The Power of Short Chapters

Analysis of "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown

📖 The Da Vinci Code is the definition of a page-turner.

💰 Dan Brown’s second installment in his Robert Langdon thriller series became a global sensation when published in 2003. It’s one of the best-selling books of all time.

✍️ I studied The Da Vinci Code and discovered the page-turning techniques that you can apply to your own writing.

---

My analysis is broken into five posts:

Part 1: How to hook readers BEFORE your first sentence

Part 2: Why you should start in the middle

Part 3: The trick to creating a compelling supporting character

Part 4: The power of short chapters

Part 5: How to make readers feel like they’re IN your book

---

Here is Part 4:

When you first start reading The Da Vinci Code, one thing instantly sticks out…

The chapters are extremely short.

Some are only 2 or 3 pages.

Others are longer, usually when there’s exposition to get across to the reader.

There are 105 chapters total, in addition to a prologue and epilogue.

Here are 4 benefits of using short chapters:

1. Easier for readers to pick up your book

If the chapters are shorter, it’s easier to jump in and do a bit of reading throughout the day.

You’ll be able to start and finish entire chapters within one reading session, unlike a traditional book where you might not even be able to finish one.

2. The book becomes addicting

Your brain gets a hit of dopamine whenever you complete a task or accomplish a goal.

This is happening every time you finish reading a chapter.

The more chapters, the more dopamine.

Readers will chase that feeling of accomplishment.

3. Easier for readers to decide to keep reading

Everyone has the experience of getting toward the end of a reading session and trying to decide whether to go on.

If we reach the end of a chapter, we’ll usually glance ahead to see how long the next one is and decide if we want to commit to reading it.

Instead of readers faced with 20+ pages of additional reading, short chapters allow them to read another chapter quickly.

If they finish an additional chapter, they’ll restart this decision process to see if they want to read for a bit longer— and often will.

4. More opportunities for suspense

If you construct your chapters like Dan Brown, they’ll end in a way that makes readers want to keep reading.

Chapter endings are great opportunities to leave readers in suspense.

The more chapters, the more opportunities to do this, and the more readers will want to turn the page to see what happens next.

Alternative to short chapters:

If for some reason you:

• Don’t want to use short chapters

• Can’t use short chapters (due to format restrictions, like publishing on Wattpad)

Then consider using more chapter breaks.

Have shorter sections that make up each chapter so you can still get the benefits of shorter chapters.

---

Continue reading the other parts of The Da Vinci Code analysis:

Part 1: How to hook readers BEFORE your first sentence

Part 2: Why you should start in the middle

Part 3: The trick to creating a compelling supporting character

Part 4: The power of short chapters

Part 5: How to make readers feel like they’re IN your book

Analyses are available only to C.S.M. Fiction paid subscribers. Thank you for your support.