Yes. It was very innovative at the time, to break off the story into various form and let readers put together. I recommend it to all my friends, because too many movies adapted from the story but rarely know someone who actually read the book.
One method of labeling chapters that I really like is numbering them but instead of a chapter title, there will be a quote from the chapter. It fun to see that quote knowing the line is coming up but not know the context. It can add some foreshadowing or suspense if there is a hint of things to come.
Arcane does this with its episode titles and I think it works really well for the reasons you stated! Throughout the whole of an episode I found myself on the edge of my seat waiting for the context of the quote.
Naming chapters is always fun! The hero of my last effort was a rock drummer so many of the chapters were titles of songs by Led Zeppelin. For example: Dazed and Confused has him waking up in the past.
Plain numbered chapters are fine. They don’t distract from the story. I think clever alternatives are good if they add to the reader’s context in a fun or useful way, but I would be skeptical of adding them initially. Comic novels have more leeway in this, as with the other elements of writing, such as footnotes, etc.
Good point about comic novels... And yet every Seinfeld episode has the most basic title they could give it: "The Pen," "The Contest," "The Hamptons," etc.
Once again, you nailed it. One of the most difficult things to codify for me as a writer is to define where the scene boundaries are. That compartmentalizes things into units of story that I can regard separately, in order to examine in revision whether they have all the necessary or proper elements in them. But as you say, those boundaries are often fluid, and they can be arbitrary (one writer may define the boundaries between scenes very differently than another writer, and I might define a particular scene boundary one way on a Monday and a different way on a Thursday!) That's what makes it difficult and makes it important to also regard a scene in the larger context of a sequence, act, story arc, or trilogy arc, rather than only in the vacuum of it being a single scene. The irony there is that a reader may or may not recognize when a scene ends and another begins, but it really does not matter to them whatsoever. They are not there to identify scene boundaries at all. They just want the story. Often, you want those boundaries to be invisible to them. But I find it of paramount importance as the author to define those boundaries to myself. I began titling chapters by numbering them and adding a phrase that was a placeholder, simply for my own purposes as an author trying to have a note-a reminder of what happens in a chapter I wrote. I would take the most expressive phrase from within the chapter and add that just as a personal reminder, expecting to remove them all later. But then I realized if I looked at the table of contents, these phrases actually were somewhat intriguing, in that seen together in that list, they could create curiosity in the reader. So I left them in. Chapter numbers plus a short phrase expressing something to come in the chapter.
Good point about readers not knowing when a scene ends and not caring. It’s definitely something you don’t want readers thinking about too much. Keep them in the flow of the story
I am highly grateful for this! I'm a beginner and a pantser at that so I don't usually outline... however this is going to help me very much! Thank you for this riveting summary of scenes vs chapters... it's been eating my mind for a long while but now I finally understand! 😁😌
I have to comment before I even watch the rest of the video: I really like how you define scenes here. I've often see definitions that say scene ends when there is jump in time or place or something like that. But when I'm writing, I often find myself in a situation, that the characters are (either literally or figuratively) sitting in the same room for a long while, but still my gut feeling has said that it's still two or three scenes. Now looking at your definition, it agrees with my gut feeling, because those have been situations, where there has been two or three distinct positive to negative or negative to positive changes.
I really wasn’t expecting this video to be as helpful as it was 😅 I honestly just expected a drawn out explanation of each definition. As I watched on however, I realized that from the positive-negative and negative-positive scene flow to your slightly in depth explanation of how you can play with both scenes and chapters, this video was honestly one of the most helpful I’ve ever watched. Can’t wait to see more from you, and take care!
This was so helpful! You made it so easy for me to grasp the concept, and also so easy to apply that knowledge to my story and other existing stories. Thank you so much!
Good stuff. I love to think about the technical structural aspects of storytelling. My first outlines consist of a list of scenes noting the location, the characters, the conflict and the outcome of it.
That's almost exactly what my chapter spreadsheets look like. I also including the POV character(s) and what story structure element (if any) is involved.
Thank you for this video. Question of the day: I prefer chapter titles that hint something major about that chapter. My goal is to get the reader to see the title and go "hmmm... I want to know more." For example, I might have a chapter title of "On-Ice" because the chapter introduces a part of the book where a person is detained under house arrest, and various things happen.
