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

[cuthbertcross.livejournal.com]

I do think that some published authors prefer their chapters tidy (or maybe their editors do), and it's quite refreshing to read work that doesn't subscribe to the x000 words = 1 chapter religiously. What interests me in a book is narrative, plot and readability, and originality (for maintaining my desire to keep reading).

Let's face it, books are similar to pop songs; what gets a song released usually has very little to do with the talent/musical standard of the song and far more to do with publicity/PR/status of the author/group in question and the oh-so-fickle perceived view of the public by those who make publishing decisions. Plus luck.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

(or maybe their editors do)

Which is definitely a good point.

What interests me in a book is narrative, plot and readability, and originality (for maintaining my desire to keep reading).

True enough. I doubt anyone thinks that their chapter structure is enough to keep the reader occupied. Although, possibly, somewhere, someone has tried this!