How to Write a Strong Novel Chapter

Beginning, Ending and Developing a Single Chapter

Mar 13, 2010
Vickie Britton

Witing Strong Chapters - morguefile-jeltovski

A chapter is like an episode from a continuing TV show. Each chapter should begin with some kind of action and end with a question to propel the reader onward.

A chapter is the main division of a novel. Usually, these chapters or sections are set off by numbering. Sometimes they are titled. A chapter can be any length. The average genre book has a chapter length of around 16 or 17 pages, but there are no set rules. A chapter should be just long enough to fully develop a scene. It should also begin and end at a good stopping place.

Where to Begin a Chapter

Each chapter should begin with a distinct scene. A scene is composed of a consecutive series of visual images that make up a complete unit and present continuous action. The scene’s job in a novel, much like a scene in a play, is to provide a setting and backdrop for the action that is unfolding right before the reader’s eyes.

The scene poses some kind of question. For example, there might be a love scene in which the hero asks the heroine to marry her. The question is "will she or won’t she?"

Developing A Chapter

A novel chapter should center around one main event or element. If it starts with a love theme, it should remain so throughout. Other scenes can be mixed in, but they must be related. The scene often reflects an immediate goal that must be met before the larger,overall goal the character wants to achieve throughout the book can be completed.

For example, the hero may want to marry his love and then settle down with her on a farm. If she doesn’t say “yes” to his proposal he can’t complete goal #2 without first completing goal #1.

A chapter can consist of more than one scene, but the scenes should be related and work together in harmony with the chapter’s overall theme. If it starts with a love theme, it should not have a war theme thrown in unless the two can be successfully intertwined.

Often, writers get chapter division confused with scene and sequel. A scene presents action or poses a question; a sequel answers or resolves that question. The scene asks “what happened?” The sequel answers, “This is what I’m going to do about it.” Many writers believe a scene and sequel constitute a chapter, but this is not the case. Scene and sequel refer to the overall plot flow of the novel. A chapter may have three scenes and no sequel, or consist of a sequel only.

Ending a Chapter

While everything within the chapter should be related, a chapter should not answer its own question too soon by presenting both scene and sequel, for this spoils the drama. If the hero asks the heroine to marry her, she should not give an answer until a following chapter. If the hero goes off to war, he should not return victorious until several chapters later. For optimal effect, a chapter should begin with a question and end with a question, not an answer or resolution to that particular scene. A chapter, however, may answer a question from a previous chapter and introduce a new one. Yes, I will marry you. If you return from the war….”