I thought I’d do a short post on chapter breaks today—because I’m currently going through my manuscript and sticking them in, so they’re on my brain!
As I’ve mentioned a couple of times, I write the text straight through and then put the chapter breaks in later. Although this isn’t a technique that works for everybody, it helps keep me from worrying about the formatting of the novel until I’m done being creative.
My books are about 75,000 words, so roughly 230 pages in a regular font like Times or Calibri. I do convert the text to Courier (where it’s more like 285-290 pages) and times the pages by 250 to get a better estimate of my word count…my books have a lot of dialogue and white space on the page.
This text, for me, usually ends up being nineteen or twenty chapters. I also use scene breaks within chapters to break up the material within the chapter. I like having good stopping points in books as a reader (I’m a distracted reader), so I try to put them in my books, too.
I don’t always end the chapter at an exciting moment because that seems a little gimmicky to me. But I do have cliffhanging chapter endings probably 3-4 times out of the 20. I also try to end chapters at points where readers want to read on instead of putting the book down—points where they want to see what happens next. And I try never to end a chapter with something boring happening or else the reader might not ever return to the book.
The length of my chapters varies. I do have usually one or two pretty short chapters and then a couple of chapters that are a lot longer—where maybe there wasn’t a great stopping place in the chapter. I try to break where it makes sense. And I make sure no chapters are excessively long—I’m a reader who likes knowing where the next intermission is, and I don’t want it too far off.
Have you got a chapter breaking method?
Please join me tomorrow when author and professional speaker L. Diane Wolfe guest posts on “Edits and Revisions.”
Elizabeth – I have to admit, I do put chapter breaks into my drafts. I find it helps me to stay organized and focused when I write. I agree that “cliffhangers” can get gimmicky, so I don’t always use them (although I do sometimes). I end my chapters when one part of the action’s done, and I’ve left a clue or laid the groundwork for the next part. Like you, I want the reader to keep turning pages, so I try not to end on a boring note. But I do try to let the reader breathe, too, between chapters. Does that make sense?
I have two main characters and they each have their own pov. I leave a page break for each scene switch. The scenes are usually quite short. I’ll worry about chapters later :)
I’m about to finish Act I of my mystery and have chopped it into chapters. Like Margot, it helps me to focus :). I even made a spreadsheet to count how may pages/chapter I have. In one column I’ve put down the chapter number, in the next the start page. After that comes end page (start: 4 – end 23, start 24 – end 39, start 40 – end 51 a.s.o.). I realized that a couple of chapters had to be merged and I have to write some more to some and also delete some text. Someone said that 17 pages/chapter is the max a reader can digest – in one sitting, for example. Chapter lengths longer than that are not good. So far my Act I has +23K words, so if keep going like this, my book will have about 400 pages and that’s way too much. (Act I 25%, Act II 50%, Act III 25%). But that’s for the editing phase.
Would you believe it, I never thought of chapters as a logical place to put a book down. All my reading life, I have put the book down on page numbers ending with 5 or 0, because I dislike bookmarks and find those numbers easier to remember :-)
Which is why, I am not too stressed about chapter breaks when I read. But when I write, it is usually with multiple PoVs, and a chapter break is when one character takes a break, and another takes over.
Thanks for this post. I thought I was doing things all wrong. I’m drafting my first mystery, and when my critique partner asks, “How many chapters do you have?” I have to say, “I don’t know.” I’m putting in chapter breaks but they don’t really mean anything at this stage. I try to make both scenes and chapters end so the reader will want to continue. When I revise and start shuffling things around, some of the scene breaks will probably turn into chapter endings.
I like the way you think. You are very logical.
I put chapters in as I go, but that’s not a steadfast rule.
Thanks for showing us how you put your books together. What a great help.
I find that extremely long chapters in a book make me tend to shy away from it. I guess because I read in chapters when possible. I feel like I’m making progress that way. Just a crazy reading method. The way you break chapters in short and a little longer makes for good reading.
The first few manuscripts I wrote, I put in chapter breaks in the first draft. The last few, I’ve just written straight through. I figure if I’m going to have to do a lot of moving things around anyway, why worry about chapter breaks before I need to?
I actually like a chapter to end at a place where I can comfortably put it down. If I’m enjoying the book, care about the characters and have to know what happens to them, I keep reading no matter what.
Karen
Your method sounds a lot like mine. I will write in the words “Chapter Break” in the rough draft if I come across a really good spot for one.
