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Writers Help Thread!
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Writers Help Thread!
Writers Help Thread!
I saw one of these on a different forum. Sadly, that forum no longer exists. :'( But that is why I am creating this!
This thread is for questions and advice. You can ask for help making your writing better, or how to reword things. You can post samples that you think need work (but no longer than two paragraphs.) You can not just ask for help and then not help anyone. Go!
I will start. What word do you use when there is only one person infiltrating something? My dad told me infiltrate was the wrong word. I can't think of a better one, though.
submitted by Emily L., age 16, WA
(May 11, 2012 - 11:21 pm)
(May 11, 2012 - 11:21 pm)
My previous solution was to make those things that are somewhat in between paragraphs and chapters when the author leaves a couple lines blank and sometimes puts a little flower of something. I realized that it is not that unproffesional to have a million of those what-do-you-call-'ems when I was reading the lord of the rings.
(May 15, 2012 - 1:07 pm)
I love those things, and use them alot!
(June 6, 2012 - 6:53 pm)
I have the same problem myself. I try to add lots of details. See if that helps.
(May 15, 2012 - 3:36 pm)
I have the same problem myself. To quote glitterjewle,
"Avoid describing things flat out. Long, elaborate descriptions of pretty fields are poetic...and nothing short of lethal to the movement of your story. If you really want to describe something, try blending it in with the action. For example, rather than flat out describing the field, describe Jane running through it: Jane sprinted through the knee-length blades of dry grass, too preoccupied to notice all the tiny purple flowers bobbing their heads at her in the wind."
So, to answer your question, don't add more detail. Add more meat. Your readers will thank you.
--L
(June 6, 2012 - 3:17 pm)
Of course, if the narration sits very closely to Jane's thoughts, and she's too preoccupied to notice the tiny purple flowers in the field, then it could be a bit jarring to even mention them. It would be like saying "I was running so fast that I didn't even see the bird flying next to me." If you didn't see it, you don't know it was there; thus, if Jane doesn't notice the flowers, she doesn't know they're there. On the other hand, if the narration tends more towards the omniscient, then mentioning the flowers as you described is a very nice way of weaving detail into the narrative.
(June 6, 2012 - 7:16 pm)
I generally stick to a third person omniscent. It makes it so much harder for me to put "me" into my characters, thus rendering the idea of a character completely useless. I try very hard to keep self-inserts out of my stories, but every so often I'll stick myself in as a minor character or use my name in a brush-by or something.
But for first person narration or a limited third, this still applies unless it is something like this scenario. In any other way, it would work nicely.
--L
(June 7, 2012 - 2:43 pm)
It is okay, though! I read a book with chapters that were less then a page to three pages, and it was awesome!It's maybe not the best habbit, though. I have the same problem, I thought, but then I read that book. Another thing is if you have two really short chapters, just make them one! (That is unless you need two chapters.)
(June 6, 2012 - 5:43 pm)
Well, Elizabeth, quoting from Gail Carson Levine's book, 'Writing Magic', (I don't know if you've heard of it,) When you feel like your book isn't good anymore and it was a bad idea, etc, think of the potential it has. Look over it again and think about what you could do with it. You may think up of a good ending or something or you could change what you don't like. That helps me all the time.
(May 14, 2012 - 5:15 pm)
@Holmes,I have the same problem. Do you think that Approximatly 455 words is long enough chapter?
(May 15, 2012 - 1:09 pm)
My chapters average 3000-5000 words in length, for whatever that's worth. Of course, assuming you doublespace, 500 words is barely two pages, which is rather short for a single chapter, especially if every chapter is that length. I think it would depend upon what you're trying to accomplish in each chapter, though. The point of a chapter is not so much uniform length as a sort of mini-story within the story as a whole, and is in turn made up of micro-stories (scenes).
So, as I see it, the anatomy of a chapter goes like this:
Scene One: [individual event in character's life, most likely a direct result of what happened in the immediate past, i.e., Harold receives a cryptic letter from his sister who, in the last chapter, ran away to join the circus]
Scene Two: [first consequence of Scene One, i.e., Harold's curiosity is piqued by the letter and he goes to visit his father in the retirement home to ask some more questions]
Scene Three: [More consequences or The Plot Thickens, i.e., Harold arrives at the retirement center only to find it has been abandoned and no one is there]
And so on, with as many scenes necessary until the character reaches the point of development—they learn something about themselves or the plot or the other characters or whatever, or they stop deliberating and make a decision that will change the course of the plot. So most of my chapters end (ideally) when the main character either makes a decision to change their behavior or is forced to change their behavior by an outside force.
So if you can do that in 500 words, great. Do it. If you feel you can't, then when you get to the end of those 500 words, ask yourself what still needs to happen for your character to change, and then write that.
One thing you really shouldn't do is make chapters arbitrarily—nothing disrupts the flow of a story like random chapter breaks. Think of chapters like really really long sentences; you don't stop in the middle of...* So why would you stop in the middle of a chapter?
*Except in circumstances where the narrative requires it, obviously, as in dialogue when a character tails off slowly or in an internal monologue when the character's thoughts trail off in a similar manner.
TL;DR: Ideal chapter length is determined by what happens, not word count.
(May 15, 2012 - 4:25 pm)
I don't entirely agree with TNÖ. I think that you should just end a chapter when it feels about time. I don't like planning what I'm writing much, because it will start to flow in a different direction.
Different methods suit different people. Neither is the only way.
Admin
(May 18, 2012 - 9:22 pm)
Melody is right, in my opinion, at least. My friend and I are writing a book, and we have a joke. There's only three words on the chapter.
"Lily. Next Chapter."
Maybe it isn't the best idea, but chapters shouldn't go on forever. Readers want to feel like they're making prosecess.
(June 6, 2012 - 6:58 pm)
I don't know. It depends how big your pages are, whether your chapter ending is good and (as previously established) how big your font is. I posted something about the couple lines authors sometimes leave blank that sometimes change a setting, or a narrator. I would try experimenting with those, but I don't normally, because I'm serializing in a magazine that likes 1-page articles. If you think the blank lines don't work, I'm thinking of not caring about chapter length and leaving my one-page chapters alone. If you need proffesional proof, read Peter and the Starcatchers. Most of the chapters are miniscule. A third solution (this applies to 1st person narration only) is making your story a diary. Diary entries tend to be a page or less, or just a couple sentences. I don't like this solution, because a lot of books in diary format are being written, but you might like it.
(May 15, 2012 - 5:01 pm)
I love Peter and the Star catchers! And it is good proof. So is Daniel X. I love short chapters!
(June 6, 2012 - 7:02 pm)
I didn't know that.... where did you get that info?
(May 19, 2012 - 10:10 am)