First, I am a new-ish author and been writing a few chapters, but there are some questions I have unanswered. In this case, what is a 'reasonable' chapter length and what would be a 'reasonable' chapter release timespan (every what time should a chapter be released.)
I feel like I'm a bit slow, especially since my average number of words is under 900, but I thought I might as well ask.
AFoxImmortal Chapter length is generally between 1000 to 2000 words,( some write more than 2000 and some less than 1000)
It's your choice what are you comfortable with.
Release span daily is good, you are writing 900 words , so daily updating should not be a problem.
For release time, you need to check your readers timezones Or follow some highly popular novels time with slight adjustment
Again this depends on you( your readers)
Well I try to do a 1.5k per chapter with at least three chapters a week. But if you want to keep a steady release schedule it's better to stack chapters before releasing them.
AFoxImmortal chapters are normally between 1000 to 2000 words if you are writing a action packed novel stay close to 1000 words but if you are going into a in-depth analysis with lots of world building try 2500
Here are some schedules you can use
Every Tuesday and Friday (twice a week)
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (three times a week)
One chapter every two days
One chapter every day
Two chapters a day
heyitsbluejay Then yeah, my release schedule is quite slow (to the ones mention) it seems.
I'm doing 800, trying to push for the 900 every 3 days, although in exchange I make sure to rewrite and fix grammar stuff if that counts. I've noticed a lot if novels have problems there and I definitely want to avoid it.
AFoxImmortal every three days is fine it let's you fully complete each chapter without sacrificing anything it's good you choose quality over quantity
Guys, I'm sorry to break it down to you, but there is one thing that separates those that are likely to have a shoot at achieving something on WN and those who are not. While it's not ultimate, for the most part, unless you are already great writers (and I really doubt so as people learn by writing) then daily update is THE MINIMUM you should strive for.
As for chapter length, doing 1k words chapter seems to be okay, 900 is still within the "okay" boundaries albeit its a bit short. I do believe 1200-1400 words long chapters are optimal.
You guys need to remember - without daily update, most of the readers won't bother even trying your novel out, as there are many other novels that have daily. What's more, every chapter published is your chance to ask your readers for votes, so giving up on it... is strange to me.
MotivatedSloth oh I Know but with the daily updates many people sacrifice the quality of there work but I would recommend to people that you should write the first volume of your book before releasing it so then you have the best writing you can do and also you can release two chapters every day well writing the second volume
AFoxImmortal I have to say that asking this question here is a good way to get yourself demotivated with all the ’suggestions’ you are going to get.
For those 'experienced' writers, they had probably forgotten how they struggled to write as a newbie, and I know it's hard for new writers to write long and update daily.
If you can't, don't force yourself in an earlier stage, you might mess up your whole plot if you force yourself to do things in a hurry.
However, it's important to update daily to get the reader's attention. So how?
I suggest you to accumulate a few chapters first (maybe 50) before you decide to officially publish it in here, then you can release one chapter a day.
About the length, it's better to write more than 1k words, per chapter if possible.
I hope my suggestion would help.
AI380 Demotivated? No. Its demotivating when you write for months only to learn that you were doing some stupid stuff wrong since the beginning, making your entire work fail. It happened to me after 2 months of writing 2x2k long chapters daily, even though I was only starting and working full time at that time.
Without hard work, you won't get anywhere. Thats all there is to it.
MotivatedSloth Hi, I doubt if you read my whole post. But I'll not argue with you. 
AI380 I did read your entire post, but wanted to spare you my reasoning, but if you want to sound so patronising then here I go:
AI380 I have to say that asking this question here is a good way to get yourself demotivated with all the ’suggestions’ you are going to get.
Just like with everything when a newbie ask people who already went through the hard part of starting.
AI380 For those 'experienced' writers, they had probably forgotten how they struggled to write as a newbie, and I know it's hard for new writers to write long and update daily.
No, we did not. Mostly because the hardships only increase along the way. We look back to those times with nostalgia. It was fun writing one chapter a day, when you are producing 8-10k words daily to satisfy the demand.
AI380 If you can't, don't force yourself in an earlier stage, you might mess up your whole plot if you force yourself to do things in a hurry.
Hurry? Who said you are supposed to hurry while writing? Some people think that writing is easy thing. You sit down, smash the keys a few times and you have an entire novel on your hard drive. It's not like that.
Writing is a hard job, but only those who do write on a daily basis do recognise this fact. It's something you need to do continuously, day by day, no matter how sick or tired you are. The first time you let yourself loose with thinking - I'm tired so I'm not going to write today - is the time when you dig yourself a pit, that will only make it harder to advance even further. And trust me on this, I'm speaking from experience.
