yanssiewriting:

How Long Should A Chapter Be?

If you scroll through my blog long enough, you’ll find that I’ve rebloged and/or have said something about how long a chapter should be. Though I don’t entirely disagree with what I’ve posted before, I think I need to make something clear.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional. I don’t have any traditionally published works (one day I will, hopefully), and I don’t have the experience of a pro. I am just an eager learner online sharing what I know and have recently learned. Corrections, suggestions, and constructive criticism are welcome.

Your word count per chapter isn’t thatimportant.

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How Long Should A Chapter Be?

If you scroll through my blog long enough, you’ll find that I’ve rebloged and/or have said something about how long a chapter should be. Though I don’t entirely disagree with what I’ve posted before, I think I need to make something clear.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional. I don’t have any traditionally published works (one day I will, hopefully), and I don’t have the experience of a pro. I am just an eager learner online sharing what I know and have recently learned. Corrections, suggestions, and constructive criticism are welcome.

Your word count per chapter isn’t thatimportant.

Sure, most publishing houses in the industry have preferences on how many words you can fit in a book, but you don’t need to be strict on yourself with the numbers.

I have read books with chapters as long as 20+ pages andas short as 2 pages. In the same book, okay?

Your chapters don’t need to have a specific word count as long as you’re telling the story.

You can have one chapter with 3000 words, but so much stuff happens that you might as well cut it up into smaller parts that are easier to digest. You can also have a chapter with more than 3000 words, more than 5000 even, and it still feels like 1 solid part.

But don’t think how much you say doesn’t matter. It does. But how much you say andhow much happens are equally important.

You can say a lot about a small event. You can describe sensations, the way someone blinked then turned away, the way you caught your friend staring at you, the way your teacher stuttered and almost failed to save face, etc. Even if they’re short-lived and can only realistically happen in a second, as a writer, you can prolong that second by saying more. When you say more, the reader reads more. Thus, making the experience slower.

The opposite can be done with less description. If you want something to feel faster, explain less. Instead of writing a paragraph about a single action, limit your descriptors. That way, you’ll fit more actions in fewer words and in less time.

But slow doesn’t mean bad. Neither does fast.

It all depends on the scene.

What you say and how much you say should depend on how you want the reader to feel…how you want them to experience it. If it’s a fight scene with a lot of actions, and you want your reader to feel how quick your antagonist’s moves are, talk less. Show more.

But if you want time to slow down for them, make use of the character’s voice. Give them an opinion to share. Make your readers experience the frozen moment with your character. Describe the feeling of what is happening rather than just the initial event.

But if you’re as stubborn as I am, and you still want a specific number, google the average word count of a chapter within the genre you’re writing (also include the ideal length of the overall work: novella, novel, etc.).

According to wordcounter.net, the general guideline is 3000 to 5000 words per chapter. But really, it’s just a guideline.

“…chapter length should be defined by the story and that any chapter length targets you decide on are merely guidelines.”

What I learned online is that even chapters, the bricks you use to build the story, could have structure. In my opinion, if you can take the extra time to thoroughly build the structure of your chapters, please do. It’ll make it better in the long run.

But if you’re (still) as stubborn as I am, just make sure it has a BEGINNING, MIDDLE, & END.

You can start a chapter exactly in the middle of an action. That’s fine. For as long as that action/event is something that leadsto the main focus of the chapter. By all means, skip the idle scenes that give no meaning and serve no use to the story. But you don’t want your reader missing out on crucial details.

The chapter has to begin somewhere, lead to an important question/task/mission/whatever in the middle, and a solution (at least a half solution) - plus another question to keep your readers reading - in the end.

Remember, your word count doesn’t tell you whether you have a good story or not. It just says how long the story actually is. Just as a 15-minute Taylor Swift short film can make you cry and a 2-hour action movie can feel like it’s only been 10 minutes, stories consisting of 1k to 100k words rely on meaning, emotion, passion, and purpose to have value.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope this helped you at least a little. I’m open to suggestions, tips, submissions, corrections, and constructive criticism. Just send me an ask, submit or hit the DMs <3

septembercfawkes:

In a lecture series on Youtube, #1 New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson talks about the three P’s of plot structure: Promise. Progress. Payoff.

Promises are particularly important in the beginning of the story, as they draw in the audience.

Progress keeps the audience invested, particularly through the middle of the story. If there is no sense of progress, then the reader feels as if the plot isn’t going anywhere.

