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H. Jones replied to the topic Chapter Breaks??? in the forum General Writing Discussions 8 years, 1 month ago
@scribbles Such great questions!
I think it all comes down to opinion in some cases (chapter titles, chapter length – me personally, I love chapter titles [adds personality!] and a good chapter length for me is kind of in between short and long [longer chapters than 1-2 pages but shorter than like 20-or-more full pages], like @rolena-hatfield said… sadly I fit into the short-attention-spanned teenager stereotype xDD), but I would like to say a few things anyway and maybe it’ll be of some use. *thumbs-up*
A bit on chapter titles, I absolutely love them, like I said, but there are a few things of which one should take note… (also note: these are all just my opinions. xD)
- Chapter Titles are awesome when they are ironic or perhaps even a little sarcastic, not as much when they aren’t. Exhibit A) “Justin Stops By” [oh, Justin stops by… okay]. Exhibit B) “In Which The Neighbor Is Annoying” [Hilarious and even relatable, plus a little foreshadowing on Justin’s appearance. Thumbs up, author].
- Chapter Titles are awesome when there’s a hint of foreshadowing or symbolism, but not when it’s painfully obvious. Exhibit C) “Darkness Falls”/”My Eyes are Opened”/something along those lines [obviously we know something terrible or important is going to happen here, which takes away some of the suspense and makes us lose interest in the story, and honestly when this happens I lose some respect for the author – try harder, boi]. Exhibit D) “Nathan Hale” or something, I admit this bit of chapter-titling is not my strong suit. xDD [Nathan Hale, as the history geeks may know, was a spy who was executed during the revolutionary war, and was quoted to have said “My only regret is that I have but one life to lose for liberty” (or something like that ^^’) – and this image could very much pack a lot of foreshadowing and symbolism, while at the same time not being too obvious. Plus, bonus points that some people may not even know who Nathan Hale is. *thumbs-up*]
- Chapter Titles are awesome when written from first person, especially if the narrator is comedic. See Exhibit B. If the story to which this chapter title belonged had a spunky, twelve-year-old brunet boy as the main character, that would increase my love for it. Because it’s just great. xD
As for chapter endings, @taylorclogston makes a great case for that, but I still have a few things that may be helpful:
- I’m not a huge fan of cliffhangers and then perspective switches because it just makes me want to skip to where the character I was reading about resurfaces. xD Call it cheating, but it’s still true. I rarely ever end up actually doing it, but it does make me kind of skim through the next chapter and not really pay attention to what’s going on because I’m just like, whaT HAPPENED TO MY BABY!?!?!??
- The above being considered, I would end my chapters on cliffhangers at the beginning of the story, probably, because the readers aren’t as attached to the characters and the suspense alone could be what keeps them reading. HOWEVER, it may actually be better to do cliffhangers when the readers are more attached to the characters because it makes them scream internally, which is good because then you know your story is gripping. xD So, I’m not sure. I guess there’s a lot to be considered when choosing when to do a cliffhanger. Another thing you need to think about it, how many cliffhangers have I done already? I know that, for me, if the last three or four chapters were like, honest-to-goodness cliffhangers, I kind of get bored and lose interest due to the author’s various attempts to raise my alarm. In trying to create a lot of suspense, it usually ends up backfiring. At least when I’m reading it. But then again, I’m not the kind of person who immediately reaches for thriller books either, just because I’m like, the main character is probably going to survive anyway, so… Or I just kind of open the book and don’t really get attached to the characters because I know a lot of them are probably going to end up dying. *shrug* There really is a lot to think about. xD Those are just a few of my thoughts.
- CHAPTER ENDINGS THAT GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT ARE THE BEST.
And I think that’s about all I have to input. P: I really couldn’t say much about how to split chapters and scenes because… I have little to no experience on that… so…
GOOD LUCK! *thumbs up*