@@SyroNagashi Though I number my chapters, I always keep a spreadsheet handing with brief descriptions or names for each chapter. Helps me reference things on the fly
Chapter+number+title If long Chapter+number+scene number+title. Sometimes chapters are simply as short as a scene. But that is rare. so I guess in that part I find them interchangable at least in terms of lenght
Simple is best. I've found through feedback any complexity involved in labeling chapters beyond numbers and very specific pov choices (such as what A Song Of Ice And Fire does naming characters) can confuse readers. Don't use fancy names, keep those in your outline so they don't spoil readers anything, and separate chapters by parts so the reader knows what “arc” or “part” they might be on in the story. Doing that simplicity keeps the reader going and doesn't break immersion. The idea is to make it as easy as possible on the reader's eyes.
I try, usually, to label/title my chapters and use the title as a sort of outline, if you will, for what happens in the chapter. It can be difficult. I kind of put a lot of pressure on myself to keep it clever and engaging so that even the title is a hook to the audience. In my trilogy, though, I found that had far too much going on inside each individual chapter, so I actually split those chapters into A, B, and C sections. Each section still fell under the umbrella of the chapter title, but it was far easier to divide information, scenes, action/reaction, and so on. I also strive to be original in my writing without being boring, and I'm happy to say I haven't seen that kind of chapter subdivision before, lol.
My chapters are usually finished with all the scenes in it when it completes talking about the topic or theme for that chapter (it may also pertain to the name for the chapter). In my first novel, the chapter may usually open with the topic from a character's perspective, or it may be told through dialogue later in that chapter. *An interesting note, is that I use what I call "real-time" pacing where scenes generally follow each other linearly one after another, where if it switches to another pov or scene in the same pov, a line break may be used, scene breaks in 3 asterisks, or if necessary, switch to 3rd person with the scene break but it's unlabeled. *side note: the structure I use if you like the idea is rigid, but chapters adhere to a certain "arc" or parts within the story and all chapters revolve around that. Do with that numbers, labeling and whatnot what you will, but a detailed table of contents helps, too. I've divided my story into 6 arcs following a three act story structure, and there is 2 arcs for each act.
I like your term "Real time" pacing. With all the non-linear stories out there nowadays, it's hard to find straightforward storytelling that doesn't dip into flashbacks or other time-jumps.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I appreciate the feedback, but flashbacks are absolutely crucial to the storyline of my novel I'm working on. Even the flashbacks themselves are dedicated to this pacing (lest I summarize the less important ones in exposition/narration). The effect it has dramatizes the events far better in my opinion. I was going through edits actually to make any transitions seem less jarring. It uses a mixture of stream of consciousness, character inner monologues, as well as direct inner dialogue to convey the suspense. As for "major time jumps", the only one really is a timeskip, but it's a result of the story at the end of the first act. I've heard some authors dislike flashbacks, but I'm hard pressed to agree if you know how to tweak them right... *Extra note: the novel originally was non-linear, but I moved the events around halfway into my first draft, and it streamlined far better in my opinion.* *Note, the flashback storyline, and the main storyline are congruently linear with each other, until a story plot point in the second act forces a change to all the main cast because of it (generalized, without giving the story away...). From then point on, the second half of the story, when some flashback scenes do show up, it's more traditional in the way its perceived, a jump back in time. Side question. What's your take on footnotes in novel writing?
@@gamewriteeye769 Yeah, if you like flashbacks or your story requires them, there’s nothing wrong with using them. I’m simply not a fan of them (or at least how popular they’ve gotten in recent years… I think modern storytelling relies on them too much) I rarely see footnotes in fiction. Outside of David Foster Wallace and House of Leaves, I can’t recall seeing them. They’re fine if you’re telling an experimental story or something literary, but they can disrupt the atmosphere of a more traditional story
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Ah. I'm probably not going to use footnotes, but was curious if you used them. Yes, they are rare in fiction; I haven't read one novel that used them, either. What I'm writing is halfway between literary and commercial, and that is upmarket fiction.
