Oh chapter my chapter?

[dorinda]

Speaking of comments and critique, I could use some advice on chapters, chaptering, and whether/when/whatnot, if anyone has thoughts on the topic.

I've had two commenters on different stories object to said stories being long but not chaptered--When a Man's an Empty Kettle (Almost Human John/Dorian) at about 40K words, and The Sound Below Sound (

Comments

[dorinda]

Yeah, that's how it's been for me thus far too--I like to read stories in one piece, and am thrown out by a lot of fragmenting. Not to mention how often I read fic by downloading it directly into the ibooks or kindle app on my phone, which have their own bookmark/search/pagination functions, so I never get lost, even in big novel-length stuff.

Having said that, it's true I haven't yet written anything as big as a novel! I suspect if I ever do, I'd chapter it...it fits the novel's structure well, seems to me.

[dawnebeth]

NO! I rarely chapter anything--and I write long a great deal of the time. In fact, I absolutely hate breaking the story into parts when it won't fit into the posting box. I have a couple stories I have not posted on AO3 simply because it's so much work when they are long.

I would find that sort of criticism very perplexing since I like a novel length fic.

[dorinda]

Yeah, I find it perplexing in general, since for me 40K isn't crazy-long--and I certainly wouldn't skip something that I saw was 40K in one chapter, as the commenters were implying they might have. I mean, if something interests me, I read it--and I often download it directly into an app on my phone anyhow, so I end up totally in control of how it looks and the author didn't need to do that work for me.

[msmoat]

It's an interesting question: what is the purpose of chapters? Usually, there's some sort of "closure" or point where a break makes sense. It should be organic to the written work, right? And yet...serialized novels were often deliberately structured with short chapters that made sense in that publishing medium. Now that we're publishing online, in places like A03...well, huh, maybe chapters that allow for a reader's break/comment makes more sense than I'd've originally thought. I mean, maybe publishing technology andnarrative structure influence whether or not to chapter. Hmm.

On the other hand, when reading those stories, I never felt that a break ought to have happened. And the tendency towards short "chapters" in some online stories drives me mad. For me, well, chapters make sense in novels or novellas, and not so much for "short" stories. But where you draw that line? I have no idea.

So, not very useful! But I trust your instincts. You should, too. *g*

[dorinda]

You're bringing my internal monologue to the surface right there! *g* I mean, left to my own devices, I'm more of a 40K-isn't-so-long person, and in my own reading I am more likely to get irritated by (to my mind) unnecessary chapters than I am by having no chapters at all. But getting these comments from separate people, I was wondering what boat I am missing.

I suspect in the end I'm going to have to let my story sense guide me, such as it is...like, if something's getting novel-length (not yet! But you never know!), and also has a "chaptery" feel, like something about the rhythm really cries out for that kind of big break, I'm likely to consider it. But I'm not feeling super-inclined to go back and artificially hack up those two 35-40K stories, even though that commenter asked me to. It doesn't feel like it suits the structure and rhythm of them, sadly for the commenter.

[destina]

I don't chapter long stories and it annoys me when people do; I load the page as one long story and that's that. Everybody has their weird thing. I can't stand WIPs, completed stories being posted one chapter at a time over weeks, and stories that I can't read all in one go without clicking through chapters. I won't read any of those. Other people are the opposite and won't read things that aren't chaptered. To each their own? If you lose comments for posting things how you want, so be it? That's how I see it.

[dorinda]

One of my favorite AO3 buttons is that one, what's it called, 'full story' or something? Anyway, for me it's "that button that rescues me from the eternal chapter grind", and I can have the story all in one the way I want it.

Or even more often these days, I download the thing directly into my phone's kindle or ibooks app and read it at my work desk on my lunch break, and NO ONE CAN TELL hah. And in my phone, I have all the control over how it looks and how not to get lost, so I don't have to care how the author originally presented it.

I suspect I'll continue on the way I've been going, which is to post things in one piece if I feel they're one piece. I do regret losing readers or comments, but I'm not planning to somehow shape my writing to try and guess what would suit them--it's my hobby, I need it to be soothingly hobbylike, not some kind of off-hours marketing job.

[hafital]

There's no harm in chaptering, and no harm in not chaptering.In AO3 a reader has the option to read a chaptered story all in one, which I appreciate for ease of reading. I've used the chapter function in Ao3 to post my stories, but it only made sense to me because the story called for it.

I think you should do whatever makes the most sense for the story.

[dorinda]

Yeah, I love that 'full story' button or whatever it's called, the one that lets me ignore chaptering and see the whole thing. The people who prefer chapters don't have a button like that, poor kids, but there's no way I can imagine that could work. 'Insert random chapter breaks'? Uch no thanks.

As you say, I suspect I'm going to let my stories be my guide. If I do ever write something novel-length, and if it has that chaptery feeling...you never know!