RebelGoddess

Lately I've been having a lot of trouble with my chapter transitions.

It feels like they all end in one of two ways: the characters go to sleep or are the midst of a major plot device (i.e. a bomb's about to go off or something).

And when I begin the new chapters after they've been sleeping, it's begun to feel awkward to talk about them waking up.

Any ideas on how to make my chapter transitions more exciting and unique?

Racheal

P.S.

The story always stays with the main character.

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jta_8888

Although my reply may just dance around your question (or maybe it'll be a proper answer), I'd like to share the following with you. It's an exerpt from Nancy Lamb's The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children, an EXCELLENT book, even if your story isn't for children:

Six Ways to Make Your Book a Page-Turner

1) Evoke Curiosity. Begin your chapter by provoking the readers interest. Reveal a secret, generate a plot line or create a mystery, making sure these elements have consequences further into the story.

2) Never End at Endings. Avoid ending a plot line at the end of a chapter. That makes it too easy for the reader to put down the book.

3) Think Middle to Middle. Whether you have a short subplot line or an extended one, begin the story in the middle of a chapter and end in the middle of another.

4) Pose Questions. Construct your chapter endings so you ask a question instead of answer it.

5) Remember to Remind. Keep reminding your reader about the problem your character has, the trouble she's in or the goal she's striving toward that's just out of reach.

6) Honor the Inevitable. Remember that what happens next should be inevitable but not predictable.

Hope that helps you in the least bit.

RebelGoddess

That does help, thank you!

I just realized that I didn't end the chapter with something like "They went to bed".

I ended my last chapter with a semi-romantic exchange between two friends, so I'm hoping that it's a good way to draw interest.

Thanks!

Racheal

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Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
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Talia_Brie

That's a really hard question to answer. I've never encountered that problem before.

I tend to change chapters sort of instinctively, when I think a block of action has concluded. I suppose I think of them as really big paragraphs.

I'm writing a book about a shipwreck, and at first I thought the wreck would all be contained in one chapter. I'm glad I didn't stick with that because the chapter would be about 40 pages long.

So I was writing it and I'd managed it smash the ship onto the reef. And I was thinking that I had soooo much more to go that I was going to be writing forever. Then there was a clap of thunder (in the story, not in 'real' life) and the sailors realised there was a storm bearing down on them. And I thought, that's the end of the chapter.

If you're finishing all your chapters with characters going to sleep, the maybe your character sleeps too much.

In terms of waking them up, why not just say, "The next day . . ." or start the following chapter is of you've just said, "The next day . . ." I think most readers understand that if a character goes to sleep they eventually wake up.

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RebelGoddess

Hehe, true. Their days take about 3 chapters a piece (when averaged), so I figured that maybe they deserve a bit of rest. Especially since they have 34 hour days! hehe

Thanks for the advice. I guess ending a chapter is really just about it feeling right.

Do you have any ideas about how to say "The next morning" or "when they woke up" without sounding redundant?

Thanks!

Racheal

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Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

Verago

How about, "As the sun rose" or, "___ awoke to the sound of ___"...
Use the character's senses to manipulate things, it helps give the reader an understanding of the character.

After something like "As the sun rose..." you could put something like, "He remembered how, as a child, he watched those sunsets with ___, his long lost friend..."

This might help with redundancy, maybe.

Talia_Brie

OK. Try this.
+++
Emily's eyes closed and she was asleep as her head it the pillow.

END OF CHAPTER A

CHAPTER A+1 (little algebra joke there - a very little one)

Diane was storming across the office. Emily put her head down and tried to disappear.
+++

This way you don't make any reference to her actually waking up. You just jump straight into the next action. The reader will know that she woke up during the chapter break, and went to work.

That's sort of what I was talking about.

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RebelGoddess

Verago: I like the idea of "the sun rose", I might just use that

Talia: I never thought of starting right in the action and letting the reader assume their waking up. Thanks!!

Racheal

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Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

cindyfreire

Each chapter should keep the reading flipping onto the next one. You don't have to end each chapter--you could carry the scene over as a cliffhanger. This makes for more of a page turner. If you character just goes to sleep at the end of each chapter, the book might seem like a study of their sleeping patterns. In the book I wrote, Several chapters throughout end with a cliffhanger and everyone who has read it, has told me that they couldn't put the book down at the end of one of those chapters. Try this and you might find that the transitions are actually quite easy to handle the best way.

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suzakugaiden

Do you really need to have chapters? Or, for that matter, all that many? Dhalgren is 800 pages long and only has five or so.

Besides, it's not always an easy answer. Is your story an allegory? Does it put a lot of attentions on the character's mood? State of mind? Is it structured like a symphony?

And if it is just a straight up plot and character affair, then don't end when you think you should end. End when stuff feels endy. And if it feels like it's dragging, go back and revise, and if it feels like it's not dragging but not endy yet, then don't end.

""___ awoke to the sound of ___"..."

Oh God NO, not that. That's more cliched than "Once upon a time..."

a15haddad

It's cliched, but not that cliched. My advice is that you perhaps have a smaller resolution at the end of a chapter but hint at a larger problem/event to come next half the time, but really, ending with sleep isn't such a bad idea as long as it doesn't get overly repetitive.

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Victoria Island

i finished my first chapter with.

"It told her everything, everything but the one thing she longed to know,"

now this may be rubbish... or good... i just dont know... but my point is this...

i think it makes the reader think about what could be next?... what does she want to know? how is she going to find out? y''know?

as for starting a chapter i would start it with 'she woke' or something like that.

im starting my 2nd chapter with the secondary character intro at work but if it isnt apllicable you could try something likle leaping into the important thing. if its important that she wakes up for the story then you could start it with.

"_______ vision was blurry as she opened her eyes"

or

"______ shot up in bed, remembering the night before" etc...

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Robgb

Hmmm. There's an old saying in writing. Come in late and leave early.

Don't start a scene with somebody waking up unless that's essential to the story. Don't end a scene with somebody going to sleep unless that's a crucial moment in the scene.

Start a scene as late as you possibly can and try to put your characters in the midst of some kind of action. And the best way to learn how to end a scene is read other writers. How do they do it? Especially the writers that compel you to keep reading. How do they do it?

After you read a book for pleasure, study it. Try to analyze what made you want to keep turning the pages.

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GD

I like the use of waking up.

Reminds me of that bit in Indian Jones III movie, where the plane blows up waking the nazi officer guy.

However going to bed and waking up at every chapter is a bit too samey.

As some of the people above say cut plots short.

Straddle a crisis situation over the end and beginning of chapters.

(what do I know anyway )

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suzakugaiden

Read "As I Lay Dying."

(edit: Whoops. I left off the rest of this :3)

Basically, each chapter is a seperate strain of thought or observation on an event in the book, and each is a different character. There's a far more functional separation between chapters.