How to Put Chapters In a Novel

When writing a book, one of the problems most often plaguing new authors is knowing where to put chapters. It’s easier than you might think. Take a look.

Instructions

1. Separate your chapters at the end of self contained mini-stories. While a book tells a story, it tends to do so through telling smaller stories that work together as a cohesive unit to bring the main story into focus. For example, to tell the story of how the cop catches the robber, one tells the story of the robbery, the story of the cop that is seeking him out, the story of the near miss and the story of the capture. In that scenario, there are four unique stories. Each one stands on it’s own as a complete story, and yet each also fits into the overall story about the cop catching the robber. These mini stories can last less than a page, or they can go on for dozens of pages. However, each mini story stands on its own, with a beginning, middle and end. An example of a small story might be:“John found himself frustrated by the fact that the car wouldn’t start. The others were counting on him, and the repercussions of failing them left him concerned. He released a low whistle, and then, with the hopes of success, he reached for the hood latch. He didn’t know much about fixing cars, but he hoped something might make itself readily apparent. The latch gave way with a clack, and John opened the door, stepped out of the car, adjusted his pants, set his jaw and walked with determination to the front of the vehicle. He groaned in frustration when at first his fingers failed to find the auxiliary release. He was about to lean over to see if he could see the handle, but before he did, his fingers at last found their mark, and he lifted the heavy hood. What he saw sent chills of instant horror down his spine. Someone had stolen the plug wires!”This mini story is enough to tell the story of how John discovered that his plug wires were missing. We don’t yet know if John was picking people up for a road trip, if he is a getaway driver in a bank heist or if he was simply bringing beer to the barbecue. That part will be made more clear with the addition of other individual stories. In this case, the beginning is that the focal character is at a loss for knowing why his car won’t start. The middle is the distance traveled … how he got from the discovery that his car wouldn’t start to the point of discovery as to why. The end is discovering someone stole his plug wires, the conclusion to the initial question regarding why the car failed to start. It is a complete (albeit boring) story that sits all by itself, but which can fit into the whole. Sometimes, those stories take longer to tell. Sometimes they don’t. Flipping through any Clancy novel, you will find the occasional chapter that is as long as the story of John and his car that doesn’t work. It is a chapter unto itself.

2. Start a new chapter when a step in the story has been achieved. Each chapter of a book brings the characters notably closer to the end of the book. In the case of John above, the chapter creates a portion of the story that brings us to the next step: figuring out what happens as the result of the fact that John is missing his plug wires. When you have concluded a piece of the puzzle that brings about the next sequence of events, more often than not, you have a full chapter, no matter how many pages it fills.

3. End a chapter in a place that lets the reader know it's time to evaluate that chapter's place in the whole of the book. The purpose of chapters is to let the reader know that the piece of the overall story they just read is ready to evaluate in relation to the whole of the story. For the reader, a story is a problem to figure out. How often do you try to sort out how you think things might turn out in a book you are reading? Your readers will do the same thing. Chapters break the problem up into bite-sized pieces that together add up to the whole. We know that 2+2+3=7 in much the same way that John’s failed vehicle plus partners looking for him to be a bank-robbery getaway driver plus the fact that the robbers have taken his children as collateral to force him to drive might equal John concocting a plan to retrieve his children, or they might add up to dead children. In either case, a chapter is a whole unit that, when added to the other whole units, creates the sum total of the overall story.

Tips & Warnings

• May your books be a collection of exciting stories that work together as a whole, and may your chapter divisions result in the whole portions of your book coming together with a complete answer that can only come about as the result of properly placed chapters.