This is a HUGE help for me, especially the explanation of what a chapter is compared to a scene. I was worried I wasn't doing chapters "right," but now I see I can do them how I want as long as the right scenes are put together in the right chapters. 😅
Putting more scenes in the same chapter can be seen as phrases connected to form a sentence. Two or more situations can be adding or contrasting to each other, they can be the effect or the cause of one another etc. The importance is to keep the same theme.
Sure, but can you be more specific on what you mean by "ending dialogue"? Do you mean dialogue in the closing scene of a story? Also, is there anything in particular you'd like me to cover in the video?
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty The final dialog in the last chapter that sets the tone for a good sequel, in other words: What Makes Ending Dialog Interesting To The Reader. But honestly anything remotely related to ending dialog would be cool to learn about.
@@SyroNagashi Do you mean a dialogue exchange between two characters (like Gordon talking to his son at the end of The Dark Knight)? Or a character voiceover (like at the end of Spider-man 1)? It sounds like you want to know: - How to use ending dialogue to hint at sequel events - How to build hype for a sequel - How to hint at loose ends being resolves in future works Am I on the right track?
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Yep! I think you figured out what I was trying to say, sorry for the poor conversational skills. I think the most I need help on that you mentioned is, How to use ending dialogue to hint at sequel events.
When it comes to chapter titles, I generally use numbers. I remember reading a chapter book in grade school about kid sleuths who solved mysteries. The chapters had titles that basically summarized the events in the chapter. In "Chapter 4: The Chase", the presumed villain gave chase to the young gumshoes, with the kids hiding out in the school library when the chapter ended. Of course, the reader is left wondering if the villain would find and capture them. The suspense (for a kids' book, anyway) was palpable. And of course, the reader was compelled to continue reading the next chapter to find out if the kids would manage to get away. Imagine my dismay when I turned the page and saw the next chapter title: "Chapter 5: CAPTURED!" So yeah, I just use numbers now.
Thank you very much for the video. I struggle a lot with structure and plot ideas, but your way of explaining a scene structure is going to help me a lot. On my way to check out the rest of your channel
I use chapters like bookmarks, choose titles like the location took place, or the event going to happen, so I can jump from one section to another comparing notes, because quite often I mistakenly repeated something, or misspelling a name or location and have to go back and check. I may also relocate an entire chapter to smoothen the timeline. Once I'm satisfied, I then rename all chapters to a more appropriate title.
Negative to positive/positive to negative? Those aren't the only types of change. Change can also be things like learning additional information, showing what's happening elsewhere in the story, a shift to another character's POV, a jump in time, and so on.
This video was incredibly insightful to discerning & understanding layers of story structure; thank you. Had been on the fence about subscribing, after recently finding the channel. No doubts anymore.
I think maybe why I sometimes confuse chapters for scenes is because I tend to make very structured chapters, containing scenes that belong together or connect a cohesive chain of events. And then the next chapter will usually deal with a whole other aspect of the story. Especially when I'm writing a really long book, I often end up with chains of scenes like that. I mean like... oh, how to explain... say x character goes to work where a new character is introduced, events go down leading to a resolution about the job, but a new conflict arises, leading to another scene, and so on, each secene (aside from the first and last) containing both conflict and resolution, until the last conflict in that chain more or less resolves. Then a new such chain starts with a new conflict. So each chain of scenes can kinda feel a bit like a scene in itself, if that makes sense. I don't see them as really one huge scene though, because they change a lot in the ways you talk about. So I guess my real question wasn't really if a chapter is a scene, but rather... what is this chain of scenes? Does it have a name, or did I just create a new monster? It's like something in-between a scene and an act. As for editing: Actually, a lot of my scenes (or chains of scenes) are perfectly movable. It's what I'm doing right now with my novel. I hated the pacing and the structure I had initially made, so I'm now swapping around the scenes to create a more cohesive and less choppy structure of the story. Of course this means changing the time/season, what info the characters have, etc, in the scenes so that they will fit in their new place in the timeline. That doesn't mean that all these movable scenes are completely stand alone or pointless. They usually reveal new important information, create or resolve conflicts, but these things can come up in all sorts of orders when you're working with subplots. And originally, I think I put these things in a messy order that's just difficult for a reader to keep up with. Bit of a problem that easily happens when you have a gazillion subplots eventually all tying together with the main plot, to keep track of. (This is a new concept for me to work with so... I'm challenged.) So I keep a list of chapters as my guide to keep track of everything. This list of chapters also has brief notes of what scenes they contain. So when I need to find a specific scene I can always find it pretty easily by referring back to my list of chapters. This again, is perhaps easier for me because I have such structured chapters. And because I decided to label the documents by the chapters. So to find a specific scene, I need to know which chapter it is in anyway. Or was in in the previous draft. My favourite way to label chapters is by giving them a fancy name that hints at something that happens within that chapter, as well as a number. For example "Chapter 87 - It takes one to know one" is a line a character says to another within that chapter hinting at something new being revealed, as well as the order of the chapter within the story. Yes this is my favourite way to label chapters because it's the most practical way for editing. Then I know easily where the chapter is, as well as what it's generally about.
