#chapter help

Stop rewriting the first chapter. Write the second. Or the fifth. Or some late chapter you don’t even know where it’ll land yet. Write a chapter in one character’s POV, and then another in a different character’s. Get out of the head space telling you that you have to start with the first chapter and make it perfect. No one’s first chapter is perfect the first time through… or even the dozenth, usually. If you keep trying to focus on that one tiny piece of the story without ever moving on to more, you’ll probably never finish.

It’s okay not to start at the beginning.

It’s okay to screw up the first draft. And the second. And the third.

Pick the section you most want to write, and write it. Then move on to another section and DO NOT touch the previous one. Keep going like this until you actually have a draft.

In fact, keep going with the whole story and don’t look at that opening again until the rest of it is drafted. Make yourself notes not to touch it, and bribe yourself away from it if you have to — just keep writing the rest of the story. The beginning may not even be the beginning by the time you finish the first draft, and that’s perfectly normal. For now, though, work on the rest of the story — everything but the beginning — and go back to it once your draft is complete, and not before.

Hope this helps!

Move your chapter breaks… or don’t.

Honestly, chapter length is not something you should be concerning yourself with until you have a story completed and are deciding where the natural breaks are and divide them accordingly. You could have super short chapters, or very long ones. You could have a range. Your chapters could start out short and grow in length over time, or vice versa. Get the story written, get the characters doing what they need to do, fill in the transitional gaps in editing and start thinking about chapter divisions then. There are no set rules for chapter length, so don’t feel you have to hit a certain mark or hold to a certain mold in creating them. Your story will break for chapters when it needs to, and you can figure that out once it’s actually been written.

Don’t feel like you have to pad chapters only to make them longer. Just tell the story. The format will mold itself to that.

Do what works best for the story. Period. Be clear in who’s narrating for whom and then just worry about what works best to serve the story and make it flow.

(Also, don’t be afraid of varying chapter length — is there a valid, structural reason you have three chapters in a row following one person instead of just one long chapter?)

Hope this helps!

Chapters, unlike a book title, do not have to be named. If you want to name them, then good for you. Here’s a couple resources regarding chapter naming and its pros/cons   As you’ll see, a lot of it comes down to preference, and what serves the story best. However, remember that it’s not something you have to do.

Hope this helps!

Writing my 5th part of my AU Fanfic

Need a chapter name....................................................................

this chapter is about Ven and Terra, friendship turns into the beginning of more (if you get what im saying)