Anatomy of a Novel Chapters & Parts
Logically, there is no need for novel chapters at all. You, the writer, could start the book on page one and keep going right to the end - no chapter breaks, no line breaks within each chapter, no Part One and Part Two, no nothing.
Some commentators argue that novel chapters, being the artificial divisions they are, detract from the sense of reality that writers try to create.
I would argue that readers are perfectly aware that novels are "made up" stories, and that if they are able to imagine while they read that the characters and events are actually real, dividing the novel into chapters really isn't going to interfere with their "willing suspension of disbelief."
On a more practical level, the reason books are divided into chapters is largely to do with making the experience of reading the book more user-friendly.
Give the audience plenty of "resting places" and you will keep them happy - assuming the words in between the rest stops are any good, of course.
In this article, I will be looking at how best to divide novels into chapters and parts. In the longer version - available in my downloadable Writing Guide - not only do I tackle the subject in more depth, I also take a look at using prologues and epilogues in fiction.
Novel Chapters
How many chapters should a novel contain?
As few or as many as you like. Some novels contain 50 or more and some (extremely rarely) contain none. The average seems to be about a dozen.
They can vary in length between just a couple of pages and 50 or 60. Somewhere around the 20-page mark is about the average.
(Incidentally, you have probably already divided your novel into chapters using your instincts. This is a good way to do it. But you might want to use the information here to check your choices and perhaps make any small adjustments.)
When should one novel chapter end and another begin?
Usually, insert a chapter break when a scene ends and an interlude begins. Or, to use the terms I used in the article on plotting the novel, when the "action" phase of a mini-plot ends and the "reaction" phase begins.
But there are no hard and fast rules here...
You could end a novel chapter after an interlude instead, or perhaps split a lengthy scene in the novel into two chapters.
More generally, you could end a chapter when the action is about to shift to another time and another place, or on a cliff-hanger - that is, between a compelling question being raised and the answer being provided.
Perhaps the best advice is simply to end a chapter where your instincts tell you to end it - by which I mean at a place where a break feels natural, where the questions the readers had at the start of the chapter have been resolved and new questions have been raised in the readers' minds about what will happen in the next chapter.
Should you give the novel chapters a title?
Some writers give their chapters a title, others don't. I have chosen to title the chapters in my current novel - beginning with "Chapter One: The Insecure Angel" - but there is no logical reason for this. I just felt like doing it!
Here are some of the many ways I could have titled my chapter...
- 1
- One
- Chapter 1
- Chapter One
- The Insecure Angel
- Chapter 1: The Insecure Angel
- Chapter One: The Insecure Angel
- The Insecure Angel
Adding titles to chapters, I believe, adds another small element of interest to a novel. The individual titles whet the readers' appetites for what is about to come. On the other hand, most writers don't bother with them.
If you do decide to use them, you will find an article right after this one for inspiration: Finding Novel Titles.
Novel Parts
If dividing a novel into chapters is largely a way of making the reading experience a more user-friendly one - by creating white space and resting places - the same is not true for dividing a novel into parts.
The purpose of dividing a novel into parts is really a method of separating radically different sections of the novel. What do I mean by "radically different"?
- Different in time - so Part One could take place in 1954, Part Two in 1978 and Part Three in 2010.
- Different in place - Part One is set in New York, Part Two in London, Part Three back in New York.
- Different narrators - in a love story, for example, the first part of the book could be narrated by Mary and the second part by John.
Note that these differences should be sudden, and only happen once or twice...
Only divide a novel into parts if there is a sudden leap from 1954 to 1978, and then from 1978 to 2010. If Part One actually covers the entire 24 year period up to 1978, there is no need to suddenly have a new part, because time has been steadily advancing throughout.
If the New York-London novel has the character jetting across the Atlantic frequently, don't bother with parts, because the reader will be used to these shifts in place.
And if the changes of narrator occur frequently in the love story - every chapter or two, say - you don't need parts. Parts are only there to warn the reader that a major shift (one they have not experienced before) is about to take place.
Novel parts, like novel chapters, can be titled or not. There are three main options here...
- You can simply call them "Part One," "Part Two," and so on.
- You can give them a practical title, one which helps to orientate the reader - "London, 1978" or "Mary's Story."
- You can give each part a more artistic or perhaps even cryptic title - "Spring Fever" instead of "Mary's Story," for example, and "Summer Storms" instead of "John's Story."
Further Reading: For more information, including how to use mini-breaks, prologues and epilogues in a novel, please see my Ultimate Novel Writing Guide.
