Where do chapters start and end?

[redzwritez]

Chapters are something I've struggled with. The more I read the more structures for chapters I come across. I don't know if it's that the chapters are all structured differently or if it's that the different books/authors feel distinct from one another. Either way, I've been trying to get my head around how to write and separate out chapters and I thought why not make it a thread? A lot of the other writing related threads I've posted have been really helpful and it's interesting to hear what different people think of parts of a book.

How do you write chapters or work out what will be in each chapter? How do chapters change from book to book or genre to genre?

 

[Stomalomalus]

For me, each chapter is almost a stand alone story, it moves the plot from a to b, or it moves one part of the plot from a to b. It can end in a cliffhanger or it can offer some closure, but I wouldn’t want to end a chapter in the middle of a plot point or scene.

 

[The Judge]

There's no need to write in chapters of course, so don't get hung up on the issue, nor on any specific structure for them. By all means listen to what people say but don't accept any advice as gospel -- whatever works is right!

Personally, I'm happy to write multiple scenes within a chapter where the flow requires it, and I deal with both scenes and chapters in the same way -- I try and write a punchy beginning that starts whatever is going to happen and then a punchy ending which gives some kind of conclusion and acts as a springboard for the next scene/chapter. And while I don't worry about the lengths of scenes, I prefer to keep chapters within a certain word-count range, so I don't leap from 1k for one chapter to 10k for the next** which means that I might break in the middle of something where someone else would continue on. In one instance as I repeatedly added to and pruned from a couple of incidents I spent a good bit of time re-arranging where I began and ended, moving the scene and chapter breaks.

Long scenes/chapters can feel a bit stuffed or lacking in impetus, and short scenes/chapters can bring a sense of propulsion and movement, but also disjointedness which can be counter-productive in some stories -- so when it comes to differences between genres, literary fiction can just waffle on at length without having any kind of scene break let alone specific chapters, while thrillers tend to have short chapters to propel the action forward.

The important thing is that at the end of the chapter the reader should feel the plot has moved on and s/he is desperate to read what comes next!


** it's not a problem if one wants vastly differing chapter lengths, of course; it's simply it suits my writing and liking for structure if I have the regularity and consistency of having them between 3k and 6k.

 

[Astro Pen]

As a writer: Events, reveals, changes in location etc' tend to be natural divisions in most stories. I think I ended up with 42 chapters in my first novel. There was no need to 'think about' where to place them. I have also tried a YA with no chapters (but 3 parts).
I wrote the opening chapter a little longer than the rest almost as a stand alone, but open ended, short story.

As a reader: If you are an "in bed" reader, like me, there is a natural tendency to "just finish this chapter" before turning the light off. If I find that that "completion" thing is 22 pages away I tend to stop mid chapter and I believe that that is a bad thing for maintaining involvement. So probably best to avoid writing over long chapters, keep to say 12 pages or so.

Recently I finished reading a dark, 730 page, novel called The Crow Girl (Which is not one for the faint of heart). The chapters are very short often a couple of pages and we are constantly moving in both location and time. The speed of this keeps you interested. There simply isn't the space for a chapter to drag despite the length of the book. Interestingly, the chapters are not numbered, just headed by the location and year.

Review: THE CROW GIRL by Erik Axl Sund — Crime by the Book

Writing duo Erik Axl Sund's English debut succeeds at pushing the limits of crime writing, drawing the reader into a world that is as repulsive and deranged as it is addictive and emotional. I now consider this one of my most favorite books, second only to the works of Jo Nesbø.

crimebythebook.com

 

[tinkerdan]

Just like story the chapters should be like a river that flows in one direction. Your job is to keep it flowing. As to when to break to a new chapter, I believe there are a number of things to consider.

One thing is that you might consider each chapter a scene. So, you could make the chapter as long as the scene holds together; however, that would be oversimplification and could lead to the mistake I teetered toward in my first novel. Taking the scene so far that other chapters were a bit askew of the timeline of events. Sometimes that can't be avoided while most of the time you can find a dramatic moment to break and move onto a necessary thread that is happening concurrently.

