A Curious Question...

[apollinav]

How do you prefer to organize your chapters?

I ask because my brain is ticking over this.

Chapter 8 of TGC is short. I knew it was short (1,200 words or so) and I didn't care to make it longer, because that would be filling it with fluff. Originally it was merged with the previous 'wedding' chapter, but I separated them. Personally I like my chapters to be organized in 'full and complete thoughts' like one would an essay or dear god, a thesis... (I suck at cliffies for that very reason)

But a keen AFF reviewer challenged my thought process on this. I see her point, it's the same day. And it's good mental chew.

So I pose the eternal question, one that has probably been batted back and forth forevah:

How do you prefer to organize your chapters?

Comments

[miamadwyn.livejournal.com]

I think 'full and complete thoughts' makes sense. There's no one way to do it. (And I haven't read it yet and need to run over there and read it-- the notice that it was up came through in email when I was on my way out the door, and I forgot to go read it when I got back, the agony!)

I had one short chapter in CoMC because it just felt "complete" and that to add anything else to it would diminish it. It was an important moment to me, and I didn't want to detract from it by keeping on writing. I said in the author note that it was short because it felt like there was nothing else to say, and I don't remember for sure, but I don't think anybody complained.

Now, off to read!

Ooops, forgot to say, my early chapters were around 2,000 words each and now they are three times as long, typically, and have been much longer, so things have changed as I've been writing.

[kierkegaardwife.livejournal.com]

This is, perhaps, the only thing in life I'm willing to play fast and loose with. Everything else has very specific protocol, but this is how I escape from that. I think that, when you're writing a really inspired fic, it takes care of itself (unless you're a silly fan girl who tends to leave out chapters).

Writing should be free expression. To try to put parameters on it outside of the worlds of spelling and grammar, to me, is just wrong. I think in the end, it is your art, and you need to make it how you like it (which, based on your previous advice to me, you already know).

Oh, so now I'm going to go read or something. When I get done, I shall review. *feed the author*

xx

[kierkegaardwife.livejournal.com]

Oh, and off topic, I just read your reviews on my story (AFTER reading your chapter, I should say) and I just want to tell you to get out of my freakin' head. Because he is going to need a reminder--if it ever happens. I'm really not sure, because like I said, chapter 4 was the end of the pre-written chapters. And thanks again for catching my posting mistake last night.

xx

[apollinav.livejournal.com]

Ok, I'm going to say this once and only once... and it's not to embarass you at all. Because to err is human and all that. But I don't know what to think of the people who read the misplaced chapter and reviewed it as if it belonged. What I mean to say is, um; What the average reading comprehension level again?

[kierkegaardwife.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweet God in Heaven, I don't even want to contemplate that. I mean... I've read some really, really questionable stuff on there--for about four seconds before I could navigate away from the page. I think I might have mentioned before, I am something of a stickler. And very picky. Your is not equal to you're, its is not equal to it's, their is not equal to there is not equal to they're, and loose is not equal to lose. Thank you. *endrant*

xx

[apollinav.livejournal.com]

Yes, well I'm guilty of several 'it possessive and or plural' and 'laying/lie/lying' mistakes. But the attempt is made. Actually, what I mean is, I attempt to pay attention.

Wow. I sound like a horrible horrible snob. Ah the funny things that get up under our noses and put us in a right snit. When I do my reenacting I surround myself with plenty of people who are either too inauthentic or way over the top authentic... (like raise the sheep, clip the wool, card the wool, spin the wool, weave the cloth, dye the cloth, hand sew the garment...) Ach, tangent alert. sorry.

But venting is good.

[scribliz.livejournal.com]

Sorry to burst in on the conversation, but it's such an interesting question I could not resist. (Also, I was incoherent in my actual review of the chapter, and I'm trying to redeem myself.) With chapter organization, I tend to reject arbitrary distinctions, such as word length or whether the events of the chapter take place on a day different from the previous one. To me a new idea or a new phase in the narrative is the signal for a new chapter, and that doesn't always fall neatly into time and space. So your short chapter worked fine for me. It answered the question, "What happened next?" succinctly, which I appreciated -- it was refreshing to see that you didn't feel the need to introduce secondary characters or unrelated vignettes just to make the thing look like a Real, Full-Length Chapter.

[somigliana.livejournal.com]

Hi... dropping in via mollyssister's rec for The Gilded Cage.

Fabulous take on a MLC... I enjoyed catching up to your latest chapter very much :D

~Cilla

[natasnape.livejournal.com]

I personally prefer what you do with The Gilded Cage. Both for writing and reading, I enjoy full, complete, logical scenes like you. In my opinion, cliffhangers are a cheap device to hold a reader, who might otherwise decide to stop. While I understand that some people could enjoy the additional suspense, I find intriguing plot sufficient to keep me reading. In such cases, cliffies are unnecessary and simply annoying, and in all other cases when a story is not that appealing anyway, a cliffhanger makes me skip following scenes and just check what happens next in the cliffied plot line. Or, in case of WIP fanfics, I stop reading.

[swerley.livejournal.com]

Don't change your style to suit one disgruntled reader. Before you know it, you're writing their story, not yours. I think you're doing a fantastic job so far. You are all the rage on LJ, and a more discriminating group of readers you'll not find. You update frequently, so the continuation of the same day in the next chapter isn't an issue, IMHO.

[ozratbag2.livejournal.com]

*wanders past - friends you if you don't mind?*

(I suck at cliffies for that very reason)

I beg to differ - you're bloody good at cliffies. Kept me going for 17 chs all in a row, and that's good in my book. :)

How do you prefer to organize your chapters?

If it's a short piece, then I actually write the whole thing as one long story and then break it up, move bits around, edit as I go - that sort of thing. For the longer stories...

If narrative/dialogue, then I tend to write it chapter by chapter and end each chapter discretely. It gives me a starting and finishing point, but it also gives me a way of being able to close off and give a transition to the next chapter. Not sure if that makes sense, but there you go. ;p

For the very long epistolary, I write forwards, backwards - in fact all over the shop. I did that to try and keep the continuity with all the different points of view (there are 6 characters writing). Once it changed to dialogue/narrative, I *points up* followed the whole thing sequentially.

To cut it short - write the way that works, no matter if people tell you if it's wrong or right.

Happy Hanukkah. :)