Chapter structure and plot fluidity

[Flaviosky]

Hello everyone,

Reading through many interesting threads that have been posted and thoroughly discussed, I've come across a doubt that may involve the first 4 chapters of the first book of my series regarding the flow of the plot and the willingess of the reader to follow the chapter structure. For now, I have this:

Chapter 1:
- Introduces the protagonist
- Introduces the main plot.
- Introduces a MC.
- Introduces the main villain of the story.
- Introduces the villain of the book.

Chapter 2:
- A short chapter following the events of chapter 1
- POV on the villain of the book to show the rivalry with the main villain.

Chapter 3:
- Introduces a sub-plot
- Introduces an MC that is a "chosen one" type.
- Introduces an MC that is important to the protagonist's and the chosen one's character arcs.

Chapter 4:
- Merges the main plot and the sub-plot.

I have the feeling that Chapter 2 may be better laid out as a flashback and that Chapter 3 may be problematic by drifting away from the main plot, but it introduces 2 key characters for the story and Chapter 4 gets back to the main plot.

Is it okay to have the reader get away from the main plot that early on the story or it can be done well if I get back rather fast to the main plot?

I'd love to know your experience about this.

Thanks!

 

[DLCroix]

Let's see, here you have to differentiate well between the main plot of the saga and that of each book. The reader needs to know what is the conflict to be resolved in the book he is reading. If there is a major conflict linking all the other books this may even be revealed at the end of the first book; but that first book should be self-concluding if possible.

Second thing: try to provide the conditions for your muse to generate images or mental sequences, because in most cases the mind delivers the material so ready that you see it in your head as if it were a movie, which is not only much more intense and exciting in terms of creativity, but it is actually surprising how solidly it even withstands the analysis of coherence, rhythm and internal voice.
Third thing: the above is likely to be presented in fragments, sometimes one takes note of two pages of dialogues that come to mind without having more information about the environment. But, with proper training, it is possible to visualize the whole story in mind. In fact, this mental visualization usually lasts, I don't know why, but there must be a reason, curiously between an hour and a half and two hours. Jo, like a movie. And why am I telling you all this? Because personally I think it's good to make plots and design schemes and analyze them and all that, but the muse is irreplaceable, you just have to know how to ask her and she will give you the answer. Complete.

 

[Flannery]

There seems to be a lot of weight in Chapter 1. Have you considered breaking that into two chapters? Have Chapter 1 introduce your protagonist, the plot, and an MC, then have Chapter 2 introduce the villain. Or, you could have a hooky chapter 1 with the villain doing something villain-like that sets up the main plot, then you can have chapter two intro your protagonist dealing with the daggers flung at him/her (either figuratively or literal) by the villain in chapter 1..

Also, I'm wary of flashbacks early in a story. I always feel like they leave the reader feeling a little disjointed. Readers haven't gotten to know the characters quite yet, and time jumps can become a little jarring, possibly even off-putting. It's kind of like putting a dream sequence at the start of a story. It feels like a cheat. Can you convey the same information without the flashback? Or can the flashback come later? But my feelings for early flashbacks are one data point. Maybe write it out, see if it works, but then give it a hard look in the next draft and you can decide then. If it works, it works. Keep it. But, if you can figure out where to better put that information, maybe that's the route to go.

 

[Wayne Mack]

I see no issues with the chapter sequence. Regarding chapter 2, I've found that it can build tension when the story gives the reader a piece of knowledge that is unavailable to the main character. Telling this later, as a flashback, causes it to be more of an explanation and one that might even be omitted at that point.

Giving the reader a subplot in chapter 3 does not seem problematic. I might even consider keeping it running in parallel for a longer period of time, rather than pulling it into the main plot line in chapter 4. Done well, having a parallel thread will spark interest in the reader as he or she tries to determine how the threads are related.

One concern from the outline is that chapter 1 seems rather busy as it introduces four characters and a main plot. I wonder if introduction of the main plot could be deferred and only one or two characters introduced initially. As I presume that there will also be some world building in chapter 1, there may be a pretty steep learning curve for the reader to take all of this information in.

Having multiple plot threads running is pretty common in mystery and thriller novels. As I noted above, for those attracted to that genre, trying to see how multiple plot lines converge is part of the pleasure of reading the story.

 

[msstice]

Is this an outline for something to be written, or have you already written it this way, and are summarizing it for us?

My (unpublished) experience has been that I structured the story one way, but after the first draft I experimented with moving some chapters around and found a better way (in my opinion) afterwards.

I think story telling is very empirical in many ways. You have to try it out. It is not that wasteful, IMO, to experiment.

 

[Biskit]

I would echo @Wayne Mack 's concern that ch1 seems too busy. It's difficult to judge from an outline like that because I don't know how much weight (or word-count) each of those 5 elements get, and how many of them get done simultaneously. So, for instance, if introducing the protagonist and the main plot are both done by the same chunk of the chapter it perhaps then looks less overwhelming.

In terms of structure, my first inclination would be to re-distribute ch1 and ch2:
Chapter 1:
- Introduces the protagonist
- Introduces the main plot.
- Introduces a MC.

Chapter 2:
- Introduces the main villain of the story.
- Introduces the villain of the book.
- POV on the villain of the book to show the rivalry with the main villain.

but that's a bit dicey without know how you're going about this.

As @msstice says - is this what you've done, or the planning stage.

Adding my usual pinch of salt here, I'm not a planner so I would dive in and write, and then restructure if it's not working.

As for making ch2 a flashback...is that the 7.6k flashback you posted about recently? Is a 7.6k word flashback too long?

 

[Flaviosky]

As for making ch2 a flashback...is that the 7.6k flashback you posted about recently?

No. The (formerly) 7.6k flashback was actually related to tha Chapter 3 sub-plot. This one isn't a flashback but due to its short length and POV on the villain I thought about making it a flashback, although everyone seems to agree that it may not work that way.

Is this an outline for something to be written, or have you already written it this way, and are summarizing it for us?

It's already "written" but I'm on rewriting right now and these issues are coming across now that I've solved more obvious problems.

Or, you could have a hooky chapter 1 with the villain doing something villain-like that sets up the main plot

That's the thing. The villain-like action sets the main plot: The king gets murdered, the princess fles into exile and swears revenge.

It feels like a cheat

Yeah, hate those. Conveniently lucid dreams to build hollow anticipation.

there may be a pretty steep learning curve for the reader to take all of this information in.

I'll take a closee look on that. Chapter 1 is way too important to have it laid out badly.