Rather than hurrying, one needs to get used to the fact that writing does can't be based on the impulse. You have some nice parts of the stories that you are hyped about, but the entire problem lies in reaching them while making the part in between just as interesting. And without hype, you need a proper craftsman ability to do so, which you can gain ONLY by writing a lot (and reading just as much)
AI380 I suggest you to accumulate a few chapters first (maybe 50) before you decide to officially publish it in here, then you can release one chapter a day.
While this sounds smart and genius in a sense, for the people that can't force themselves to write regularly, its a simple road to drop writing all together. When you start releasing those chapters, you won't feel any pressure to write more unless you reach the end of your stockpile. I doubt most of the people would write 50 damned chapters without feedback motivating them do write more!
When one starts his journey at writing webnovels, he is prompted by the hype. But guess what, after sitting down and writing for 10h, the hype will be long dead. Unless you find something to motivate you along the way, you will drop. And if you can motivate yourself to write without the feedback and do not stop writing while publishing the stockpile, then what was the point of doing one in the first place?
And that leaves us with the last problem - Let's say you somehow overcame the odds and did this 50 (or as many as you want) chapters of stockpile, and you continued to write in your usual pace while publishing. But sooner or later, the amount of accumulated chapters will reach 0, meaning you can either suddenly spike your speed, or drop the release speed from daily to few chapters weekly, resulting in a great majority of readers dropping your novel, forcing you to suffer a great mental and motivational hit.
There is no easy way to go about writing. You just need to sit down, and do the job. Thats the harsh truth that the earlier you learn, the better for you.
AI380 About the length, it's better to write more than 1k words, per chapter if possible.
Thats the one thing I can fully agree with. Not because of any lofty reasons, but because that's kind of average for Webnovel, and if you ever receive contact offer, you can either raise this number to 1.5k words per chapter on your daily update, or write 2 chapters a day to fulfill MGS requirment.
Mhmm, These actually sounds better when you go details on every single point.
But still, I have a bit to add on.
MotivatedSloth But sooner or later, the amount of accumulated chapters will reach 0, meaning you can either suddenly spike your speed, or drop the release speed from daily to few chapters weekly, resulting in a great majority of readers dropping your novel, forcing you to suffer a great mental and motivational hit.
There is no easy way to go about writing. You just need to sit down, and do the job. Thats the harsh truth that the earlier you learn, the better for you
I believe through those 50 or more chapters, anyone should have been able to improve their efficiency in writing after that long time, consider that 50 chapters as a practice for beginners. But if after such a long time, they are still not able to improve, then that's their problem.
I agree with you that writing a novel is not an easy thing, it's harder than anyone can imagine, it's all about dedication.
*by the way, while I told others to stockpile and release one chapter everyday, I released that 80+ chapters of mine in less than a week, and I feels like a fool now.
AI380 in less than a week... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA...
Can’t stop laughing here.
I stockpile but I love using 7-day writing plan so I don’t over post because I stick to one chapter per plan
sir_impeccable That's the reaction I'm expecting. Seriously, I wonder what am I even thinking at that time. 
MotivatedSloth ou guys need to remember - without daily update, most of the readers won't bother even trying your novel out, as there are many other novels that have daily. What's more, every chapter published is your chance to ask your readers for votes, so giving up on it... is strange to me.
Hi there, I started writing last year February and so far I have three uncompleted books.
I update the last daily though.
But have a question
How do I upload covers on the book?
I noticed that books with covers have greater audience and feedback. But I can’t find how to upload a cover now.. help?
AI380 *by the way, while I told others to stockpile and release one chapter everyday, I released that 80+ chapters of mine in less than a week, and I feels like a fool now.
How about you republish now? Make invisible the one that already exists and try again?
RABBITICOL No, it's alright, that's just a small silly mistake, I just have to write more right now.
I think readers would prefer more chapters as well. And I think that having views and collection growth even after the new ranking period is more satisfying. Although a bit slow.
AI380 I will add to this sentiment a little of experience as a student and as a teacher. A true beginner can write 50 chapters or more without ever improving a bit. How? You may ask. You dismiss these people and say it’s their problem if they haven’t improved after writing 50 chapters, but the real problem isn’t the beginner. Without feedback, guidance, research, effort to learn what better is and improve, etc. of course the person will only continue to produce at the same level.
Mental growth takes effort and interactions with either people who have already worked on developing or at least recognizing the goal. This is why MotivatedSloth’s suggestion of reading makes sense. The person needs to be able to look at their own work and see what they need to improve. It’s a thoughtful process.
tigre900 Without feedback, guidance, research, effort to learn what better is and improve, etc. of course the person will only continue to produce at the same level.
I agree with you about this. However this is once again about a person's attitudes, if an individual has the initiative to do the mention things, they should be able to improve. There's a lot of ways to get feedback and guidance if one is serious enough about it.
And if that said person has no intention to do all those mentioned points, even with all the reader's feedback, they will have no improvement as well.