Payoff is what fulfills the promises of progress. It rewards the audience for sticking around, and if done properly, creates a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the story.

While all three can be tricky in their own right, many writers struggle to create a proper sense of progress, which can lead to saggy middles.

Luckily, Dramatica Theory breaks plot down into eight story points that essentially encapsulate progress.

If you apply them to your stories, your writing will always have progression through the middle.

1. Goal - Every story has a goal. It may be a goal of aspiration, such as becoming a top chef. Or it may be a goal of thwarting something, such as stopping a murderer. Whatever the case, a story’s goal is what enables us to measure progress. If there is no goal, then what one does, doesn’t really matter. We have no orientation or purpose, so there is no sense of moving forward or backward. The goal allows progress to happen.

2. Requirements-In order to achieve the goal, something is required. This can be broken down into two variations. In one, the characters must follow an order of steps, like following a set of directions. In the other, the characters must do or obtain things in any order, like a shopping list. The characters in Jumanji, for example,have the goal to restore the world to normal. The requirement is to win the game. But they must do this in a proper order–they can’t skip turns.

3. Consequences-Consequences are what happen if a goal isn’t achieved or hasn’t yet been achieved. In some stories, the protagonist is trying to prevent the consequences, but in others, the protagonist is trying to stop the consequences that are already happening. Consequences might be thought of as overall stakes. In Ralph Breaks the Internet, if Ralph and Vanellope don’t buy a new steering wheel for Sugar Rush, then its characters will be homeless.

4. Forewarnings - Forewarnings convey that the consequences are getting closer, becoming worse, or becoming permanent (depending on the story). If a dam is in danger of breaking, then a forwarning may be a crack that shoots out water. In Back to the Future, Marty’s family slowly disappearing from a photograph works as a forewarning.

5. Dividends-Characters will likely receive small rewards for little successes along the journey to the goal. These are dividends. For example, on her journey to fight in the war in her father’s place, Mulan is rewarded honor and a place in the military when she is able to retrieve an arrow from a wooden post that none of the men could get down.

6. Costs - Just as the journey may include dividends, it also entails costs. These have negative impacts on the protagonist’s well-being. In order to win The Hunger Games, for example, one must be willing to kill others, which also includes psychological trauma. In order for Frodo to get to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring, he must suffer a loss of innocence. This is a cost.

7. Prerequisites - There are often certain essentials one must have, to pursue the goal at all. These are prerequisites.Prerequisites on their own don’t bring the goal closer. This is why they aren’t requirements. In Interstellar, a spaceship, equipment, and astronauts are needed to travel space to find a new home (goal). But simply having those things doesn’t necessarily mean the characters are closer to discovering a liveable planet.

8. Preconditions - Preconditions do not directly relate to the goal. They are “non-essential constraints or costs placed on the characters in exchange for the help of someone who controls essential prerequisites.” In Karate Kid, a prerequisite is that the protagonist must receive extra lessons from a master, but the master adds the precondition of doing chores. One does not technically need to do chores to do karate.

Some of these points are more direct–like requirements–while others are more indirect–like preconditions. The direct points will usually be more intense than the indirect. As you apply these elements to your stories, you’ll create a sense of progress–especially through the middle, which will help make any story more satisfying.

perpetual-stories:

Story Structures for your Next WIP

hello, hello. this post will be mostly for my notes. this is something I need in to be reminded of for my business, but it can also be very useful and beneficial for you guys as well.

everything in life has structure and storytelling is no different, so let’s dive right in :)

First off let’s just review what a story structure is :

• a story is the backbone of the story, the skeleton if you will. It hold the entire story together.
• the structure in which you choose your story will effectively determine how you create drama and depending on the structure you choose it should help you align your story and sequence it with the conflict, climax, and resolution.

1. Freytag’s Pyramid

• this first story structure i will be talking about was named after 19th century German novelist and playwright.
• it is a five point structure that is based off classical Greek tragedies such as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripedes.
• Freytag’s Pyramid structure consists of:

1. Introduction:the status quo has been established and an inciting incident occurs.
2. Rise or rising action: the protagonist will search and try to achieve their goal, heightening the stakes,
3. Climax: the protagonist can no longer go back, the point of no return if you will.
4. Return or fall: after the climax of the story, tension builds and the story inevitably heads towards…
5. Catastrophe: the main character has reached their lowest point and their greatest fears have come into fruition.

• this structure is used less and less nowadays in modern storytelling mainly due to readers lack of appetite for tragic narratives.

