your story. For example, prologues or epilogues are usually shorter than 3,000 words (in most cases).

What I like about Tapas is really the bite-size episodes that you really can read while waiting in line or taking a break at work. In this case, I break out my chapters in to more manageable bite size episodes and find that it flows better and also to echo what some of the other writers are saying, gives a good buffer as well.

MeltingCORE
Jul '20

My series is published more like a serial so my chapters are already shorter (but published each month when possible). I have friends taking a more traditional novel approach and they just split their chapters for Tapas. (Chapter One, Part One)

vblairehawthorne
Jul '20

I think it depends on what "feel" you wanna give to your novel.

In my high fantasy novel, The Legendary Hero's Brother, the 15k character limitation is such a huge liability to me because I write this novel to be larger than life, making each chapter long and detailed and filled with so much fantasy life!!! So I would see myself cutting my chapters a lot! There's even an instance recently where I had to cut a chapter into three. That was a bummer... But I guess it gave me an accidental buffer chapters? HAHAHAHA SO YAY!? I guess???

As for my horror drama, Megachurch, each chapters are generally meant to be shorter, so I don't always have a problem with the 15k limitation.I think I would even say it elevated the quality of the story because it makes the pacing much, much faster, which is something I very much intended to do!

surenlicious
Jul '20

I loathe the character limit honestly. But as I write big ass chapters, I simply break them down because yolo. :sweat_smile: I am writing a big book, we ain't chapter snacking here.

1

lightavampiresy
Jul '20

It's way too short for me. I have to break some of my chapters down at awkward places. 15000 characters amounts to about 2.5k words an episode and I write like on average per chapter around 35,000 characters depending on my plot and what I want to do/set up in that chapter.

And my novel for those who are interested in vampires that's action~y, a bit of romance (GL and a tiny BL in there), tons of cussing, soap operatic reveals, memorable characters and a plot that just keeps on upping itself:

KhanSpring
Jul '20

It could be troublesome, as I have typed them beforehand, but I try to break them down in a way that still makes sense.

Niharika
Jul '20

At first, I thought it was a bit weird. But I don't really have a problem. My chapters are usually 1.2-1.5 k, and max out at 2k. So, whichever way I go, I rarely cross the 15K limit. When I do, I usually split the chapter into two episodes and release it that way.

I'd like it if we didn't have the limit, but it's not a big issue for me.

1 month later
thecrimsondm
Sep '20

From what I've seen most authors outside of fantasy usually write about 3k to 4k words per chapter with the later chapters sometimes doubling in size. So with me usually keeping between 2k and 3k words per chapter I'm still in the smaller side of chapter length. What that ends up meaning though is that I end up having chapters that are cut off by like one or two paragraphs and have to find a suitable place to cut.

Worst part is, I tend to work in fantasy, and with epic fantasy chapter length is normally about 10k words long. The Fallout Equestria series and anything by Brandon Sanderson come to mind for this. So I am actually in the very small chapter range for my genera. It just makes it challenging that I end up having most of my chapters be in two or three parts.Still I can work with it, but it does make it feel like Tapas doesn't really care too much about the writing side of there site with such restrictions posed without consideration for how it might effect different styles of writing. Luckily most of my work is broken apart by scenes but still, I can't see some of the best works I've read working on Tapas at all.

spelunkadunk
Sep '20
1

I actually had to chop all of my chapters in half to post them here, but I'm glad I did. This allows me to give the more frequent "bite-sized" portions people want on Tapas, and allowed me to think about how to structure the story to maximize impact!

cherrystark
Sep '20

Like most people, my chapters are around 1500 words, depending on the chapter so the character limit hasn't really affected me. I break my chapters up in "scenes" or camera shifts. Each chapter gets 3-4 shifts depending on the action at hand.

My big advice for chapter length and dramatic timing is to cut out a lot of filler. I don't add a lot of filler stuff in my work. So for example, if my character is going to ride the tram to get from the action in Point A to the action in Point B if it's just a tram ride, I don't bother writing what happened on the tram. If there is an important plot point that happens on the trip, let us know.

3 months later
wyatt1040506
Dec '20

I usually do about 900-1.5k words anyways here's my novel!
My novel is a Fantasy/Action novel.