Organising your Book into Chapters & Sections

Organising your Book into Chapters & Sections

by | 28 Jun 2019 | Writing Skills

Organising your Written Material

If you are writing a novel for the first time, you’ll need to organise the content into divisions of one kind or another. The key is that the structure should fit the story, not the other way around. Ideally, the divisions emerge organically and intrinsically from the story.

The type of division we are most familiar with is chapters ‒ they are a convenient method of dividing material by topic, chronology, location or by any other means you may use to construct your book and help readers to mentally move through it. A novel is usually divided into chapters by plot development, with each chapter contributing to the overall story. You can write chapter by chapter chronologically, or work on several chapters at once and arrange them later.

Chapter Length

There’s no set rule for chapter length. If you find that some are long, while others are short, don’t be overly concerned as it’s not a flaw. Your chapters do not need to all be the same length. You should, however, have an average or standard chapter length in mind to help you manage the pacing of your novel (more about that next). Also try to avoid a dramatic and sudden variation in chapter length as readers can find this distracting, even jarring.

Chapter length and pacing interact. Varying the length of chapters can become an intentional part of your storytelling, quickening the pace or slowing it down, creating suspense or anticipation. You can also weave shorter and longer chapters together to create a steady and predictable pace.

Chapter Breaks

Novels have many styles of chapter breaks. Some have dozens of short chapters, some have a few huge chapters, and some have no chapters at all. In books the chapters are occasionally grouped into larger ‘parts’ or even ‘books’ (often called ‘modules’ or ‘units’ in technical books and textbooks).

Chapter breaks provide some closure as the story unfolds but also allow for a pause: they ‘reset’ the story, giving the reader a rest so that they can read the next chapter with a fresh view. Chapters also keep a novel interesting and engaging; they provide a structured way for you to switch between characters, time periods, locations, etc.

The division of a written work into chapters, however, is probably one of the things in writing that has least rules of all. A chapter break tells the reader to mentally prepare for some sort of shift; as such they should occur when a major change of one kind or another happens. Some points at which breaks are traditionally made or ways to define breaks include:

  • Change of site/location ‒ the place or setting in which the action is taking place changes.
  • Change in POV character ‒ someone different starts relating the narrative.
  • Change in time/chronology ‒ the time in which the action takes places changes significantly.
  • Change in auxiliary characters ‒ the people the narrator or protagonist is interacting with changes.
  • A natural pause ‒ e.g. a point at which you’ve come to the end of a major event in your storyline or at which you want to introduce one or more of the ‘changes’ mentioned above.

Sections (aka Scenes)

The next logical way to divide your content is to subdivide the chapters, and this is done with sections (aka scenes) which may or may not have their own subtitles. Your scenes control your chapters. If your chapters are variable in length, it’s because your scenes are variable in length. Create sections within the chapter when the subject changes somewhat but you are still discussing a particular aspect of a larger subject that the chapter covers. Use the same sort of criteria for your section breaks as you would for the chapter breaks discussed above.

If you want to create a break in the flow of the chapter’s text but don’t need to announce a new subject or prefer not to use a subtitle, you can create a text break with a type ornament (e.g. == oOo == or ~ ~ ~ ~) and some additional space between paragraphs. Using a few asterisks is also common, and in some books, just an extra-wide line space is used.

When and Where to place the Chapter Breaks?

The actual length of any given chapter or section of the story isn’t that important ‒ as long as the point where the break occurs make sense; some chapters or sections may be longer or shorter and they may extend or shorten as the narrative progresses.

The chapter break should be placed strategically. If, while designing your outline, the thought of separating your plot into chapters is daunting, then don’t make chapter break decisions yet. Write a first draft of the whole novel, then return to the beginning and place your chapter breaks with intention during your rewrite. This allows you to assign each chapter a purpose.

During the first draft, most writers are more concerned about getting their thoughts onto paper than about chapter structure. If you lock your narrative into chapters too early in the writing process, you might stifle your creativity. Besides, chances are high that whatever you write in your first draft will get moved around, pulled apart, divided, and added to other chapters or sections, if not discarded en masse.

Final Thoughts

The ‘anatomy’ of your novel, which includes its technical and structural elements, is important and should not be neglected. The reader’s level of engagement is affected by the way you divide your novel into chapters. The most important thing is that at the end of each chapter the reader should be keen to pick up the book and start the next chapter. Make the reader want to turn the next page.

A dramatic cliffhanger is not suitable for every chapter (although effective) as it can feel contrived, but tension of some kind is essential. Even small things can serve as a ‘hook’ to draw readers into the next chapter. Once you are well into your writing, you will develop a sense of where it feels natural to end a chapter and start a new one. If you find this is still a struggle for you, the problem might be with the narrative itself rather than your division of it. Then you might need some advice from an editor!