2. The Hero’s Journey

• the hero’s journey is a very well known and popular form of storytelling.
• it is very popular in modern stories such as Star Wars, and movies in the MCU.
• although the hero’s journey was inspired by Joseph Campbell’s concept, a Disney executive Christopher Vogler has created a simplified version:

1. The Ordinary World: The hero’s everyday routine and life is established.
2. The Call of Adventure: the inciting incident.
3. Refusal of the Call: the hero / protagonist is hesitant or reluctant to take on the challenges.
4. Meeting the Mentor: the hero meets someone who will help them and prepare them for the dangers ahead.
5. Crossing the First Threshold: first steps out of the comfort zone are taken.
6. Tests, Allie, Enemies: new challenges occur, and maybe new friends or enemies.
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave: hero approaches goal.
8. The Ordeal: the hero faces their biggest challenge.
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword): the hero manages to get ahold of what they were after.
10. The Road Back: they realize that their goal was not the final hurdle, but may have actually caused a bigger problem than before.
11. Resurrection: a final challenge, testing them on everything they’ve learned.
12. Return with the Elixir: after succeeding they return to their old life.

• the hero’s journey can be applied to any genre of fiction.

3. Three Act Structure:

• this structure splits the story into the ‘beginning, middle and end’ but with in-depth components for each act.

Act 1: Setup:

1. exposition:the status quo or the ordinary life is established.
2. inciting incident: an event sets the whole story into motion.
3. plot point one: the main character decided to take on the challenge head on and she crosses the threshold and the story is now progressing forward.

Act 2: Confrontation:

1. rising action: the stakes are clearer and the hero has started to become familiar with the new world and begins to encounter enemies, allies and tests.
2. midpoint:an event that derails the protagonists mission.
3. plot point two: the hero is tested and fails, and begins to doubt themselves.

Act 3: Resolution:

1. pre-climax:the hero must chose between acting or failing.
2. climax:they fights against the antagonist or danger one last time, but will they succeed?
3. Denouement: loose ends are tied up and the reader discovers the consequences of the climax, and return to ordinary life.

4. Dan Harmon’s Story Circle

• it surprised me to know the creator of Rick and Morty had their own variation of Campbell’s hero’s journey.
• the benefit of Harmon’s approach is that is focuses on the main character’s arc.
• it makes sense that he has such a successful structure, after all the show has multiple seasons, five or six seasons? i don’t know not a fan of the show.

1. the character is in their comfort zone: also known as the status quo or ordinary life.
2. they want something: this is a longing and it can be brought forth by an inciting incident.
3. the character enters and unfamiliar situation: they must take action and do something new to pursue what they want.
4. adapt to it: of course there are challenges, there is struggle and begin to succeed.
5. they get what they want: often a false victory.
6. a heavy price is paid: a realization of what they wanted isn’t what they needed.
7. back to the good old ways: they return to their familiar situation yet with a new truth.
8. having changed: was it for the better or worse?

• i might actually make a operate post going more in depth about dan harmon’s story circle.

5. Fichtean Curve:

• thefichtean curve places the main character in a series of obstacles in order to achieve their goal.
• this structure encourages writers to write a story packed with tension and mini-crises to keep the reader engaged.

1. The Rising Action

• the story must start with an inciting indecent.
• then a series of crisis arise.
• there are often four crises.

2.The Climax:

3. Falling Action

• this type of story telling structure goes very well with flash-back structured story as well as in theatre.

6. Save the Cat Beat Sheet:

• this is another variation of a three act structure created by screenwriter Blake Snyder, and is praised widely by champion storytellers.
• Structure for Save the Cat is as follows: (the numbers in the brackets are for the number of pages required, assuming you’re writing a 110 page screenplay)

