[stylist] why do chapters?

Wed Apr 8 13:53:05 UTC 2009

My guess is its all what the writer chooses.
Barbara

If wisdom's ways you wisely seek, five things observe with care:  of whom 
you speak, to whom you speak, and how and when and where.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Aziza C" <daydreamingncolor at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 4:36 PM
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] why do chapters?

> I wouldnt' say chapters are not useful for nonvisual readers, it does
> seem to trigger something that says something new is coming up. Also,
> I like the titled chapters more then a random number at the top/middle
> of my page, or "chapter... number.." But I suppose titling all
> chapters can get a little difficult.
> Does anyone think there is a difference in purpose for numbered
> chapters and titled chapters?
>
> On 4/7/09, Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> Jim,
>>
>> Hm...  I did a lot of thought about this about a zillion years ago and
>> started analyzing my favorite authors in the genre (fantasy).  And now 
>> I'm
>> wracking my brain to remember what all I observed.  /smile/  I've set my 
>> own
>> fantasy work aside for a number of years, for various reasons, but always
>> with the "I'll get back to it and get it published even if I'm 90!" 
>> caveat
>> firmly in mind. /smile/
>>
>> As I recall, I started out by making my chapters an even 30 manuscript 
>> pages
>> and shooting for a specific number of words for the whole.  I was really
>> digging in to the project to practice novel writing, then ended up really
>> getting enthused about the story and characters I came up with.  So I had 
>> a
>> big, rambling mess to somehow wrestle into some sort of structure with 
>> the
>> notion that I wanted someone else to be able to enjoy reading it as much 
>> as
>> I was enjoying writing it.
>>
>> The 30 chapters of 30 pages notion worked surprisingly well, and I 
>> learned a
>> lot in the process of fitting my story and its pacing into that format. 
>> I
>> did use section breaks at places within some of the chapters to help with
>> flow.  When I get back to "really" working on it again, though, I will
>> probably take a less structured approach, using chapter breaks as part of
>> the flow and pacing as well as to switch from main plot and characters to
>> this or that subplot and the characters involved in that story line. 
>> Make
>> sense?
>>
>> Ultimately, how you use chapters is up to you, depending on your personal
>> style of organization and how you structure your story overall, how you 
>> want
>> to tell it.
>>
>> Thinking about it more, it suddenly occurs to me that chapter breaks and
>> headings are a visual tool, much like heading levels in a structured
>> technical document or the like.  The let the reader see at a glance that
>> something has changed, that we're starting another section of importance
>> here, etc.  In most novels there will be some sort of fancy initial
>> character, or even a picture of what the chapter is about.  Paragraph 
>> breaks
>> and indentation serve the same purpose.
>>
>> So for us nonvisual readers, a lot of the usefulness is lost.  We just 
>> have
>> to have our reading interrupted by hearing JAWS say "Chapter 29" or to 
>> key
>> through a line of all caps on our Braille displays (or whatever; I'm new 
>> to
>> nonvisual reading and am startled by many things about it, while being
>> delighted to learn I enjoy it quite a lot).  So those breaks and fancy 
>> caps
>> or even the line of asterisks between sections don't have the same 
>> meaning
>> they do for the visual reader.  They just get in the way.
>>
>> So for a blind writer, you might make chaptering (is that word?) 
>> decisions
>> based on your target audience?  If you're writing for the general print
>> audience, you would want to give them the familiar trappings of the book
>> reading experience, unless you're wanting your book to make some sort of
>> stylistic statement...  If you're writing for a primarily audo book or
>> Braille audience, then you might just decide to do what you suggested and
>> skip breaking things into chapters....
>>
>> They do help those of us who forget to bookmark our stopping points on 
>> our
>> electronic Braille displays search through the book for where we left 
>> off,
>> though.  /smile/
>>
>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of James Canaday M.A. N6YR
>> Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 2:22 PM
>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] why do chapters?
>>
>> why do the chaptering?
>>
>> I'm assuming that most authors set out the chapter organization
>> before they write?
>>
>> I realized on reflection that I was asking this question about
>> fiction book writing.  nonfiction  topics often just fit right into a
>> chapter organization.
>>
>> what's the shortest work appropriate for chapters?  a
>> 5,000-word  "short" story?  and in that case you don't necessarily
>> have a table of contents and title each but you write the text with
>> an extra blank line  between the end paragraph of one chapter and the
>> beginning of the next chapter.
>> is that correct?
>>
>> so far on this there've been four responses: Lori just doesn't and I
>> would love to know more about that; Aziza  says it is to
>> organize  what's important in the story; Justin points out you can
>> use chapters to change perspective or time; and Helene says chapters
>> make the reading easier to digest (I hope that's a good choice of words).
>>
>> I hope we can continue this, as I want to learn   more on making 
>> chapters.
>> jc
>>
>> Jim Canaday M.A.
>> Lawrence, KS
>>
>> At 04:18 PM 4/4/2009, you wrote:
>>>Chapters make it easier for the reader. Personally I find books that
>>>don't have chapters or have very long chapters, hard to get into.
>>>
>>>Helene.
>>>
>>>On 04/04/2009, Justin Williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > It is a good way to segway into something else.  Chapter two can be
>>> > completely different than chapter one.  It allows you to switch
>> characters.
>>> > Also, it helps with the setting up of different plot lines in a book.
>>> >
>>> > -----Original Message-----
>>> > From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
>>> > On
>>> > Behalf Of James Canaday M.A. N6YR
>>> > Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2009 1:06 AM
>>> > To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
>>> > Subject: [stylist] why do chapters?
>>> >
>>> > Alan and others,
>>> > I think we should discuss this.  do we set chapters because everybody
>>> > seems to do it?  because it gives the reader to catch his or her
>>> > breath?  because it makes changes of perspective easier?  to help
>>> > readers recollection of what they read?
>>> >
>>> > why do we designate chapters?
>>> >
>>> > jc
>>> >
>>> > Jim Canaday M.A.
>>> > Lawrence, KS
>>> >
>>> >
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