writing

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This is a space for all kinds of discussion referring to writing. This could include the structure and style found in different types of writing, authors worth talking about, different genres, trends, etc.

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Does a nonfictional work have to be equal in chapter length? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 11 months ago by Tatar_Nobility@lemmy.ml to c/writing@hexbear.net

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I'm writing a nonfiction with a focus on history and have one chapter lacking in length. Of course I am working on expanding it, but I fear it might not be quite enough to fix the gap (currently it's a 40-page gap).

Through my research work in college and article writing, I noticed that sacred attention is given to the symmetry of parts and sections. Also most nonfiction material I've read has been quite consistent in distributing the book over chapters more or less equal in size.

I'm aware that I don't need a perfectly equal division, but how much discrepancy is tolerable?

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[–] flan@hexbear.net 18 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Writing with a focus on length strikes me as an approach that will lead to a lot of filler, unless you're a person who generally writes way too much.

[–] Philosoraptor@hexbear.net 12 points 11 months ago

No, absolutely not. Write what you have to say on a topic, but absolutely do not try to pad in order to meet an arbitrary length goal. Some topics are just less complicated than others, and that's fine.

[–] Slatlun@lemmy.ml 3 points 11 months ago

In As I Lay Dying by Faulkner, one chapter is 5 words long...

[–] GarbageShoot@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago

You can absolutely have chapters of different length. Don't waste the reader's time by padding it out for the sake of some weird aesthetic principle.