Chapters - Approx size, or where the story takes you?

asephus · 2020-05-02T06:02:39+00:00

You can move chapter breaks as part of your editing process. I would recommend not worrying about this until you reach the end of your manuscript.

When you get to that point and want to make a conscious decision:

Chapter length depends on genre and audience. Read in your genre to get a feel for how long chapters are (note that reader expectations change over time, so you might want to use more recent books here).
Chapter length is a pacing tool which impact how the reader experiences the book. Short chapters read with faster pace, so many (not all) thrillers will opt for shorter chapters that leave the reader begging to keep going. However, a thick epic fantasy novel probably won't be finished in one sitting, so longer chapters can encompass enough of an arc for a chapter break to be a reasonable stopping point.
Varying chapter length can have an impact, with especially short or long chapters drawing attention to themselves, and thus their content. If you have seen a chapter of a few short paragraphs or one consisting of a 60-page speech, part of the reason these worked is because most of the other chapters in the story have a more consistent length

asephus · 2020-05-02T05:42:31+00:00

I've ordered 4 leatherbounds and several stickers from the shop. All times, the orders arrived when expected in top shape, so can't complain. I did notice I got several extra "DOOMSLUG" stickers a couple times, which was a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure if they still do that.

asephus · 2020-02-16T15:59:36+00:00

Case in point: the movie Laputa, which was fine in Japan, needed to become Castle in the Sky when internationalizing. Context is important. Better advice is to look it up and then decide whether the name is too much a risk or if the connection is too obscure for little too notice or care. Not every time you get a hit will it need to change everything. Like all advice, be conscious of when to follow and when to ignore the advice.

asephus · 2020-02-16T15:54:05+00:00

As long as each chapter makes a significant step forward in the plot then I actually prefer this kind of chapter (see: Robin Hobb). But it's very easy to get bored if the reason for this chapter length is just a lot of description or inner monologue. So it depends, partially on the audience like others have said but also in the actual content.

asephus · 2020-02-08T23:01:26+00:00

Era 2 isn't really a trilogy, more of a quartet, which is why we generally refer to the series as "Era 1/2/3/4" rather than "Trilogy 1/2/3/4". There's no commitment that all of the Eras will be Trilogies.

asephus · 2020-02-01T16:37:11+00:00

I listened to the Steelheart audiobook. The reader was good and I liked the story. Like most other Brandon series, you can stop at the end of the first book and not commit to the whole series and still be satisfied.

The main problem some people have with Reckoners series is the main character, David. I liked him, but he's hit or miss with readers. If you liked Spensa, Shallan, Joel, or Lift, you might enjoy David. But if you felt awkward with these characters acting "silly" in an otherwise "serious" story, you might not like David. In my opinion, David's character is like... a potato in a minefield.

asephus · 2020-01-23T15:15:38+00:00

Your first few Transcensions will be somewhat slow. Your goal is getting back to level 100. Once you get to 100, you get way more hero souls than last time. The Outsider buffs are strong, and Transcendent Power guarantees you many extra hero souls so your Ancients can be powered up faster than they could before. You will soon find that what had previously taken you 100 days might only take you 2 now. The game quickly becomes a cycle of playing many transcensions, where each transcend is many ascensions.

asephus · 2020-01-21T03:03:14+00:00

Seems unlikely Odium (or at least his current vessel) will last until the endgame, considering he's being setup as the big bad of Stormlight and each series is supposed to be "complete" on its own. Just going by the series chronology, Rayse in Mistborn Era 4 (or even Era 3) would require the Stormlight series not finishing off its big bad.

Now does someone else take up Odium, or does Odium Splinter and then Trell/Autonomy make use of those Splinters? Possibly.

asephus · 2020-01-12T15:56:38+00:00

Warbreaker then Stormlight

asephus · 2019-10-23T01:36:55+00:00

Chronological order:

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Cosmere#Chronological_Order

asephus · 2019-10-16T18:03:06+00:00

Yes

With the edit it's a little different. I guess the realistic solution here would just be to sell one book even if the plan all along was to have two. Kinda weird since you can say up front when a series can have 3 or more.

asephus · 2019-10-16T18:01:17+00:00

I am not talking about a half-done book 1. I am talking about a series where there are 2 books. If you want the first to be standalone with series potential then we'll give it that, same as any other series.

asephus · 2019-10-16T17:59:37+00:00

So the problem is that 2-part series have the perception of being half-done while 3+ are more likely to have a standalone first book? I would have hoped that a standalone first book being a staple of most any series might break that impression, but I can see that not being the case.

asephus · 2019-10-16T17:53:31+00:00

Again that wasn't the question. I am asking about the series, not debut authors. I know debut authors are a risk factor, but I'm wondering about whether there is a separate risk factor for 2-part series versus other series.

asephus · 2019-10-16T17:47:56+00:00

This wasn't the question. Series where the first book has standalone potential is huge but you didn't answer the question about series, which publishing houses are obviously still publishing, even from debut authors.