1. Opening Image [1]: The first shot of the film. If you’re starting a novel, this would be an opening paragraph or scene that sucks readers into the world of your story.
2. Set-up [1-10]. Establishing the ‘ordinary world’ of your protagonist. What does he want? What is he missing out on?
3. Theme Stated [5]. During the setup, hint at what your story is really about — the truth that your protagonist will discover by the end.
4. Catalyst [12]. The inciting incident!
5. Debate [12-25]. The hero refuses the call to adventure. He tries to avoid the conflict before they are forced into action.
6. Break into Two [25]. The protagonist makes an active choice and the journey begins in earnest.
7. B Story [30]. A subplot kicks in. Often romantic in nature, the protagonist’s subplot should serve to highlight the theme.
8. The Promise of the Premise [30-55]. Often called the ‘fun and games’ stage, this is usually a highly entertaining section where the writer delivers the goods. If you promised an exciting detective story, we’d see the detective in action. If you promised a goofy story of people falling in love, let’s go on some charmingly awkward dates.
9. Midpoint [55].Aplot twist occurs that ups the stakes and makes the hero’s goal harder to achieve — or makes them focus on a new, more important goal.
10. Bad Guys Close In [55-75]. The tension ratchets up. The hero’s obstacles become greater, his plan falls apart, and he is on the back foot.
11. All is Lost [75]. The hero hits rock bottom. He loses everything he’s gained so far, and things are looking bleak. The hero is overpowered by the villain; a mentor dies; our lovebirds have an argument and break up.
12. Dark Night of the Soul [75-85-ish]. Having just lost everything, the hero shambles around the city in a minor-key musical montage before discovering some “new information” that reveals exactly what he needs to do if he wants to take another crack at success. (This new information is often delivered through the B-Story)
13. Break into Three [85]. Armed with this new information, our protagonist decides to try once more!
14. Finale [85-110]. The hero confronts the antagonist or whatever the source of the primary conflict is. The truth that eluded him at the start of the story (established in step three and accentuated by the B Story) is now clear, allowing him to resolve their story.
15. Final Image [110]. A final moment or scene that crystallizes how the character has changed. It’s a reflection, in some way, of the opening image.

(all information regarding the save the cat beat sheet was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

7. Seven Point Story Structure:

• this structure encourages writers to start with the at the end, with the resolution, and work their way back to the starting point.
• this structure is about dramatic changes from beginning to end

1. The Hook. Draw readers in by explaining the protagonist’s current situation. Their state of being at the beginning of the novel should be in direct contrast to what it will be at the end of the novel.
2. Plot Point 1. Whether it’s a person, an idea, an inciting incident, or something else — there should be a “Call to Adventure” of sorts that sets the narrative and character development in motion.
3. Pinch Point 1. Things can’t be all sunshine and roses for your protagonist. Something should go wrong here that applies pressure to the main character, forcing them to step up and solve the problem.
4. Midpoint. A “Turning Point” wherein the main character changes from a passive force to an active force in the story. Whatever the narrative’s main conflict is, the protagonist decides to start meeting it head-on.
5. Pinch Point 2. The second pinch point involves another blow to the protagonist — things go even more awry than they did during the first pinch point. This might involve the passing of a mentor, the failure of a plan, the reveal of a traitor, etc.
6. Plot Point 2. After the calamity of Pinch Point 2, the protagonist learns that they’ve actually had the key to solving the conflict the whole time.
7. Resolution. The story’s primary conflict is resolved — and the character goes through the final bit of development necessary to transform them from who they were at the start of the novel.

(all information regarding the seven point story structure was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

i decided to fit all of them in one post instead of making it a two part post.

i hope you all enjoy this post and feel free to comment or reblog which structure you use the most, or if you have your own you prefer to use! please share with me!

if you find this useful feel free to reblog on instagram and tag me at perpetualstories

Follow my tumblr and instagram for more writing and grammar tips and more!

Writing Prompt #78

When the witch cursed you to “die savagely with your heart in your hands,” you always thought she had meant in literally. Now you know that what she had meant was so much worse.

krafterwrites:

Writing side of Tumblr, can you tell me if “Smiled” is an acceptable dialogue tag or not?

It can be in certain scenarios.

I would say “smiled” would work better placed before the dialogue, rather than following it.

As a following dialogue tag:

“That would be great,” she smiled.

See how it reads a bit odd? Obviously you could get away with it, but I wouldn’t use it as a following tag very often.

Now, the tag placed before the dialogue:

She smiled. “That would be great.”

See how the second example flows a lot better? “Smiled” is such a rare dialogue tag that it sounds a bit odd and out of place to the reader. If you do want to use it, I would suggest placing it before the dialogue. Or if you wanted, you could even add a following dialogue tag like so:

Kate smiled. “That would be great,” she said.

This could also work. Also notice how I gave the character speaking a name to avoid the repetition of “she” too many times in the line. And “said” isn’t dead, so don’t be afraid to use it and don’t feel like you have to come up with other tags that don’t fit as well.

At the end of the day there are no writing police that will stop you from doing it whichever way you deem the best. If “smiled” fits as a tag following the dialogue and flows alright, then feel free to use it.