The big question for me is length. On the one hand the is something to be said for shorter chapters. (Ease of reading for one.) On the other hand when you send sample chapters, it’s nice when they can represent a decent chunk of the book.
Chapters don’t need to end on a cliff-hanger, but they should definitely end on a “what’s going to happen next?” question for the reader. Otherwise, you take the chance that they’ll put the book down because chapter breaks are natural “stopping places.” I learned the impact of good endings long before I started writing. I finally stopped reading mid-page, mid-chapter, simply because I knew if I kept going I’d want to read one more chapter, and then I’d be unable to function the next day.
As an author, of course, nothing makes me happier than to have a reader say, “I couldn’t put your book down.”
Normally, I find that if I backtrack a few paragraphs at the end of s scene or chapter, that’s the ‘real’ ending. End on a question, or something unexpected.
(a lot of times I end on a question because I haven’t figured out the answer myself!)
I write straight through as well. I wasn’t sure with CassaStar where to put the chapter breaks, so that’s something my publisher’s helping me with.
I don’t like really long chapters either, as chapter breaks tend to be where I stop.
Rayna–That’s too funny! What a great idea…I always lose my spot in books. And my bookmarks.
Changing POV would be a very natural time to make a chapter break, definitely.
Margot–I actually read a very interesting article on chapter breaks not long ago: http://wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com/2009/12/11-killer-chapter.html
She had some great ideas of points to end chapters with.
Jemi–Some writers are known for REALLY short scenes and chapters and do very well with them–Patterson is one of them.
Christine–I think whatever works is what writers should go with! I totally agree with you that chapters that are too long are offputting to readers…too much to digest.
Kathy–That would be my answer, too! And I can never say what page I’m on because I never remember. But I can say how far I’ve got to go–1/3 of the book, 1/2 the book, etc.
Teresa–Thanks! I figure if it works for me as a reader, I’ll try it as a writer. :)
Alex–The nice thing is that the publishers don’t seem to care too much…as long as the breaks aren’t in really odd places.
I am using yWriter and that helps me with scenes, chapters and breaks. This has made editing so much easier.
My chapters are a mix of long, short and inbetween at the present time. I will look at them at edit3, then will decide whether to merge some together.
Thanks for interesting post.
I put them in as I write. Actually, I put in ‘breaks’ and then when I enter my hand-written work into the computer, I keep an eye on the page count and select one of those ‘breaks’ as the end of the chapter.
Elizabeth, thanks for your thoughts on Chapter endings. Right now I’m playing with some of mine. I don’t have a definitive method for chapter breaks. My current WIP is an adventure/survival story and there are a few cliff hanger endings but not many.
My book that is on submission has one POV character but the book goes back and forth between two settings so the chapter breaks were easy: school and and home. I spent a lot of time crafting endings that would make the reader want to turn the page.
I’ve stolen your idea of not worrying about chapter breaks until the editing process. It certainly makes the first draft go faster! When I’ve gone back, I usually find the breaks are fairly obvious. But they’re certainly not all cliffhangers!
That’s an interesting technique – choosing chapter breaks AFTER completing a first draft. I just conclude a chapter when a scene or segment “feels” ended. And yes, I do stoop to “cliff-hanger” chapter endings quite a lot, (nervous chuckle) – not to be gimmicky, but because I like books with those in them, personally. I agree that overdone, though, it’s like, “alright, aready, enough!” LOL
I’ll just as often end a chapter with a conflict nicely resolved but with the hint of something else on the horizon … and sometimes, like you, while never boring, an ending that feels warm and comfy. Then when they turn the page I stab them. (wink)
Marvin D Wilson
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I’ve never known anyone to do it this way. Me, I pretty much write chapters as I go along because I bounce around so much. Sometimes I split chapters up later, but I write individual chapters as I go along.
Stephen Tremp
I follow your method to a great extent, except I do break for chapters as I write. Since I’ve always done it that way, I think it’d be difficult for me to do it your way. But I do see your logic.
Helen
Straight From Hel
Glynis–I don’t know yWriter…I’ll check it out. Thanks!
Mason–I also try to stop at chapter breaks (or at least scene breaks). I always lose my bookmarks and want to find my place easily when I pick the book up again.
