Chapters (and the Destruction of the Ryan)

[lathany]

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a chapter as "any of the separate parts into which a book or other piece of text is divided, usually numbered or given a title".

After three books, it's pretty clear that I have different ideas about chapters to most published (real) authors. To me, a chapter is a specific scene and when the characters have had their say (or, specifically, the narrator has) then the scene is over. With Mourn's Gift I subdivided chapters into parts, usually based on narration (eg. there was a big celebration which I narrated from nine viewpoints, each viewpoint was a different part). However, the net result seems to be far more chapters than in published books (where authors will often switch between voices and events all under the same part or chapter) and I wonder about the differences.

Do people care about chapters and how long they are? Or think that there is a "right" use for them? Also, should they have names or only consecutive numbers (although some authors make a deliberate effort not to follow this convention; eg. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time)?

Toddler-wise, Ryan is expressing his destructive nature. A lot. He's ripped up six books and left a lot of scratch marks on Beatrice. Hopefully this will be a short phase.

Comments

[al-fruitbat.livejournal.com]

Dunno if it matters, but The Da Vinci Code - the recent publishing phenomenon - has exceptionally small chapters. One or two pages I think is the norm. I've just checked, and it finishes on chapter 105.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I've read The Da Vinci Code. frax lent it to me (amusingly enough, after saying how little she liked it!). Certainly it's closer to my own taste in chapters (and I similarly approve of the early plot pacing).