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How on earth do you decide on chapter divisions. Do you write them in as you go along or decide when the book is fnished? At preesnt I can't find any point where I feel a break should occur. What is a suitable number of chapters in a book of say 80,000 words?
Sometimes I write the whole book and then break it up into chapters. While still single spaced mine are about 7-10 pages long. Book is 100,000 words. I'm currently at 75,000 words of probably another 100,000 book and have just started to put it into chapters as I'm editing. It's mostly 7 pages - around 3,500 words? per chapter. I think you should try to end and start with some sort of hook. It should be obvious when you're reading through. - Maybe a change of POV or a scene or something dramatic. Something to push the reader to move to the next chapter. Some writers like James Patterson have incredibly short chapters - just a couple of pages each. Fast reading!! But if chapters are too long, I get bored.
Thanks Flick & Dorothyd you have given me food for thought on how to use chapters. Pity word count only seems to work on the whole document it's a bit tedeous copying a passage just to count the words, any thoughts? Dorothyd I gather you are writing with the help of a spiritual companion, is this like spirit writing which I have heard of?
Regarding your query on word counting, Word will count anything that is highlighted. A quick way to highlight a passage is to click at the beginning of the extract and press F8 - then go to the end of the extract and press enter or click the left mouse button. Tools/wordcount will then tell you the number of words in that particular piece.
I've been going for a new chapter roughly every ten pages.
However, Lindsay Davis once had a chapter that consisted of five words!
The previous chapter ended with a character throwing a knife at the hero.
The new chapter was:
"I caught it, of course."
The next chapter began with an explanation of how he came to be such a good knife juggler.
You've got to be pretty sure of yourself to try something like that.
Comments
However, Lindsay Davis once had a chapter that consisted of five words!
The previous chapter ended with a character throwing a knife at the hero.
The new chapter was:
"I caught it, of course."
The next chapter began with an explanation of how he came to be such a good knife juggler.
You've got to be pretty sure of yourself to try something like that.