fiction - Sizing of a chapter and how many should I use?

This is basically a follow-up question I asked here: Scene switching and how to do it?

I always considered it normal for a chapter to have between 3000 and 5000 words. And people around here thought so too: What is a normal length for a chapter? But the comments I got from my "Scene switching" question recommended way smaller amounts.

I tried looking for a different approach which is read on here: When should a chapter end? The answer I liked most was of "Lauren Ipsum". But it seems outdated?

All this raises some questions.

What is the deal with chapter sizes? How many should I use? Should I be consistent in sizing? Wouldn't variable sizing be annoying to readers?

Answer

A chapter can be long or short, it can be longer or shorter than other chapters in your novel, you might have a novel with no chapters at all.

Think of it this way: a sentence isn't defined as 5-10 words. It is as long as it needs to be to express a small idea. Not letting it run over three lines is a sort of useful guideline, but sometimes you might ignore that guideline, and other times you have a sentence consisting of one word only.

Same with paragraphs - some are longer, some are shorter. You end a paragraph when you move to a new idea.

And it is the same with chapters: a chapter can be one page long, it can be one word long (though that extreme is rather rare). Or it can be 40 pages. When you move to a new place/time/character/idea/whatever, it might be a good idea to start a new chapter. It's an indicator to the reader that there's a "full stop" here. So you end a chapter where you want that "full stop".