What's past is prologue

[ksmith]

Chapters. Definitely chapters.

Chapter One That Once was Prologue just pupped into two chapters, which means they will now be bound together as Part One--Insert Profound Title Here.

I had wanted to get away with a two-chapters-and-a-synopsis proposal, but it has to be three chapters now. I need a modern-day chapter.

We're officially in the nailing-smoke-to-the-wall phase, which will last for the rest of the damned book.

Comments

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Dang it. I kept checking the page count of the chapter--I like to keep chapters under 20 manuscript pages, with 25 as my absolute upper limit. We were creeping up to 20 and past, and I still hadn't moved to the next pivotal event. So, NPE gets its own chapter.

Blasted thing is putting out tendrils...

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I typically write chapters of 3-4000 words. I was therefore totally astonished when this book (the one with the first chapter that happens 10 years before any of the rest of the book) had chapters that were a minimum of 4500 words and went up to about 9000 words. Three chapters was 100 pages. I was like, "AGH!" But then I got used to it. :)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Assuming 225 words/page, that's about my average chapter/page count--15-20 manuscript pages. I usually try for shorter, for no other reason than a first reader for the proto-draft of CODE complained that my chapters, which were running 20-25 pages, were too long. I didn't have enough experience to realize that sometimes the things readers complain about aren't what's wrong with the work--the reason she thought the chapters were too long was because the book had problems and lost her in places.

Be that as it may, I now have a complex about chapter length that works like an invisible fence, with me being the dog. As I approach, I can feel the light shocks through my collar. Once I'm there, it's like, No! No! *argh*! If I ever work up the momentum to push through to the other side, I'll be free, but that momentum part is the kicker.