“They say it is the first step that costs the effort. I do not find it so. I am sure I could write unlimited ‘first chapters.’ I have indeed written many.”
—J.R.R. TOLKIEN
Writing a good novel calls for an adept handling of numerous fictional elements and techniques. It means enabling your readers to experience the world of your characters, not just to be told about them. To do this, you must be able to get into your characters’ minds, hearts, and souls – and, above all, learn how to dramatize, creating riveting scenes.
Among the many guidelines and tips on writing good fiction – characterization, plotting, showing versus telling – one issue doesn’t get much press: How exactly does one successfully divide a novel into chapters?
At first blush, that might sound easy. Every 10 or 20 pages or so, you end one chapter at a convenient spot and move on. Simple, right?
Hardly. Like most aspects of novel writing, this can be a demanding task, involving the intricate relationship of part to whole.
We turned to several successful novelists for their ideas and recommendations on developing and structuring fictional chapters.
WHAT DOES A NOVEL CHAPTER need to accomplish? Does it need to achieve a certain unity in terms of character or plot development? Does it need to attain a certain completeness? What exactly is the function of a chapter?
One thing we know is that a chapter is a breaking point.
For Thrity Umrigar, author of eight novels, including her most recent, the acclaimed , a chapter break gives the reader a chance to take a breath. “A line break is more like several breaths. A chapter break is an even more profound
