Whats a good length for a chapter

[scullpanda]

So for my new comic Letters Across The Hall-BL I just storyboarded the first chapter and it turned out to be like 13 pages long is that long enough ? or is it too short?

[AnnaLandin]

It depends! There is no real way for us to tell you if it's too long or too short; we haven't seen the pages, and don't know what they're like. There's no golden rule of x-number-of-pages-is-long-enough. It all depends on what happens on those pages!

My chapters range between a low of 17 and a high of (currently planned) 34. Ideally, I want to go above 20 as often as possible, but at the same time, I don't want to pad it out with extra pages just for the sake of making a page-count.

If those 13 pages accomplish what needs to be accomplished, then I'd say it's good. Did you introduce your characters, your setting and your main premise in those 13 pages? If so, you've done what you need to do!

[scullpanda]

My pages are full , not paneled, we get to meet the main two and set up their beginning dichotomy also meet the best friend and learn some about the characters, its a romance but I'm going for the more natural fall not first look and they are in love ya know ?

[BladeRabbit]

Don't worry about the actual number of pages, just focus on getting your story down.

If a chapter is 13 pages, so be it. As long as you tell the story it's fine, you shouldn't shorten or pan out stories in my opinion.

[KSlinger]

Anywhere up to 100 pages, apparently! I can't see my current chapter winding up short of that, but it's your story so don't worry it. There are no rules. Do whatever works.

[Shanny8]

Ultimately the length of your chapter is up to you. There is no "standard" length for a chapter.

[69Michi]

It's really up to you how lug your chapter is. If this amount of pages is enough for you to tell the main story of that chapter you need it to, then that is that. I often don't divide my comic up into chapter base on the length of the pages. I only title my comic episode every time I update weekly, but that doesn't mean they are a standalone chapter by themselves. Up until now I have a total of 18 "episodes" (which consist of roughly 12-15 pages each, stacking up into vertical format) and they sum up probably a total of 2 of my written chapters. 👌

[MichelleAntisocial]

As the majority of folks are saying here, it's really up to you. None of my chapters are the same length. I think it's more important to advance the story to the point you want in said chapter than it is to have a specific page number you'd like to hit. So yeah, 13 pages is probably fine.

[shazzbaa]

Since there's no rule or definition about how long a chapter is, the reasons this might matter that I can think of:

• You're planning to print it with a publisher that has a standard size, e.g., western mainstream comics being 22 pages long
• You want all chapters to be roughly similar length because it will just make you feel better if they match
• You want all chapters to be roughly similar length because you're planning to print each chapter as its own book and you don't want to charge different prices for each book

So, basically, I think the only reason it could matter is if you want it to match other chapters, and that would involve looking at your plans for other chapters and figuring out if they have a similar amount of content. If all of your chapters are gonna be 10-15 pages long, then 13 fits right in!

But if you don't care if your chapters match, then it literally doesn't matter! I don't even think there's a specific amount of content or introduction that needs to happen in Chapter 1 necessarily -- we just need to be interested.

[J.Z.Castillo]

I mean... my first chapter was 33 pages long and my second chapter is 52 pages long. That's not too bad, many IRL comics have chapters that vary in length by 10 to 20 pages pages (usually) but they try to stay as close to a number as possible. Personally I try to stay under 60 pages per chapter, but the way I do it is, I plan out everything I wanna talk about in that chapter and then start working on it, however long it takes that's how long the chapter is going to be. If I see the chapter start to get too long I might add a scene to slow down the narrative an bring it to an end and then add a scene in the next chapter to pick it back up.

Just make it as long as it needs to be, honestly, as long as it tells the story well I don't think it matters how long it is.

[joannekwan]

Yep, as long as you accomplish what you need to within that chapter, any length is fine!
Currently my chapters for Heavy Horns go from 14–16 pages long.

[popsiclestick]

mine's probably gonna be 40-50 pages - i'm still in the last throes of my first one! i like to have big chapters that act almost as 'books' and then split them down further into different scenes, that i differentiate with contrasting colour schemes. but that's the way i do it - it honestly doesnt matter how you want it! bite sized chunks help, but you can still do what I do and break long chapters up into scenes?

[scullpanda]

I am planning to print at some point so knowing that places have the 22 page thing is fabulous thanks @shazzbaa

And I was kinda just on edge cuz The first ever comic I made (which I later took down ) I didnt plan very well and my chapters were all over the place(and the chapter names never made sense , Which made me mad) and wanted to gauge what other people were doing <3 Im happy with the how far this chapter gets and have now realized that instead of like 5 chapters which was what i ballpark things at originally its gonna be much more.

[shazzbaa]

I am planning to print at some point so knowing that places have the 22 page thing is fabulous

The 22 pages thing is like...... if you want to be published by Marvel, say. Traditionally Big Two comics are 22 pages of comic, 10 pages of ads, for 32 pages total. If there's a specific publisher you want to pitch your story to, it'd be a good idea to look at the comics that publisher has put out and see what their books look like and if they have specific standards they're looking for!

But if you're planning to self-publish, it doesn't matter so much. There's nothing saying each chapter needs to be its own book, either -- if chapters 1 and 2 are both 13 pages long but you want a bigger book, you can make the first book Ch1&2 together!

As for me, my shortest chapter is 34 pages, my longest is 62, and I'm trying to keep things around 50 from here on out. xD I want my chapters to not be too disparate because I want to charge the same thing for each book, and if they get too long it's gonna start cutting into my profit margin. @u@

[scullpanda]

oh lord no I was going o go thru a printer service and thought that this way would be better for now I guess

[purrlpankras]

I go for 30 pages for Two Faced, and I'm allowed a page here or there.
it just makes it easier if you want to print it out, apparently it's easier if you have a an even amount of pages.

[spadesart]

There's not really a limit. chapter 1 of my comic was 23 pages and chapter 2 is probably going to be 3-4x the length of chapter 1 since theres no good cutoff point to split it up.

[Starfestival]

I usually end it where I feel it'd leave off on a nice cliffhanger. Though my last chapter got close to Tapastics 40 page limit. The Current one I'm still uploading now reached that limit so I had to cut things and rush it to wrap it up nicely. I just didn't want it to seep over into the next chapter.

[tsukiko]

Any page is alright really! In my current story though i use 28-32 pages per chapter

But let me tell you an experience i had in silent manga, they dont require page limits but the usual winners there have short pages, ranging from 8-12! And thats like one whole story with no dialogue! I learned there how you can create heartfelt stories within short number of pages, "capturing the moment" as they call it. But of course i have yet to fully understand it. (you can check it out if ur interested its a bianual contest in japan which is international btw)

I hope this helps!