“I was wondering if you had some thoughts on structuring chapters? Like how long your word count usually is, or how you figure out how to plan out the smaller highs and lows and climaxes of the story to fit into each chapter? Especially to keep people hooked and continuing to read your story~”

Oh buddy, I am about to disappoint you all. I don’t really think about most of that so I may be the worst person to ask >.> But I’ll do my best to give some advice! (also, if I might have misunderstood the question, let me know lol)

Simply put, I don’t consider word count. I write until I feel the chapter is complete, which tends to be around 3-5k words on average. I do, however, break chapters up into smaller episodes for Tapas since many read on their phones. It’s harder to scroll through longer episodes and, realistically, stories that update multiple times a week with shorter episodes perform better on Tapas (typically 1-1.5k, although I try to keep mine at 1.5-2k if I can.)

If you are a new author, try to realize that every platform and the viewers there are different. Wattpad does wonderfully with long chapters because most readers there expect more traditional novels. Tapas is better known for comics and web novels. Web novels have shorter episodes to give more frequent updates, although, technically, they aren’t consuming more content. It’s simply more spread out. Long story short; shorter episodes, more frequent updates.

The same goes with planning out the highs and lows to fit into the chapters, I don’t plan any of that. I’m the type that writes my synopsis, character sheets, and makes little notes to consider as I write, but I’m very much a “jump in head first and see where it takes me,” type of writer in that regard. I know the destination, but not necessarily the journey, kind of thing lol

If I’m understanding the question, perhaps this could be a piece of advice towards it as well. If you’re worried about how to maintain viewership from chapter to chapter, my best piece of advice that, unfortunately, will probably get you some shit; cliffhangers. People complain about them, but numbers don’t lie. They work.

I try to avoid them most of the time because I have an audience already, I can get away with it more than others, although every now and again it really is necessary for the buildup. However, a lot of smaller creators have been outspoken about their struggles to maintain an audience, especially with an ongoing story. How do you keep that from happening? Give the readers a reason to come back IMMEDIATELY! Make them want to click on that next update, even if your story isn’t their “favorite,” but OMG I JUST HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS! That’s the point of a cliffhanger, bring readers back in, keep them engaged.

If you really don’t want to do cliffhangers, simply having an interesting plot, really polishing the characters so that they are relatable, lovable and/or someone readers can root for is the obvious and next best option. There has to be a reason the readers want to keep reading, something that makes them as passionate about the project as you are, that makes your story stand out to them among the thousands on the site.

I hope this answered your question. I realized while typing this up that perhaps I misunderstood lol either way, I hope this was a little helpful for some of you!

Until next time, toodles~