By Larry Leech @LarryJLeechII

Oh so many questions.

Music or no music?

At home or at a coffee shop?

With friends or by oneself?

Work on a blog or a book?

First person or third person?

Short chapter or long chapter?

Write or edit?

A popular villain in the “Batman” movie released in 1995 said in an exasperated tone, “Too many questions. Too many questions.”

Writers often face a number of questions. Sometimes the answer is cut and dried, black and white, or simply this and not that. But most of the time, the answer relies on the writer’s personal preference.

In all my years of working with writers, particularly those new to the publishing journey, many want a concrete answer when there isn’t one. 

Three questions I hear often are:

“How long should my chapter be?”

“How many words should I write a day or how many hours?”

“When should I write?”

All great questions, but none of which have a concrete answer. Chapters can vary in length, depending on the topic or the story. I teach that 2,300-2,700 words works best, but a chapter of 1,200 words can work, if it fits the flow of the story. Thirty-five hundred words can work too. 

The most important thing to remember about chapter length: don’t bog down the story with unnecessary details or information that could make the reader lose interest. If the reader does, reading becomes work and they’ll likely stop reading.

As for the second question, whatever works best for the author, which is something I say often. Some people are capable of writing 1,000 words a day. Others 500. The key is not committing to a total that will eventually overwhelm the author and they stop writing. I do stress to NOT try and write for eight straight hours on a weekend. Most new writers just don’t have the discipline to write for that length of time. 

Remember, 500 words a day equals 2,500 words a week, 10,000 words a month, 60,000 words in six months. And I would discourage an author from writing seven days a week early in their writing journey. Just too demanding. 

The third question depends on each person. Jerry B. Jenkins wrote many of his first books at night after his kids went to bed. Ted Dekker wrote late at night early in his career. Each person must find their peak writing time. A number of writers I’ve coached have said they write best in the morning, around 4-5 a.m., before the family gets up. I always reply, “Hats off to you. I do one thing at that time. … Sleep.”

I’m sure you’ve heard this, and read this, over and over: Writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint.

Don’t wear yourself out at the beginning and flame out. You might want to say to yourself, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Pace yourself. Find what works best for you. Enjoy the journey. In the end, you want to make sure you “Have a great day!”

Larry J. Leech II is Acquisition Editor and Senior Editor at Iron Stream Media. He also is a writing coach of award-winning authors, has spent more than 40 years working with words, ghostwritten nearly 30 books, and edited more than 300 manuscripts. Larry teaches at numerous conferences nationwide and can be found online on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.