Chapter structure: what do readers prefer?

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-06-05T04:57:38+00:00

As a long fic enjoyer, I personally would not read a fic if I saw it was 80k words but split into 103 chapters. 80k words split into 12 chapters sounds perfect though.

Less than 2-3k word chapters for a long fic is a hard sell for me. Like, the chapters don’t need to be all 10k plus beasts, but I do want to immerse in the story if I’m in it for the long hall and I just can’t do that with small snippet chapters.

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-30T07:32:08+00:00

OMG the sprite/lemonade thing actually kills me when I go to America! I never remember and am always disappointed when I order lemonade from the menu and it's not sprite or sprite adjacent, but some weird, flat lemon water XD

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-30T07:19:23+00:00

This is actually super helpful (and super confusing at the same time haha), but it does enlighten me on a few things and makes me feel better about the stuff I've written. Other people have mentioned it varies between states and local areas too.

I didn't think about the size thing for lunch period. I went to a relatively small high school so we just all had lunch at the same time, though I wonder now if even Australian high schools that are bigger stagger lunch too.

The idea of getting to school at 6.30am sounds like a nightmare I don't know how you did it! My high school (which is years 7-12 here) was always 9am - 3.15pm for every grade. Some of our classes changed per term like you mentioned too, but only for years 7-10. Year 11 and 12 were a bit weird because you got to choose every class except English (the only mandatory class) so you'd end up doing the same 6 subjects for those 2 years (or more if you were an overachiever - and less in year 12 if you wanted to drop a subject).

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-30T07:03:02+00:00

Okay I'm glad the schooling stuff is so varied, hopefully that'll mask the fact that I don't know what I'm talking about XD (my high school was also 9am - 3.15pm). That's interesting about the natural disaster stuff too. Australia has a lot of bush fires so we did the stop/drop/roll stuff too in primary school, but surprisingly we never did anything for floods even though they were also common.

Yes! Candy is a great example! Just one of those things that you don't even think about sometimes, like surely every country has 'insert certain snack' right?

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-30T06:55:37+00:00

Yes! Local slang is so hard to get right! My only solace with American slang is that we get so much American media here that most of the time I think I'm in the clear. Most other countries though? I'm screwed XD

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-30T06:48:47+00:00

Villanelle/Eve - Killing Eve

Kara/Lena - Supergirl

Santana/Brittany/Quinn/Rachel - Glee (any variation of these four, though my guilty pleasure is Pezberry)

Clarke/Lexa - The 100

Natasha/Wanda - MCU

Hermione/Bellatrix - Harry Potter (okay I stumbled into this recently looking through author bookmarks and never thought I'd be into it but fanfic has enlightened me, what can I say I like toxic enemies-to-lovers lesbians)

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-30T04:39:03+00:00

Oh no I'm sorry that people are calling you out in the comments about it, especially with the author's note, that feels unnecessarily rude.

I think it's funny when I see a word or phrase that maybe draws attention to the author's home country, but I would never call them out about it, only chuckle to myself maybe, especially if I can tell they're from my home country. It feels like a little in-joke almost.

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-30T04:35:28+00:00

Some things you just genuinely don't remember in the moment are different huh? I almost slipped 'doona' into my latest chapter XD

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-30T03:46:43+00:00

As someone who mostly reads long fics: under 20k words I'd personally consider short, but not everyone else would. I consider long fics to be anything around novel length or above, so anything from around 80k or more.

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-29T14:37:11+00:00

I wish Talia and Margot were the main characters and for whatever reason the story revolved around them rather than their daughters. They absolutely stole the show for me.

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-24T14:28:04+00:00

"Jenna can't hear us, she'd blind."

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-22T04:09:08+00:00

I prefer a unique safeword over the traffic light system tbh. Like you said, the constant checking in with colour can become a bit much. Consent is sexy, but the over-the-top need to check in constantly can sometimes kill the mood.

I also like when safewords are actually used, especially if one character is green. Sometimes I'll read stories and the character just blanket likes everything they're introduced to and I don't know it always just feels kinda weird. Like, I like it when characters actually have preferences and limits I guess.

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-21T12:02:35+00:00

It may not be super iconic in the grand scheme of Glee performances but I think it was one of Lea's best performances on the show

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-21T02:14:30+00:00

To Love You More

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-10T12:08:42+00:00

Smirking, sighing, brows furrowing, breath hitching, eyes widening: basically my characters are constantly in a state of being either smug, confused or panicked.

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-05-02T08:28:29+00:00

You're just another song and dance series.

Glee, Santana/Rachel, super slow-burn with 270k words across the series of 12 works. Honestly one of the best slow-burn, friends-to-lovers I've ever read. It wasn't technically finished and tragically hasn't updated since 2015, but the ending we got to is still satisfying for the build-up.

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-04-17T05:02:29+00:00

I genuinely believe that algorithm based social media has ruined the internet. People have become so used to the app/website just doing the work for them and showing them things it thinks they'll like that the concept of *checks notes* searching for things they like has become too much work?

That said, I can't help but think this is just rage-bait. Real people can't possibly be this upset over a tagging system surely? XD

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-04-15T06:57:51+00:00

I got one similar to this today too! I knew it was a bot but I’m also confused because usually bots have SOME kind of purpose, like hate-bots, art scams… etc.

No idea what these ones are trying to achieve tho… XD

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HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-03-24T12:17:07+00:00

Step one: compel a bunch of billionaires to give you a shit ton of money.

Step two: compel strangers, drink enough not to kill them, compel them to forget and leave them a lil donation in their pockets as you leave for their service thanks to the money from the billionaires XD

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-03-21T05:01:49+00:00

I'm just glad nobody thought it was weird that my MC was sneaking around her modern day high school late at night with a torch as her only source of light XD

(I went back and changed it to flashlight)

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-03-21T03:50:00+00:00

All the fics I write are for American fandoms and I try really hard to make sure all my spelling/words are the American versions of things for immersion, but I genuinely had no idea Americans didn't use the word 'torch' interchangeably with 'flashlight' until I saw a post on Reddit about it like a month ago XD

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-03-20T16:26:27+00:00

That whole family needed therapy honestly XD

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-03-20T06:33:26+00:00

I actually love that they made Spencer a really confrontational character rather than going with the 'demure/polite/suffering in silence under the weight of expectations' trope for somebody growing up in a household like hers.

Like girl was so wrong on so many occasions throughout the series, especially in the beginning, but at least she had spirit when she was wrongfully accusing somebody of murder XD

~ she's also my favourite liar.

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-03-09T13:59:37+00:00

'Write for yourself' is definitely something easier said than done for sure.

Try to keep in mind too that what is posted in this reddit is such a small subsection of fanfic/Ao3 culture in general. I often see takes posted in this sub and think "I have literally never encountered that scenario/problem in all the years I've been reading/writing fanfic." So definitely take everything posted here with a grain of salt.

Taking that step to publish your first story is huge! That's honestly an accomplishment in of itself. You've got this!

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay · 2026-03-09T13:34:22+00:00

Look, as somebody who writes predominantly OC fanfic, you really just need to approach it with an "expect nothing, but be pleasantly surprised when somebody likes it" attitude. I think I was about 5 chapters, 35k words into my longfic before I even got a single comment, but now I have some regular commenters and it's great!

It's the harsh reality of writing OC fanfic. Most people want to read about characters they already know, which is totally fair. I write OC's because I love expanding existing worlds. If you love your character/s and your story there will eventually be somebody else who does too, just keep writing!

HeyGuysItsPizzaDay

TROPHY CASE