Breaking up is hard to do

pickarooney

One thing I really struggle with is how to break a story up unto chapters, paragraphs etc.

Are there any reliable guidelines as to when to end a chapter and begin a new one?

I have particular difficulty with chapters where there is a break of, say, a couple of hours between the events in one paragraph and the ones in the next. I don't want to go creating a new chapter each time, but should I use some sort of double-spacing to reflect the passage of time or just let it be obvious from the content?

In general, do people use a bank line for a new paragraph or just indent the first line?

How about those rows of asterisks - when exactly should they be used?

Another example is two sequences of events occuring simultanously in different locations. When I want to switch back and forth between them, what's the best type of paragraph marking to use?

Mr E

Separate chapters is overkill. James Patterson does these annoyingly tiny chapters that are a page and a half long. A 400 page book by him might only have 300 pages of actual content.

For the passage of time, I don't think any special demarcation is needed. For example, you could just start the next paragraph with the line "Some time later," or "That afternoon," or something similar.

Asterixes (IMHO) are best used to separate two completely different scenes (with different characters) in the same chapter. They might also denote events that are happening at the same time. You could also do a "Meanwhile, halfway across the world..." introduction, so it depends on your style.

pickarooney

Mr E wrote: »

Separate chapters is overkill. James Patterson does these annoyingly tiny chapters that are a page and a half long. A 400 page book by him might only have 300 pages of actual content.

For the passage of time, I don't think any special demarcation is needed. For example, you could just start the next paragraph with the line "Some time later," or "That afternoon," or something similar.

Asterixes (IMHO) are best used to separate two completely different scenes (with different characters) in the same chapter. They might also denote events that are happening at the same time. You could also do a "Meanwhile, halfway across the world..." introduction, so it depends on your style.

I hate having to do that artificial "two hours later" thing. It gets really tiresome when you have, say, five days of events spread over ten pages.

Mr E

"Two hours later" sounds a bit forced and precise.

"Some time later" or "That evening" are more gentle ways of passing the time.

damselnat

I was having a similar problem with my current novel, parts of it are real-time memories of years ago, others are obviously more contemporary, In the end I gave up on chapters and abandoned them completely, split the book into parts instead, and left a few lines between "chapters". I don't think you need to worry too much, just do what feels right for the story and the reader will figure it out themselves, remember that they're (probably) intelligent enough to work it out!

EileenG

I tend to write the book in scenes, and afterwards, group two or three scenes into a chapter. A standard commercial chapter length is about 3000 words, but you can vary this if you want.

Just go on to the next bit of action, and don't worry too much about it. Readers are pretty good at picking up when there has been a change of time or scene.

Antilles

It really depends on your novel. I just write mine in chapters made up of related scenes, but The Road, for example, has no chapters at all, which makes the story feel long and exhausting, just like the characters' journey.