Average length of chapters and short story

[writerinwaiting]

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum so hopefully this is the right place to ask these questions.

I'm writing both a short story and novel. I love the idea of the novel, have done for years and am taking action on it now. The short story is to help me with conciseness (is there a word?!)

What is the average length of a short story?

What is also the length of a chapter in a novel? Now, I know that there is no exact length but I've just written the last chapter to my novel. (Someone once advised start at the end and then work backwards). It needs tidying up before I can show it to anyone but it's only around 1600 words.

I could start another conversation within it but I think it ends well enough. My concern is that 1600 words is too short.

Any advice? I'd more than welcome it. Thank you.

[K.K.]

Welcome to the forum; I am fairly new myself.

Chapter/story length really depends on the topic and the audience. For a light read intended to be received casually, short chapters are usually favorable. For more formal writing, chapters generally tend to be longer. My advice is to look at the length of works that are similar in style and topic to yours and consider how you feel about their length.

N.B. Don't cut a chapter short or expound upon it endlessly just because you are aiming for a specific length.