If you have read any Dean Koontz novels--especially recent series--you might find he writes short chapters that basically carry the reader through a thread to dramatic moments and then cuts to other scenes in the next chapter to do the same and then return to the previous scene and he might do this for a number of chapters before he brings the two POV together.

You might want to look at your favorite authors works to see how they handle chapters.

The bottom line and again an oversimplification is that the chapter or scene is as long as it needs to be. And it is as long as you want it to be in order to keep the reader interested and to keep from confusing the reader if there are several threads that wander alone and then eventually intersect with each other.

 

[alexvss]

If you have multiple main characters, the chapters could serve to switch the point of view between them. They can even take place at the same time, like Robert E. Howard does in Xuthal of the Dusk, or Tarantino in Jackie Brown.

Coincidentally enough, the current issue of the magazine DreamForge Anvil has two articles on writing craft that may be of use.

 

[Wayne Mack]

Maybe you could expand on what issue that you're having with chapter breaks?

I may not provide much help. I rely on more of a gut feel as to when to provide a chapter break. The best that I can describe it, is that when I end a chapter, it is usually and indication to the reader to ponder what has just been read. I can't point to any sort of algorithm; I certainly don't write a chapter to some target word count; I will have some fairly short chapters, 800-1,200 words and some long chapters, 4,500-5,500 words, but I don't know why. I just end a chapter when it feels right.

Is the intuitive approach not working for you? Are you afraid that your chapters are consistently too long? Too short?

 

[redzwritez]

Maybe you could expand on what issue that you're having with chapter breaks?

I may not provide much help. I rely on more of a gut feel as to when to provide a chapter break. The best that I can describe it, is that when I end a chapter, it is usually and indication to the reader to ponder what has just been read. I can't point to any sort of algorithm; I certainly don't write a chapter to some target word count; I will have some fairly short chapters, 800-1,200 words and some long chapters, 4,500-5,500 words, but I don't know why. I just end a chapter when it feels right.

Is the intuitive approach not working for you? Are you afraid that your chapters are consistently too long? Too short?

I wrote the first draft of my story without chapters. It was kind of accidental because I was trying to get it all down first but now I'm not sure where to put chapters. There probably needs to be some but I've only a vague idea of where each chapter starts and ends. The intuitive approach is an interesting one though that might work since it's sort of what I did with the first draft.

 

[The Judge]

What might help, if you're retrospectively trying to create chapters out of one mass of writing, is to create a chart detailing what happens in each scene. That will give you an overview of the action and make it easier to see where a natural pause occurs or where you can create one.

I don't plan my WiPs in advance but I do create that kind of chart as I go along as it helps me to keep track of things. Like this:
View attachment 59858:

 

[redzwritez]

What might help, if you're retrospectively trying to create chapters out of one mass of writing, is to create a chart detailing what happens in each scene. That will give you an overview of the action and make it easier to see where a natural pause occurs or where you can create one.

I don't plan my WiPs in advance but I do create that kind of chart as I go along as it helps me to keep track of things. Like this:
View attachment 59858:

Thanks, that's really helpful. I think I half started to map out where they'd be so hopefully it's helpful but making it into a table/something digital might make it a lot easier to keep track of it.

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

I actually know of some writers that don't use chapters at all, only scene breaks. It's tricky to do, but it is doable.

I usually have multiple scenes in my chapters, but I use the 'commercial break' approach for knowing when to end them. If it feels like it would go to a commercial break if it were an episode of a TV series, then that's usually a good spot for a chapter break. I don't worry too much about chapter length or consistency of length, though I do generally aim for 2.5k-3.5k word counts. However, I have had chapters both longer and short than that and it doesn't both me. They will be as long or as short as benefits the story best.

 

[Steve Harrison]

I mostly write using multiple POVs, so I start a new 'chapter' at each change. I don't worry about length or uniformity, as the there are major and minor characters, so requirements differ.

However, I recently wrote a novel in first person. The story took place over eight days, so I broke it up into eight sections (of roughly even length) and didn't have chapters within them. I just used a line break when switching scenes.

While it makes sense to divide a book into chapters from an organisational and neatness perspective, rather than worry about their structure and length, I ask myself if they are necessary in the novel I'm writing.