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lathanyThe 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.
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.
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Date: 2005-01-16 04:34 pm (UTC)Conversely, Pratchett doesn't use chapters at all, and it's always a wrench putting a book down, because it never feels like he's allowed for a convenient break. And Quicksilver (my current nighttime reading) has to get put down almost mid-sentence, becuase by that state of exhaustion, and that level of involvement, I just can't cope with a full chapter (but if I only want to read full chapters, I won't get started).
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Date: 2005-01-16 04:58 pm (UTC)