Hope this helped!

Writing Prompt #77

You and your twin sibling decide to switch places for the day. With no one the wiser, you begin to learn some very unexpected things about your sibling. Some very concerning, unexpected things.

Writing Prompt #76

You can read minds. It can be an annoying power sometimes, but you’ve gotten used to it and learned how to use it to your advantage. One day your teacher introduces a new student to your class, a student whose mind you can’t read.

Writing Prompt #80

You are a museum curator working on a new exhibit about ancient ways of life. Everything is going fine until a person approaches you one day claiming to be an immortal, and that some of the artifacts belong to them.

Writing Prompt #79

For every good in the world, there must be an evil to maintain the balance of the universe. When a “bad guy” is no longer bad, another must take their place. You are a hero who helped your arch nemesis redeem themselves. As the former villain becomes a hero, you find yourself slipping into corruption.

sourpatch-encouragement:

sourpatch-encouragement:

1,000 Follower Celebration Announcement

So, we haven’t quite reached the number yet, but we wanted to announce it early because of how quickly we’re growing, to enable you all to have time to join the celebration if you wish to.

So!

First of all, welcome to each and every one of you. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been here since day one or if you just joined today, we appreciate every single one of you deciding to join the blog.

A little Sourpatch history…

We have been really good friends for a while now, and deciding to create this blog was sort of a whim but sort of not. We both apparently had been thinking how much we wanted to make a blog together for a while before we came to the decision to do so. So it was sort of a whim in that we discussed it once and went with it, but it wasn’t really because we’d both been wanting to for a while.

At first, we were supposed to be creating “hard truth” encouragement, but honestly? We’re both just better at flat-out encouragement, and I wouldn’t change this blog for the entire world. I am so glad to be blogging next to one of my favorite people on Tumblr ^_^

Okay! So now to the announcement…

We have decided that for 1k, we want to do something a little out of the ordinary for this blog. At 500, we tried our hand at an honesty day. This time, the celebration is way more writing-centric.

This time, at 1k, we are going to be giving you all the chance to win a free playlist for your projects! We haven’t quite pinned down how many we want to do, and it’ll probably depend on how many people decide to go for it, but send us via asks your blog name (and let us know it’s for the celebration) and I’ll make a generator of all of the blogs that submitted.

Then at the end of the time (again, haven’t picked a date yet), we’ll announce the winners. :) Once announced, the winners will be sending us descriptions of their WIPs and we’ll curate playlists for them.

Rules:

• Nothing NSFW
• Please be descriptive of your WIPs if you win. The more detail, the better - we want enough detail to be inspired, not minimal so we’re struggling to understand what you’re trying to achieve with your WIP
• Please be following sourpatch-encouragement - no following just for the playlist then unfollowing please
• If you’d like - it’s not required, but would be highly appreciated - feel free to boost this post so others know about the blog and celebration
• One WIP per person please

We will each be contributing music to all of the playlists :) There will be a minimum of 5 songs total on each playlist.

Some of Hannah’s favorite musicians include:

• Linkin Park
• Avril Lavigne
• Jason Derulo
• Backstreet Boys
• Melanie Martinez

Some of Denise’s favorite musicians include:

• NF
• Smith & Thell
• Tommee Profitt
• Taylor Swift
• Bon Jovi

Of course, if your work doesn’t quite fit these musicians, we will OF COURSE branch out of our faves. This is just to give a general idea of our taste in music.

There is more, though! Yes, there is a giveaway for just a few of you, but there will also be a big post for everyone. It’ll be an “author’s choice” post where we will pick our top 10 favorite posts of all time from the blog’s entire life and post it and why we love the posts so much, so if you’re new or just missed a post we think are worthy of top 10, you’ll be able to take a look at it! The post will include links so that you can look at it yourself.

Thank you again for following us, and feel free to drop in your blog names starting now! We will announce once the date is chosen when submissions for the celebration will be closed.

Have a fantastic rest of your week.

Sincerely,

The Dynamic Encouragement Dames

There will officially be a deadline. As of today, the deadline for submitting your blog for the playlist giveaway will be 6/26, which will be the final Sunday of this month. It also is a week from this upcoming Sunday.

I recommend submitting your blog sooner rather than later.

Read the post for the rules before submitting, please, and if it isn’t too much of a bother, please also boost this post (especially if you’re submitting your blog for the drawing).

We have not picked a date to post our “Author’s Choice” post yet.

Thank you, everyone!

H

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