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Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008.
Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it:
James Patterson, the world’s most popular storyteller.
Two-page chapters, tons of white space, and a 400 page book that's more like 200 pages.
But it got me to thinking ... attention spans aren't getting longer ...
Should we start making our chapters shorter to keep the attentions of our readers?
1) Give them a sense of the road ahead
2) Learn from Strip Teasers ... don't disrobe your plot all at once.
3) Don't hoard your dynamite ... use all the good stuff while you can to keep them turning the pages.
“You have whole generations being trained for shorter attention spans than books require.”
What do you think is a solution?
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My chapters aren't short so I guess I'm not keeping some people's attentions.
ReplyDeleteYour books sell, so I would say the opposite! :-)
DeleteAs someone who formats, super-short chapters drive me crazy. It's a lot more work, plus it adds more pages, making the book longer and more expensive.
ReplyDeleteI guess when you are a super-star author, you are above caring about a poor formatter!
DeleteIf I'm into a story, I don't notice short chapters v. long ones. But then I'm old school, so I don't fall into the "short is better" demographic.
ReplyDeleteI'm old school, too. :-)
DeletePatterson was in marketing first and he knows how to keep us on the edge of our seats with short scenes and high tension.
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
Anna, I think he is a calculating author -- and that is why he sells more!
DeleteI think shorter chapters can keep the pace fast and get readers to want to keep turning the pages. Not all chapters have to be short.
ReplyDeleteNatalie, thrillers do better with short chapters I think. But like you, I feel the chapters need to free to the length they need to be!
DeleteWhile I understand chapters to maintain some consistently overall, I tend toward the length the chapter needs.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. :-)
DeleteAs long as the story's good, that's the important thing, but I'm a slow reader and used to reading a chapter at a time so too many short ones is distracting. I prefer a lot of scene breaks in one chapter to keep a steady pace.
ReplyDeleteScene breaks are a good idea, Nick.
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