I remember a Scooby Doo chapter book with the chapters entitled the names of our main characters, and each chapter tells from their respective perspective.
Funny thing… I’m literally trying to figure out what I should consider for chapters in my book… I’m clueless… your video magically appeared. Thank you. Very helpful.
So my teacher from my filmmaking school told the class that (mostly) all scenes are always taking place in one specific location, and I think he’s completely wrong about that. So if we were to believe him, then all the locations in the chase with the detective and the suspect are all different scenes of a few seconds each. I refuse to believe this. Could someone please tell me who’s right and who’s wrong?
My favorite post-conventional way to label chapters is the way Frank Herbert does it in Dune. He puts in a quote from a 'future history' book that will resonate with what is to come in the chapter. Gives the story much greater depth and richness and shows how grand in scale the story really is.
Hi Brandon I’m writing a horror/thriller novel and I have scenes that are boring, but necessary to write in order for the story to move from place to place and follow what I have planned. My question is could you make a video on how to spice up boring scenes or sequences I want my novel to be interesting and a page turner, but sometimes I feel discouraged when writing a scene that i can’t leave behind but it’s boring. It ultimately shuts down my creative process. That’s would be such a huge help!
Ohhhhh that's a great idea. I haven't done a video like that yet, so I'll get to work on it ASAP. Expect it by the end of this month. Anything specific you'd like to see in the video? Like any particular types of scenes you'd want me to cover (Travel scenes? Waiting Room scenes? Etc?) Let me know so I can focus the video on what you need most
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I have a part where my characters are driving past woods for a long while to kids in the back are sleeping and nothing important is happening I feel like I made the time change too many times it was morning then night really fast and it might confuse the reader, but I don’t have anything to fill the chapter with. I thought about deleting the chapter and starting with something else but it’s necessary to be there to show how my characters get to the place they are going to. So I really think Travel scenes and scenes where nothing important happens and how to get past them. Also I’ve been wondering how do I switch scenes to characters that are not around or have anything to do with my main characters at that time. Like if I wanted to introduce the antagonist in their area how would I do that and not confuse the reader on when we switched and why? I know to add Time,place and who is present but how would I do that without switching chapters?
@@Saucy.Waffles Thanks for the input. I'll get to work on a video ASAP. As for your other question about switching to the villain, the best way is to use a Chapter Break or a Scene Break. That way, you clearly define that there is a change in scene. Once you do that, establish the new POV/Setting/Scenario. I did a recent video on Scene Transitions that should help: ruclips.net/video/wCMwrORDfwg/видео.html
I personally like to name all my chapters. For example; Chapter 1 - A New Dawn Chapter 2 - The Outsiders Chapter 3 - Judgement Day None of those are actual chapters of mine, lol. Just examples. I like doing that, though, cause it makes each chapter feel more like a mini story within the book. Plus, the name of each chapter will be somewhere within that passage, so it'll be fun for readers to look out for!
A scene can do more than establish something changes. They often tell me something I need to know to understand the world. A New Hope: Luke asks to go into town and is told no. The only thing that changes is Luke's expectations. But the point of the scene is: Luke is being raised by someone other than his biological parents; they care about him; they are farmers; Luke wants to see the world but feels like he's being held back. That is the point of the scene.
