How long should a novel be?

[MiniSheepPencil]

Most Animes are based on light novels and a light novel is no longer than 50k in word count as a fair standard in the industry (anything above 50K in word count is no longer a light novel).

Now Tapas has a limit of 15k LETTERS/CHARACTERS which roughly translates into about 4k WORDS for a general episode if maxed out to full potential.

This alone would make a light novel less than 15 episodes long with longer episodes, but if you stick to Tapas's preferred standard from the guidelines then you shouldn't write more than 800 words pr episode.

Again if you take the 50K and divide that with 800 you get a light novel lasting about 62 episodes.

Personally, I am doing about 1,2k words pr. episode/chapter (cuz every episode I push out contains a theme I go over, just like an episode in a webtoon would) and this will leave me with an estimated 41 episodes.

All of these things are very independent. You may think that the story you have is big enough to fill out a 100k word count but cuts down to 30k when written out and vice versa.

[K-Anu-Grymm]

Very detailed. Thank you so much

[WriterLinXiaolong]

The best way I see it, chapters ≠ episodes.

Not sure about others, but my chapter length is not consistent. On average, its around 1.5~2k words.

And I usually split those up to 500-800 words for each episode (sometimes can reach 1k words if I couldn't find a good place to split.)

Like that, I'm still uploading around 1k words per week (update twice a week) for that one series.

[K-Anu-Grymm]

Do you split it up to where each end of the episode is exciting / mysterious / something to make you want to read the next ep? If splitting up chapters means this is unlikely to happen because chapters have a certain structure, do audiences seem okay with that, or do they understand? I have a hard time envisioning writing something exciting, thrilling, or a cliffhanger happening every 500-800 words. Maybe that's just me.

[Maps]

Sorry to cut in, but I usually always try to leave a cliff hanger or something to be wondered about. It seriously helps things move along well and keeps the audience engaged.

[OttoGruenwald]

My old Shakespeare teacher told me that a novel should be like a dress--long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting.

[WriterLinXiaolong]

I just find that point where the episode ends somewhere that would make people (at least me) to want to know what happen next. Something that would raise a question is also good. I guess it depends on how your story goes too. For me, sometimes I wrote by scenes so its easier for me to cut off the episode there

[tinalynge]

I think a book is as long as you want it to be.
Especially web novels are very long!

My first series is named Blue Phoenix. It is 790 chapters long split over 8 books, and containing over 1.600.000 words.
Even now I feel that the story could have been longer than that.

My second series was Overthrowing Fate. It ended with merely 154 chapters split over 3 books and ended up around a bit above 300.000 words.

What I mean is, the book is as long as you feel it should be. It could be a short story, but it could also be a lengthy series

[WriterLinXiaolong]

This lowly author kneels before the master!

How did you do it? Even my longest right now is 140k words in approximate though it is still on going

[tinalynge]

I live of writing web novels, so that quite changes everything ><

But I write every day, even when I don't want to write, I force myself to do so. Originally I had a 2000 words goal a day, which now has increased to 5000.

I have so many ideas, and right now I am writing 5 ongoing novels.
2 are my main projects (Condemning the Heavens, 650.000 words so far / My Life or Your Memory which just got added to Tapas)
3 are my casual projects (Rest in a Demon's Embrace [BL] / Money-Grubbing Lover / Touched by a Mortal Soul)

I think writing is a need for some people. Don't care about whether or not it sounds good, just write what you want to. You can always make it sound better later

[WriterLinXiaolong]

Don't care about whether or not it sounds good, just write what you want to. You can always make it sound better later

Is what I did! I wrote what I want and posted them. But now, its currently under editing before I upload them to tapas.
Although I work with multiple projects also, I don't think I can handle 5 novels. At most, I am currently working on 3 projects of my own, and 1 collab

I'm going to look at your stories later! Thank you for sharing!!

[K-Anu-Grymm]

It is 790 chapters long split over 8 books, and containing over 1.600.000 words.

...I... Oh my god

writing 5 ongoing novels.

How do you managed to keep all of these organized? Do you ever get confused about which idea belongs to which story? The characters? Where you are at in which novel? Share with me your note-taking mastery

I think writing is a need for some people. Don't care about whether or not it sounds good, just write what you want to.

This is what I do! With Project Psyche, I do whatever it is I want to do, regardless of how others would feel about it. It's my heart and soul, 12+ years in the works. Project Serpentblood is actually one of the first stories I'm writing with an audience in mind, and the reason it's going much faster is because I don't have to decipher myself, I just have to pull together all of the little things I've learned about being a reader and learning about the audience over the years.

I still can't believe how insanely productive you are.

[tinalynge]

Haha, I write a lot because I have a lot of ideas pressing in my mind begging me to be written out. If I had more time I would definitely write many more projects at the same time!

I am glad to hear that you are writing what you feel like, be true to yourself and write what you want. Although it is nice when someone enjoys our writing, ultimately we write for ourselves so be true to what you originally planned!