Please contact Renell at Proof Perfect NZ. Email renellj@proofperfect.co.nz or call 029 1230 158

Eliminate Clutter and Improve your Writing

Eliminate Clutter and Improve your Writing

by | 16 Jun 2019 | Grammar, Writing Skills

Clear, strong and concise sentences are the most effective way to conveying messages to your audience, whether your work appears in print or online. Writers often fill sentences with weak or unnecessary words. Words and phrases should be deliberately selected to be fit for purpose, and any that do not enhance the meaning or context of a written piece should be culled or replaced. Retaining only the most effective words will make your writing more concise and readable. Clutter-free writing is clear writing. When editing a written piece for clarity and ‘wordiness’ (i.e., reducing the word count), the material is checked for the use of ‘Clutter’ words or phrases that contribute little or nothing to its meaning. Clutter words are either deleted or the sentences in which they appear are restructured to eliminate them. The aim is to draft more powerful sentences to better engage the reader. Clutter words include Pause or Fillers words and Weak words.

Pause or Filler Words

Pause or Filler words add no meaning to a sentence and merely ‘fill the space’. They are words we use while speaking and often occur when we are trying to think of the next thing we are going to say. While useful when we’re talking, they are not needed in your writing. Pause or Filler words are empty and simply pad the text, preventing your message from getting across clearly and effectively. Examples: so, like, really, you know, just, well. Using words such as ‘really’ and ‘very’, for example, indicate that you require a stronger adjective in your sentence. To avoid these words, research the range of alternatives that would be perfect descriptors. For instance: ‘very angry’ could be replaced with enraged, furious, livid and so forth. The replacement words are more precise, and they add nuance to the meaning of the sentence.

Weak Words

Weak words and can make your writing boring and clumsy and may distract the reader. They have no real meaning and only clog up your sentences. Often, they are inserted into your writing unconsciously because you use these words when you’re talking — but they add no value to your written material. Examples: basically, in fact, in order to, essentially, get. Filler words and Weak words may in some cases have a legitimate place in your writing, and one often see them used in colloquial dialogue, but they become a problem when they are overused to the point of distraction and annoyance. The occasional use is acceptable but when too frequent, the word loses its meaning and signals to the reader that the writer is unskilled and careless about their language.

They Detract from the Quality of your Writing

Filler words and Weak words detract from the quality of one’s writing and the problem arises, as mentioned earlier, because more often than we realise, we write how we speak. They’re easy to eliminate. All you need do is go through your writing and delete or rephrase anything that doesn’t add meaning, or which doesn’t qualify your message.  Here are a few examples:  1. There is a bird perched on top of your fence. (10 words)

There is a bird on your fence. (7 words)

 2. This is actually a very difficult situation. (7 words)

This is a difficult situation. (5 words) OR The situation is difficult. (4 words)

 3. There have been many arguments in the nursing profession about the merits of early discharge after major surgery. (18 words)

The nursing profession has frequently argued about the merits of early discharge after major surgery. (15 words and the sentence has been restructured to deliver a stronger active subject/verb.)

 

Cutting the Clutter from your Writing

 There are additional measures you can take to cut the clutter from your writing. A few are mentioned here:

  • Be modest with the modifiers you use (a modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that functions as an adjective or  adverb to provide additional information about another word or word group. It is is also known as an adjunct.)
  • Replace vague nouns and verbs with more powerful and specific words. E.g. It was an experience that really helped me learn a lot. Corrected: It was an educational experience.
  • Reduce long, convoluted clauses to shorter phrases.
  • Interrogate every word in a sentence. Check every word to make sure that it is providing something important and unique to a sentence.
  • Reduce phrases to single words.
  • Avoid redundancies (repetitious expressions or words), deleting words or phrases that unnecessarily reinforce what’s already been said. E.g. actual fact, blend together, advance forward.
  • Use active rather than passive verbs.
  • Cut empty phrases or meaningless descriptions.
  • Avoid using noun forms of verbs (a.k.a. nominalisations.)
  • Avoid the use of complicated ‘noun strings’ or ‘noun clusters’ ‒ several nouns or adjectives all in a row. E.g. draft native flora protection regulations.
  • Combine sentences. Some information does not require a full sentence and can easily be inserted into another sentence without losing any of its value.

 

 Examples of Clutter Words and Phrases

To help you strengthen your writing skills, below is a list of common fillers and other unnecessary words and phrases which can either be rephrased or deleted. 

Absolutely, Certainly, Completely, Definitely That Basically, Essentially Each and every In order At all times Commonly In the course of Has the ability to There/Here/It is… There has/have been For all intents and purposes All of the The fact that With regard/reference to Being that In the event that Point in time Currently I/we believe In my/our opinion It is important to note It is possible that It is important to note Just, Really, Very, Even As to whether Needless to say Pretty (as in pretty much) Period of time For the most part In terms of In spite of the fact that Make a … or give a …

 

 Final Thoughts

The goal of clear, concise writing is to use the most effective words. Concise writing does not always have the fewest words, but it always uses the strongest ones. Avoid fillers and other unnecessary words and phrases which can boost your word count, create clumsy sentences and make your written work appear amateurish. As a rule, more specific, well-selected words lead to more concise and powerful writing.

Contact me if you require a review of your writing. Avoid embarrassing and costly errors with Proof Perfect NZ. Email renellj@proofperfect.co.nz or call 029 1230 158.