I prefer numbered chapters, but due to my tendency to add new chapters in the middle of the manuscript without updating the titles of the chapters that come afterwards, my critique partner has endured a lot of confusion. (For example, she’s currently reading the second chapter 5, which should be chapter 7, but I never updated the title.)
I guess I feel you can have several scenes in a chapter, especially if they are fairly close in time. A larger time lapse might call for a chapter. Depends on how you link them.
When reading I don't have any preferences. When writing it depends on the story. If I write a story that follows a clear forward timeline, I tend to name my chapters by the date and divide the story into days. If I have a more "convoluted" story with diffrent POVs and timelines I usually split my chapters by a theme or a goal or a hint and name it this way to have a quick overview for myself. That doesn't necessarily mean that those chapter titles stick around. The final titles are decided with the books "vibe" in mind. So a fantasy story that should feel "old-timey" or "classical" definitly will get chapter titles, while my dystopian detective series sticks with "date, day, hint", much like my detective would lable his case files. My YA gangster story will most likely be numbered chapters, because there would be no benefit from having titles or another format plus most chapter breaks are there to give the reader a break, not to convey something within the story.
I would be interested on your thoughts of nested scenes. I am referring to situations where one scene may start before a previous scene has been resolved.
I think it depends on the genre and tone but, usually, I prefer to name my chapters. I like to think of them as episodes, so I name them. But I write fantasy not gritty, realistic crime dramas-which probably work better with dates and times.
I’m kind of a novice when it comes to writing but I still believe that less is more so I just go with the traditional numbered chapters but I still name them though
I've started my chapters with quotes from ancient texts that pertain to the overall mood of the chapter. I have a set of novels from the 1800's that used that structure and I've always found it intriguing. I'm probably too old-fashioned for my own good.
Usually the songs on an album are the result of an artist's creations during a season of life. This means the songs can all speak to a similar set of themes, ideas and topics. So the aim of an album name is to try and sum up the big story/concept that all the songs pull from when they were written. It's not always like these, especially today. But traditionally, an album is like a "book" with the songs inside being like "chapters." It is a cohesive collection of songs used to tell a bigger theme or project an overall vibe. Think of an album as a book. And your songs as chapters. Every book has chapters. Every album has songs. Each chapter is different. Each song is different. But the collection of chapters (the collection of songs) is what tells the full story of the book (of the album). 💿 Mini book 📕 📖 📚 chapter book 📕 📖 📚 full book 📕 📖 📚 are the same but in general albums 💿 are a book 📕 📖 📚. Chapters mean a main division of a book, typically with a number or title. And book vs studio albums are typically the same studio albums are book 📕 📖 📚.
POV changes in my (novel); MC has 12 1st person chapters, 4 secondary characters get 3 1st person chapters each. 24 chapters total... (or so?) The SC's chapters will in effect be short stories structured within the main narrative and placed to support that main narrative. I HOPE! NOTE: this is the 1st novel of a trilogy +. By the end of novel 1, flaws are established. Some form of the villain has touched each and hell's handbasket is full. Novel 2 introduces 3 new main characters. A good guy f/ novel1 turns into the avatar of the villain. The tone changes. Novel 3 Sh@t hits the fan. -(Still working on this!)
But what if a fragment of my story causes a significant change, but doesn't follow all the scene structure requirements? Like, someone was walking with no clear goal and suddenly *disaster*
The way I execute a chapter is mostly based on setting. Length is almost irrelevant to me. An example of this is in my post-apocalyptic action crime thriller where the two main characters meet to discuss a plan of attack (or rather arrest) of the protagonist’s traitorous family member. The protagonist wants to kill this family member for the heinous crime they committed but the deuteragonist instead wants to take them to jail. They’re outside of a coffee shop discussing this plan. But the next chapter has them outside the protagonist’s house. Or the best example of this is a chapter has two characters conversing in a room and then the next chapter has one or two of them in another room even when they’re in the same house.
I like chapters to have names, titles, or whatever you want to call them. I do make an exception for the wheel of time where most chapter titles are meaningless (A New Weave in the Pattern). I dislike it when I'm listening to an audio book and they're not chapters, they're just numbers.
