"How long should a chapter be?" is a question I often get asked, and my answer is usually, "As long as it needs to be." But let’s be honest: that’s not really a useful answer. However, the reason why I answer with that is because the length of a chapter isn't as important as what it contains. The real question is: What should go into a chapter? That’s where the magic lies.
More often than not, I like to include one scene per chapter, with a scene being the smallest meaningful part of the story that contributes to the overall narrative. And it's really understanding what makes a scene that is important. Whether you’re crafting an epic fantasy saga or a short story, understanding how to build a compelling scene is crucial to the craft of writing.
What is a Scene?
A scene is more than just a moment in your story—it's a fundamental building block of your narrative. At its core, a scene is a unit of story where something happens. It’s where characters interact, conflicts arise, and the plot moves forward. In fantasy, it’s also where your world breathes: where the setting itself becomes a character, and the magic or mythos unfolds.
The first key thing to know about a scene is that it should always begin with a hook—something interesting that grabs the reader’s attention. This doesn’t mean it has to be a big, explosive hook, but it should be enough to pique curiosity and keep the reader engaged. For instance, let’s take a look at a random chapter (specifically Chapter 11 in this case) of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Empire in Black and Gold:
"Two lamps turned low lit the quartermaster's quarters, and the quartermaster had prudently agreed to absent himself. It was only a fraction after dusk when Thalric made his entrance, and yet there they were already waiting for him. Four of them, all Rakef no doubt, though he only recognized the one immediately."
In this paragraph, we get an immediate sense of intrigue: Why did Thalric need privacy? Who are these people he’s meeting? This hook isn’t bombastic, but it’s enough to get us invested in this scene and make us want to read on. A good starting hook should get the reader to ask question and that convinces them to read on.
Equally important is ending your scene with a hook. This doesn’t mean leaving the action unresolved in a cliffhanger (please don't do that). Instead, the ending should leave the reader with a lingering question or a sense of anticipation for the conflict of the next scene. The end of that same scene in Empire in Black and Gold gives us:
"Thalric had never scrupled about taking the Rakef's reputation by the hilt and using it. He never put that weapon down, though, without knowing that the next time it was raised, it could be at his own throat. 'Why do I do this?' The question surprised him because he already knew the answer. He loved the Empire. Still, inside his head, where even the Rakef could not catch a treasonous thought, he wondered what sort of Empire they were building, where even the Watchmen must fear being watched."
By this point, that scene has resolved—Thalric has received his orders and the plot continues on—but the end of the scene leaves us with this emotional and philosophical hook: Thalric’s doubt about the Empire. This lingering question draws the reader forward, eager to see what happens next in Thalric's story.
Now that we've explored how hooks can effectively open and close a scene, let's dive into the five key elements that make up a well-crafted scene.
The Five Elements of a Scene
Purpose: Every scene needs to serve a purpose. It could advance the plot, develop a character, reveal a theme, or build the world. If your scene isn’t doing any of these, it risks becoming filler. Filler is the enemy. Filler is the darling you need to drag behind the sauna and slaughter without mercy. Your scene must have at least one purpose, preferably all four, to keep the reader engaged. Without purpose, don't even bother with the rest, cut the scene. Okay, with that out of the way:
Setting: Where does the scene take place? In fantasy, the setting is crucial—it’s not just a backdrop but a living, breathing part of your story. Establish enough about the setting early on so the reader feels grounded, without overburdening them with details. Remember how in the Thalric scene, we immediately got a sense of the dimly lit quarters and the people present? That brief but vivid description was enough to anchor us in the moment and create a sense of atmosphere.
Characters: Who is in the scene? Who wants something, and who or what is preventing them from getting it? These characters are the drivers of the scene, and their motivations and personalities should shine through. Conflict might come from an antagonist or even from within the protagonist themselves.
Conflict: Conflict is the engine of your scene. Your protagonist for the scene has a goal, and something or someone stands in the way. This doesn’t have to be a physical fight—it could be emotional, internal, or ideological. It’s this struggle that keeps the reader interested. The protagonist needs to be protagonisting, whatever is opposing them needs to be stopping them from achieving their goal. In the Thalric scene, he enters expecting the situation to go one way, but he gets blindsided by one of the people present, and his orders change. He wanted to do something, but his superior officer prevented him, creating the core conflict of the scene. How does he achieve his goal? Or does he need to give up and adjust his goals? And that leads us to:
Resolution: Every conflict needs a resolution—whether it’s positive, negative, or even a twist that changes everything (what I like to call a "bus scene" where something new overwhelms the original conflict). For example, in the 1998 film Meet Joe Black, the main character has a seemingly normal meet-cute moment with a girl at a coffee shop, and we think we understand the scene's direction. Then, as he leaves, he gets hit by a bus, completely changing the stakes and direction of the story. The bus resolved the scene by eliminating the previous stakes and that's also an option of resolution. So you can resolve with success, failure, or bus. But, by hook, or crook, your scene MUST resolve. Resolution keeps your story moving forward and leaves your reader with a sense of satisfaction—and the hook creates the desire for more.
And that's a scene. You get those 5, you're good. Except no, not quite, because there's still a couple of common things I see that I think weakens a scene.
Pitfalls
Overloading: Especially in fantasy, the temptation to dump all your world-building can be strong. Resist that urge. Only give the reader what they need to know for this moment, and let the rest unfold naturally. This pitfall can also manifest as
Overstuffing: Too much plot, too many threads, too many conflicts. Each scene should have 1 main conflict, 1 purpose. Overstuffing leads to the reader's attention wandering, being distracted and basically their loss of interest. At the macro plot level, Wonder Woman 1984 is an amazing example of an overstuffed plot. There's so much going on in that movie, they'd need a series, a murder board and a novelization to make sense of it all.
Lack of conflict: Now, don't swing too far the other way. A scene without conflict is a scene without tension, which is a scene without stakes. There's nothing pulling the reader on and the chance of them putting the book down for the night is high. Whether the conflict is external or internal, there needs to be something that keeps the reader's interest in this scene, some conflict to overcome.
Forgetting the stakes: Lastly, every scene should remind the reader what's at risk—be it a character’s life, an emotional bond, or even their belief system. Stakes keep readers invested and make them care about what happens next.
And now we are at the end and circling back to that question of chapter length. The length of your chapter is as long as it needs to be. What really matters is that the scenes inside it have a purpose—a starting hook, a setting, characters with goals, conflict, a resolution, and a closing hook. If you can do that, your reader will keep turning the pages, even if it means staying up way past their bedtime.
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