"So many of us use writing as a way to keep ourselves down, limited, stuck."
-Heather Sellers in Page after Page.
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Breaking points could refer to many things when it comes to writing, but I'm struggling with how to divide my writing into chapters. Poets must deal with the same issue except on the micro-scale of line breaks. So how does a writer decide on the organization of a piece? Are structure and organization the same thing?
I know that I want Black Dragon to be a novel--although I have tossed around the idea of a graphic novel which would entail different organization of the material. So maybe that answers my question. Maybe structure and organization are linked, but not synonymous.
Black Dragon divides the content into chapters based on scenes. Each new scene is a new chapter. The chapters, however, are arranged/titled according to date. I suppose it is diary-like in a way. Some days have so many different scenes that it takes a number of chapters to cover that day. This could be confusing to a read. But if I lump all the events under one chapter (ie. Chapter Twelve--January 26--Friday), then it is an 18 page chapter, whereas some other chapters are only 3 pages. Does this matter?
If the organization of the material is all about clarity, then I should stick with one chapter per day, even if it makes the chapters uneven in length. However, as a librarian/teacher, I realise that chapter length is important to readability as well. Kids tend to like shorter chapters because they seem to be easier to read.
Of course, at some point it might not even be worth me worrying about this issue. Maybe an editor makes that decision and the author has nothing to do with it. It's not like poetry where the line break can change the meaning. The story remains the same--it is the impact that changes. Which is still a big deal, but shouldn't be a deal breaker.
Anyway, that's what I'm stressing over at the moment--well, along with a myriad of other things. One of those being the teachers memoir workshop tomorrow. I'm to talk about the importance of mentor texts. I've had fun looking through various writing books--especially Page after Page and Chapter after Chapter by Heather Sellers. Good stuff.
2 comments:
My two cents: I love chapters that end in such a way that I make the decision to go to the next chapter, even though I'd planned to turn off the light at the end of this one. Something that piques my interest, makes me gasp, hits me in the gut.
Hey Mike,
How's the self-pub life? Do you have a deadline for when you will see your novel in print? I'm excited to buy an autographed copy!
Me, I'm just revising, revising, revising. My goal is to have it done and ready to send out during Christmas break. It still seems do-able at this point.
Not sure what I want to tackle in the new year. Revise Free Lunch so I can send it out again, or finish the rough draft of IFFY. Hmmm, I'll see what I feel like when I get there!
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