: Re: How should I break up chapters in a novel? Is it acceptable to pace my chapters in terms of an event? Can I get away with a 4 page chapter here, and a 30 page chapter there? Are there

@Lee1909368

Vote Up Vote Down

In answer to the question I've always struggled with the concept of chapters. They are an artificial contrivance; often an artifact of the author's writing process designed to help him or her, not the reader. So the other option is to consider not having them at all. Here is my reasoning...

Chapters give the reader and excuse to stop reading, as a writer I don't want to give my readers any excuse to stop.

Modern fiction is based on a sequence of immediate scenes. It is more visual than in the past, because readers are used to watching movies. Do movies delineate their progress with chapters? No, a movie is designed to be an immersive experience. I want my fiction to be more immersive and so I avoid chopping it up into arbitrary slices that the reader can see.

Beware of course that this flies in the face of tradition. But that doesn't mean it is wrong. People noticed when intermissions were removed from movies, but now they would be shocked if an intermission broke them out of their induced dream state.

My first novel was a sequence of scenes with no chapters; my editor didn't say anything and I've had only a couple of complaints from readers who said they wanted a place to stop (I don't want you to stop!).

I predict that fiction without chapters will become more of the norm in the future, especially with genres such as thrillers where pacing is vital.

(0)

Login to post a comment!