As folks (myself included) consider readability issues in web info, this article on studies that have been done on line length and readability is interesting.
The bottom line seems to depend on whether you want speed or satisfaction. Wide line lengths, of 8 or 9 inches, actually allow faster reading on-line, based on current studies (these contradict some earlier studies on printed pages). But when you ask folks what they find most satisfying, narrower line widths (around 4 inches) get the top ranking. Too narrow (1.5 to 2 inches) doesn’t serve either purpose.
We apply usability engineering to meet specific business objectives. This is a perfect example. You might be creating a site for use by your company’s sales agents. The main objective is speed. In this case we use wider text (about 100 characters wide). If you are creating a site for the general public to read news the objective is satisfaction. We don’t really care how long it takes to read the news. We just want people to enjoy it. In this case we would use a shorter width (about 55 characters wide)
Something to consider on your blog (or novel) template.