Diane–Yeah, but you’re so organized!! I can totally see your doing that. :)
Marvin–You know, I think a lot of readers really go for cliffhanging chapter ends. It’s probably just the writers who don’t like it (we can always see the puppet’s strings when we’re readers!) :)
Inkygirl (Debbie)–Thanks so much! And y’all, if you’re not familiar with Debbie’s blog (or Debbie’s Twitter), check out her site: inkygirl.com and @inkyelbows (Twitter).
Stephen–I think for me it’s just an interruption in my creative process, and, with all my other interruptions, I try to limit the ones I can! :)
Helen–I think once you get accustomed to doing it one way, it’s just about impossible to change! And, if it works, why change it?
Alan–And that’s another great reason not to do it–it makes more work for us later! I don’t think I can handle any more than I’ve already got. :)
Karen–That makes sense. So for you, it would be a lull in the story?
I like how you use what you like and need as a reader in your own work. When I worked on my novel, I ended with what felt like the end of that scene and tried to have some words or thoughts that made you want to know more.
I bet your method makes for a more compelling read, but I couldn’t write that way. I organize at a chapter level: ‘this goes about here’, ‘that goes about there’… possibly because otherwise I feel free to go off on tangents… my characters won’t behave. I also like the reinforcement of ‘another chapter done’–keeps me motivated. My trilogy alters PoV by chapter, but otherwise it is usually a ‘wipe your brow’ moment… I may need to rethink that.
I don’t really have a method. I just let the chapter break where it naturally would. For me even chapters have their individual arcs.
Mary–I like that idea…have the reader keep reading to find out answers. Or, if they DO put the book down, having them put it down at a point in the novel where they’re still mulling it over even when not reading.
The Daring Novelist–I always sent 50 pages and that ended up being more than the 3 chapters they asked for. :) SORT of breaking the rules, but 3 chapters wouldn’t have been representative enough of the book…
Hart–Well, and those are good too. Especially if the pacing has gone really quickly and the tension has been high, it’s NICE as a reader to take a break and catch our breath.
Terry–Ha! That’s so true…what’s going to happen next? Your guess is as good as ours…we’re making it up as we go along! :)
Heather–I do think I’ve ever thought about that, but you’re right–each chapter does seem to run as an arc with natural highs and lows.
I never thought about writing straight through…interesting. When writing, I break chapters wherever it feels right, so some chapters are longer than others.
When I’m reading, I generally prefer shorter chapters…not sure why.
For me, the chapter ends when the scenes end. I don’t really write chapters but scenes. I try to leave a bit of a cliffhanger at every scene end but my mysteries are not cozys like yours.
ann
Paul–I think your plan makes a lot of sense–put the breaks in with the setting changes. Sort of like the breaks between scenes (and sets) in plays.
Elspeth–Going back and putting them in is pretty easy, isn’t it? It just LOOKS like a place that needs a break. Most of the time, anyway. I’ve got one right now that I’m not happy with, but I can’t think of a better place to stick it.
Ann–With a more thrilling mystery, it might be harder NOT to end a chapter on a cliffhanging note!
I generally put chapters in as I write, but during the revision process my chapter endings and beginnings can change drastically. I’m thinking I’d probably save time and effort by trying your approach and not breaking for chapters until I’m done.
Patricia–It gets to be almost a rhythm, doesn’t it?
Jane–That happens to me, too–I’ll either add a chunk of text, take some out, or cut and paste from another part of the document. Then the old chapter breaks wouldn’t make sense anymore…
I must think in chapters because I put them in as I write the first draft. But now I’m faced with a unique situation of needing to realign some of the early chapters and it’s proving to be a challenge. I like to have a cliffhanger at the end of the third chapter, and I don’t. But I will when I finish.
I’m writing my first novel and so far the chapter breaks are just pauses in action or switching between scenes/characters. I hope they don’t require *too* much revising when I go back through the manuscript after it’s complete, but I just don’t know. To tell you the truth, I’m a little nervous about it… but I’ll jump off the bridge when I come to it!
Isn’t it amazing how differently writers write. When I’m in the creative mode, I try to write a chapter a day, which can be 8 to 14 pages long. And I always try to end the chapter with a hook of some kind. I don’t want my reader to put the book down for very long. :)
This post is very helpful. I’m still at the world building stage of my fantasy novel and hadn’t even thought about chapter breaks. I think I have too many distractions in my life to put them in before hand. I need to just let the creativity flow. my Ember series on my blog that is the hardest part for me is making a conscious end because then I have to make sure it will have a logical way to start up again with a new episode.