What a clear video, thank you so much! 🌷 I'm unsure if I'm understanding scene structure right in relation to various POVs. If you found the time, I'd so appreciate your input 😌 Would I keep seperate orders of scenes for each POV? If chapters signify switching back and forth between two POV's, overall, would I need to stay within the strict structure>...>decision? No, right? Rather, would it be e.g. a cliff hanger right after A's disaster... then a switch to chara B's action? And if two POVs met at one point, would this make two parallel scenes? Would e.g. one POV's action be another POV's conflict? Also: Would it be possible that A's scene is forwarded/resolved even though we're currently in B's head and only perceive A's reaction process from the outside?
I've seen a chapter of four words. It completely reversed the development and motivations of a character, fired a long-built Chekov's gun, revealed one of the biggest mystery of a story and turned to be a complete and utter disaster for everyone involved. Processing the meaning of these words took from ten minutes to several days for readers, but everyone of them was shocked at the comprehension. That's what I call a masterpiece (the story is Worm by Wildbow/John McCrae if you're interested).
I'm writing a series where nearly all the chapter titles are dates. Sometimes this conflicts with what characters might say. Such as, the colony ship left earth 396 years ago, but the colony's date on the chapter is 459. I leave shit like that for the STEM geeks to salivate over.
I don't understand how a chapter can contain no scenes, unless the chapter is literally blank. Explain, please? Cause I can't see how that's possible. (Nvm, you answered it in the video. XD) But a chapter can definitely contain anything from one to several scenes. Say, a scene with the MC, and another scene with the antagonist perhaps, and then back to another scene with the MC, and so on. But the scenes are all part of a specific part of the storyline.
I've seen an example from a while back. Each Chapter was labeled with a simple number but, if the first person POV was not that of the protagonist, the chapter title had a subheading for which character's head you were in. Near the end of the novel, the protagonist had overcome the trap the villain had carefully manipulated multiple forces into place to get rid of him, unknowingly ruining the villain's plans. The next chapter consisted of switching to said villain's POV and the entire content of the chapter was literally a single word of dialogue: "Fuck." Then back to the protagonist for the next chapter and denoument.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Brahm Stoker made chapters based on journal entries, diaries and letters. Your break down of chapters is the most helpful i have ever heard.
Yes. It was very innovative at the time, to break off the story into various form and let readers put together. I recommend it to all my friends, because too many movies adapted from the story but rarely know someone who actually read the book.
One method of labeling chapters that I really like is numbering them but instead of a chapter title, there will be a quote from the chapter. It fun to see that quote knowing the line is coming up but not know the context. It can add some foreshadowing or suspense if there is a hint of things to come.
Arcane does this with its episode titles and I think it works really well for the reasons you stated! Throughout the whole of an episode I found myself on the edge of my seat waiting for the context of the quote.
Naming chapters is always fun! The hero of my last effort was a rock drummer so many of the chapters were titles of songs by Led Zeppelin.
For example:
Dazed and Confused has him waking up in the past.
Plain numbered chapters are fine. They don’t distract from the story. I think clever alternatives are good if they add to the reader’s context in a fun or useful way, but I would be skeptical of adding them initially. Comic novels have more leeway in this, as with the other elements of writing, such as footnotes, etc.
Good point about comic novels... And yet every Seinfeld episode has the most basic title they could give it: "The Pen," "The Contest," "The Hamptons," etc.
Once again, you nailed it. One of the most difficult things to codify for me as a writer is to define where the scene boundaries are. That compartmentalizes things into units of story that I can regard separately, in order to examine in revision whether they have all the necessary or proper elements in them. But as you say, those boundaries are often fluid, and they can be arbitrary (one writer may define the boundaries between scenes very differently than another writer, and I might define a particular scene boundary one way on a Monday and a different way on a Thursday!)
That's what makes it difficult and makes it important to also regard a scene in the larger context of a sequence, act, story arc, or trilogy arc, rather than only in the vacuum of it being a single scene.