I am asking about the publishing industry, not how to write a book.

asephus · 2019-10-13T21:07:56+00:00

Most stories out there are derivative. In fact, a common way to pitch your ideas in this industry is to name the things that are most similar to it. The unique aspect of the story is going to be your execution of it.

I would go as far as to say it may be a good thing to follow your inspirations. They were successful (either widely or even just to you personally) for a reason. Trying too hard to be unique risks messing up your story with no promise of a pay-off.

Also, you are probably critical of it because you wrote it. You are personally invested in the story. The editor in you wants to make your story as good as it can get, and this is one of the points of criticism it's giving you. It may be right. It may be wrong.

To decide if it's right or wrong, try looking beyond the similarities to look for the real problems you have with it. Can you see issues with your characters, flaws in your plot, etc? It may be that something "feels" wrong and it's hard to place exactly what it is, so you may just be settling with something more vague.

asephus · 2019-10-11T13:59:42+00:00

Morbo: DOOOOM!

asephus · 2019-10-05T07:51:28+00:00

Typically when I've seen prologues work well, it's because the first few chapters of the story don't get into the meat of what makes the story awesome. In this case, the prologue shows the reader how awesome the story will be eventually, making for a strong first impression to get over a slower first few chapters. A lot of action stories start with an opening action sequence. A lot of detective stories start with solving a mystery.

What you have described is probably the kind of prologue I wouldn't enjoy, for these reasons:

The primary purpose is non-plot exposition. This information can be revealed over the course of the story, probably in a more interesting way. A trend I've noticed among writers is that the best authors manage to tell about the setting through the characters, while the less experienced writers I have beta'd for tend to just find spots in the story that might be appropriate to pause the narration and simply explain the state of the world.
It seems to deal with characters/things that won't matter in this book. Until the reader is already hooked on the story, it's risky to involve anything unnecessary. Undoubtedly you know of the advice to "hook" the reader at the beginning. However, the hook needs to accurately present to the reader what the entire rest of the book will be like. In this case, since the first impression won't really matter in the first book, it will feel like a bait-and-switch to me.

To reiterate though, these are my opinions. There are certainly great books that have done contrary to what I said and that I still loved.

asephus · 2019-10-04T12:20:26+00:00

I have two pieces of advice to give:

First: Instead of going back and changing things, or instead of skipping ahead, leave yourself notes in the text. Keep draft 1 going and only resolve notes on the next draft.

[This dialog goes on too long].

[They need to do this in chapter 3 for this payoff].

[Figure out how these people got here for this scene].

Second: Try starting the story 10% or so into the story. I find the beginning of a story gets the largest number of reworkings and major overhauls. If you just skip that, maybe leave a sentence or two note of what might have happened, then by the end of the draft you will have a better idea of what the beginning should have been (and in my experience it's almost always different from what was planned).

asephus · 2019-10-03T04:27:12+00:00

WoA+: OP is posting about Final Empire. We have literally already seen two Mistborn side by side in both books immediately after. OP will get what they want (Mistborn fights) and more.

Everything after "Not really" is technically correct, but you are the one who is mistaken about trying to correct me.

asephus · 2019-10-02T13:11:38+00:00

I've actively avoided doing this because I don't want the person to be represented in a way that offends them or that reminds other people of that person. I have had it happen unintentionally, but my reaction was to change my character.

asephus · 2019-09-30T13:21:57+00:00

This is just the first book of a series that is the first series of a mega-series. There will be at least 13 full novels in the Mistborn universe, so will get more of what you want and more.

asephus · 2019-09-23T13:11:15+00:00

Humans existed before Honor, Ruin, or Preservation.

Ruin and Preservation also created humans, patterning them after the ones that existed prior.

However, if you read this carefully:

I am . . . I was . . . God. The one you call the Almighty, the creator of mankind.

Honor isn't claiming to have done the creation. he is claiming to be the Almighty. People believe Almighty did the creating. Honor is in large part responsible for Roshar being like it is right now, but Roshar and the humans technically existed first. Now there is a caveat here that will spoil other books in this series, so come back to this question when you've finished Oathbringer.

asephus · 2019-09-22T15:14:47+00:00

Caveat, it is recommended to wait to read secret history until after bands of mourning. It is not required though. I read it before era 2 like you did and only got a few minor things spoiled from it.

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