Let me be clear from the start: There’s no one way to write a chapter. There are no rules about chapters. A chapter could be a few words, it could be a hundred pages. It could be all dialogue, it could be all action, it could be nothing but emojis and hieroglyphics. You do you!
But good chapters tend to have a few core elements:
- You need to orient the reader
- You need to show your protagonist(s) being active
- Said protagonist needs to actively go after the thing they care about
- They encounter obstacles and must react/adapt
- The chapter builds toward a moment of punctuation
To help you visualize it, here’s a template for how to approach a chapter, along with links that provide advice on how best to approach the various components:
[CONNECTIVE TISSUE. WHERE ARE WE AND HOW MUCH TIME HAS ELAPSED SINCE THE LAST CHAPTER? DON’T ASSUME THE READER KNOWS WHERE WE ARE PICKING UP]
[THE PROTAGONIST’S MINDSET, MOTIVATION, PLAN, AND WHAT’S AT STAKE. WHAT’S ON YOUR PROTAGONIST’S MIND, AND WHAT’S THEIR PLAN? WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY SUCCEED OR FAIL?]
[PROTAGONIST STARTS ACTIVELY GOING AFTER WHAT THEY WANT IN A (RELATIVELY) COHERENT WAY]
[THE PROTAGONIST ENCOUNTERS AN OBSTACLE TRYING TO GET WHAT THEY WANT]
[SHOW, VIA THE NARRATIVE VOICE, HOW THE PROTAGONIST IS PROCESSING THE NEW INFORMATION AND HOW THEIR PLAN/PRIORITIZATION ADJUSTS. BUILD ANTICIPATION AROUND THE NEW PLAN]
[THE PROTAGONIST ADAPTS, KEEPS TRYING, AND THE TENSION ESCALATES. IF IT’S A CONVERSATION, THERE’S A JOUST AS COMPETING INTERESTS COLLIDE]
[THE EVENTS OF THE CHAPTER BUILD TOWARD A MINI-CLIMAX, A MOMENT OF PUNCTUATION THAT LEAVES THE PROTAGONIST IN A DIFFERENT PLACE THAN WHEN THEY STARTED THE CHAPTER].
These are the key elements of a chapter. If you orient the reader well, show the protagonist going after what they want, and keep building the tension, you will have yourself a novel readers will struggle to put down.
Anything I missed? What do you think makes for a strong chapter? Let me know in the comments!
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Art: Plan du phare du Créac’h by Anonymous
Thank you so much for this gem. Still applying it to my work, “bigly”. The problem is when I reach a snag in the revision process and have to decide which darlings to kill in order to enhance drama and tension by consciously applying this chapter formula. But even as I mourn, I can see the rewards of using it.
PS: Happy New Year. The world will make it through the next four years!