A client has me thinking about chapters.
Chapters can feel essayistic (coving a topic) or episodic (covering an event). Some writers care most about their length.
I consider their shape & how they make patterns & how the breaks influence a reader's experience.
They're kind of arbitrary like paragraphs--which is fun.
How do you think about chapters?
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@allisonwyss I organized the chapters in my book by the dream sequences. There are 12 such sequences, coinciding with the hour marks on a watch. But I haven't decided how to handle the dream within the dream or when my MC describes his dream to another character, which is basic 19th century narrative exposition.
Do I give it them chapter breaks even though it's in mid conversation or mid dream? I haven't decided. I like the artifice of introducing a chapter break.
I tend to like the strangeness of breaking up things like conversations with chapter breaks. Not that I've ever done it. But I like it.
Oh, be as clever as you want, I say. At least as many people will love it as hate it.
Allison Wyss
Colorblind Cowboy