The irony there is that a reader may or may not recognize when a scene ends and another begins, but it really does not matter to them whatsoever. They are not there to identify scene boundaries at all. They just want the story. Often, you want those boundaries to be invisible to them. But I find it of paramount importance as the author to define those boundaries to myself.
I began titling chapters by numbering them and adding a phrase that was a placeholder, simply for my own purposes as an author trying to have a note-a reminder of what happens in a chapter I wrote. I would take the most expressive phrase from within the chapter and add that just as a personal reminder, expecting to remove them all later.
But then I realized if I looked at the table of contents, these phrases actually were somewhat intriguing, in that seen together in that list, they could create curiosity in the reader. So I left them in. Chapter numbers plus a short phrase expressing something to come in the chapter.
Good point about readers not knowing when a scene ends and not caring. It’s definitely something you don’t want readers thinking about too much. Keep them in the flow of the story
I am highly grateful for this! I'm a beginner and a pantser at that so I don't usually outline... however this is going to help me very much! Thank you for this riveting summary of scenes vs chapters... it's been eating my mind for a long while but now I finally understand! 😁😌
Great to hear it helped! Best of luck with your writing
I have to comment before I even watch the rest of the video: I really like how you define scenes here. I've often see definitions that say scene ends when there is jump in time or place or something like that. But when I'm writing, I often find myself in a situation, that the characters are (either literally or figuratively) sitting in the same room for a long while, but still my gut feeling has said that it's still two or three scenes. Now looking at your definition, it agrees with my gut feeling, because those have been situations, where there has been two or three distinct positive to negative or negative to positive changes.
Awesome, thrilled to hear the video helped!
My favorite way is by number. Being a beginner, it feels safer (conventional). But good art allows anything, so I am open to other labeling styles.
Agreed... I always go with numbers because it's easiest to organize
Always numbers, sometimes numbers with a title, like "Chapter Twelve: Silent Tears"
I have chapter number, and since my book is multiple POVs, some sort of title starting with the characters name. Such as "John Hates Snakes"
I really wasn’t expecting this video to be as helpful as it was 😅 I honestly just expected a drawn out explanation of each definition. As I watched on however, I realized that from the positive-negative and negative-positive scene flow to your slightly in depth explanation of how you can play with both scenes and chapters, this video was honestly one of the most helpful I’ve ever watched. Can’t wait to see more from you, and take care!
Thanks for the kind words! Hope you find my other videos helpful
This was so helpful! You made it so easy for me to grasp the concept, and also so easy to apply that knowledge to my story and other existing stories. Thank you so much!
Glad it was helpful! Please tell others about the channel!
Good stuff. I love to think about the technical structural aspects of storytelling. My first outlines consist of a list of scenes noting the location, the characters, the conflict and the outcome of it.
That's almost exactly what my chapter spreadsheets look like. I also including the POV character(s) and what story structure element (if any) is involved.
Thank you for this video.
Question of the day: I prefer chapter titles that hint something major about that chapter. My goal is to get the reader to see the title and go "hmmm... I want to know more."
For example, I might have a chapter title of "On-Ice" because the chapter introduces a part of the book where a person is detained under house arrest, and various things happen.
How do you prefer chapters to be labeled? With numbers, dates/times, or something else? Let us know!
I like my chapters to be named after something that corresponds to the main chapter at hand.
@@SyroNagashi Though I number my chapters, I always keep a spreadsheet handing with brief descriptions or names for each chapter. Helps me reference things on the fly
Chapter+number+title
If long Chapter+number+scene number+title.
Sometimes chapters are simply as short as a scene. But that is rare. so I guess in that part I find them interchangable at least in terms of lenght
Simple is best. I've found through feedback any complexity involved in labeling chapters beyond numbers and very specific pov choices (such as what A Song Of Ice And Fire does naming characters) can confuse readers. Don't use fancy names, keep those in your outline so they don't spoil readers anything, and separate chapters by parts so the reader knows what “arc” or “part” they might be on in the story. Doing that simplicity keeps the reader going and doesn't break immersion. The idea is to make it as easy as possible on the reader's eyes.
I try, usually, to label/title my chapters and use the title as a sort of outline, if you will, for what happens in the chapter. It can be difficult. I kind of put a lot of pressure on myself to keep it clever and engaging so that even the title is a hook to the audience.
