There isn’t one secret to learning how to write a chapter of a book – there are many! Here’s what authors need to know about writing chapters – because writing a book is more than putting words to the page.
Writing a book is about organizing your words into a compelling and interesting series of chapters. Each chapter in a book has to further the plot and keep the reader hooked. After all…
“A book worth reading is worth buying.” ~ John Ruskin. If you want readers to buy your books, you must make sure your chapters do what they’re supposed to do. Here are a few tips for writers…
At first glance, writing the chapters of your book seems easy. But, the more thought you put into it, the harder it gets. You find yourself wondering, “How am I supposed to organize all of this content?” If you stick with these simple methods for writing chapters, you’ll increase the chances you’ll book will be read — and enjoyed.
How to Write Chapter After Chapter…
This is a guest post by freelance writer Hope Hammond.
Write the “Purple Prose” Out of Your Chapters
To write chapters that readers can’t put down, start with a compelling hook or opening sentence. First sentences vary in their attempts to interest readers in the paragraph, page, chapter and book. Some first lines use description to build tension from line one.
The phrase, “It was a dark and stormy night” from Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton is only part of a first line so memorable it helped define the Gothic genre. Now, it’s a jokey way of indicating someone is using too much purple prose. Even so, the full sentence sets a scene hinting at turmoil and violence:
“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”
A little long for today’s reader, but the sentence catches the your attention. In other books, first lines get right to the point, drawing the reader in with a (hopefully) intriguing thought. The first line of Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man is simply “I am an invisible man.” When you’re writing a book, never underestimate the importance of hooking your readers when you’re writing even the shortest chapters.
Write Short and Sweet Chapters to Keep the Pace Lively
Most books these days have chapter breaks every twelve to eighteen pages. That’s long enough to encompass one or two scenes, but not so long that the reader feels like the next chapter is going to take forever to read. Knowing how to organize a novel and write a chapter isn’t just about providing timely breaks from the material, but to also keep readers reading. If they feel like the next chapter is too long, they’ll put the book down. That’s the last thing writers want!
Short chapters also help keep the pace of a story from slowing down. This is because you treat each chapter like its own mini-story in editing, and because the reader is reading fast to get to the end of the chapter and find out what happens next.
Write Each Chapter as a Mini-Story (Baiting the Reel)
When dividing the scenes of your novel into chapters, think about it terms of small stories. Chapters aren’t unique stories in of themselves, because they connect to the rest of the book. Each chapter contains information relying on details from the rest of the book to make sense. Chapters are structured in a manner similar to a story. Each is given a beginning, a middle and an ending with an opening for the sequel (otherwise known as the next chapter in the book). Practicing writing book chapters this way makes editing easier and helps with the overall plot of the book.
When writing chapters or mini-stories, don’t forget to consider the arc of the plot. Build the tension in each chapter until you reach the climax and then ease the reader into the next chapter. The great thing about creating your own mini-story is that the ending need only be a few sentences long, and can serve as the lead into the next story for your reader.
Push Readers Towards the Cliff
Write each chapter so that a nice little cliff-hanger keeps the reader hooked and turning pages to the end of the book. This hook doesn’t to be a literal cliff hanger, but that’s nice too. At the end of Chapter 12 in Stephen King’s frighteningly tense novel Misery, he keeps readers going with the sentence, “Then the rain came and things changed.”
Keeping the reader hooked is usually as simple as writing the right line or two. Many authors, like King, foreshadow the events of the next chapter in their last sentences. Others end the chapter in the middle of a tense scene, or cliffhanger so the reader reads on to find out what happened. Some end chapters on a question or mystery, which may or may not be answered in the next chapter. It’s a good idea for authors to mix it up when arranging book chapters to add variety to the overall structure.
If you’re wrestling with your characters, you may find Writing a Character Profile? 5 Tips for Developing Characters helpful.
What do you think of these tips on how to write a chapter of a book, fellow scribes? Comments welcome below!
About the Author: Hope Hammond is a freelance writer. She specializes in web content creation. She’s also working on her first book, and occasionally posts updates about it at her blog, FEBS.
Hope also wrote Got Fiction Characters? How to Use a Character Web to Track Them, here on Quips and Tips for Successful Writers.
xo
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Good advice. I like the cliffhanger idea.
Thank you
I agree, Hausboot, that writing a book or even a single chapter seems impossible. But, if you take it one step at a time — one scene at a time, one chapter at a time — then writing books is easier.
Thanks for your insight, Phil. The beginning lines are where readers get hooked (or not), which means they could be the hardest part of writing chapters and books!
i think the hardest piece of writing are the beginning lines, because many think those can make or brake any piece of literature