In my trilogy, though, I found that had far too much going on inside each individual chapter, so I actually split those chapters into A, B, and C sections. Each section still fell under the umbrella of the chapter title, but it was far easier to divide information, scenes, action/reaction, and so on. I also strive to be original in my writing without being boring, and I'm happy to say I haven't seen that kind of chapter subdivision before, lol.
Thank you for such a clear description! Very helpful!!
Thrilled to hear it helped! Thanks!
My chapters are usually finished with all the scenes in it when it completes talking about the topic or theme for that chapter (it may also pertain to the name for the chapter). In my first novel, the chapter may usually open with the topic from a character's perspective, or it may be told through dialogue later in that chapter.
*An interesting note, is that I use what I call "real-time" pacing where scenes generally follow each other linearly one after another, where if it switches to another pov or scene in the same pov, a line break may be used, scene breaks in 3 asterisks, or if necessary, switch to 3rd person with the scene break but it's unlabeled.
*side note: the structure I use if you like the idea is rigid, but chapters adhere to a certain "arc" or parts within the story and all chapters revolve around that. Do with that numbers, labeling and whatnot what you will, but a detailed table of contents helps, too. I've divided my story into 6 arcs following a three act story structure, and there is 2 arcs for each act.
I like your term "Real time" pacing. With all the non-linear stories out there nowadays, it's hard to find straightforward storytelling that doesn't dip into flashbacks or other time-jumps.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I appreciate the feedback, but flashbacks are absolutely crucial to the storyline of my novel I'm working on. Even the flashbacks themselves are dedicated to this pacing (lest I summarize the less important ones in exposition/narration). The effect it has dramatizes the events far better in my opinion. I was going through edits actually to make any transitions seem less jarring. It uses a mixture of stream of consciousness, character inner monologues, as well as direct inner dialogue to convey the suspense. As for "major time jumps", the only one really is a timeskip, but it's a result of the story at the end of the first act. I've heard some authors dislike flashbacks, but I'm hard pressed to agree if you know how to tweak them right...
*Extra note: the novel originally was non-linear, but I moved the events around halfway into my first draft, and it streamlined far better in my opinion.*
*Note, the flashback storyline, and the main storyline are congruently linear with each other, until a story plot point in the second act forces a change to all the main cast because of it (generalized, without giving the story away...). From then point on, the second half of the story, when some flashback scenes do show up, it's more traditional in the way its perceived, a jump back in time.
Side question. What's your take on footnotes in novel writing?
@@gamewriteeye769 Yeah, if you like flashbacks or your story requires them, there’s nothing wrong with using them. I’m simply not a fan of them (or at least how popular they’ve gotten in recent years… I think modern storytelling relies on them too much)
I rarely see footnotes in fiction. Outside of David Foster Wallace and House of Leaves, I can’t recall seeing them. They’re fine if you’re telling an experimental story or something literary, but they can disrupt the atmosphere of a more traditional story
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Ah. I'm probably not going to use footnotes, but was curious if you used them. Yes, they are rare in fiction; I haven't read one novel that used them, either. What I'm writing is halfway between literary and commercial, and that is upmarket fiction.
@@gamewriteeye769 Probably best not to use them until your story absolutely cannot work without them
This is a HUGE help for me, especially the explanation of what a chapter is compared to a scene. I was worried I wasn't doing chapters "right," but now I see I can do them how I want as long as the right scenes are put together in the right chapters. 😅
Putting more scenes in the same chapter can be seen as phrases connected to form a sentence. Two or more situations can be adding or contrasting to each other, they can be the effect or the cause of one another etc. The importance is to keep the same theme.
Thanks for the video, I always just assumed when a new scene started, then it was a new chapter.
Thanks for watching!
Wow! This makes so much more sense. Thank you for providing examples of the scenes. I will try to stop writing in chapters but rather scenes.
Awesome best of luck!
Can you possibly do a video on how ending dialog should be? I think it would be interesting to learn your thoughts on the matter.
Sure, but can you be more specific on what you mean by "ending dialogue"? Do you mean dialogue in the closing scene of a story?
Also, is there anything in particular you'd like me to cover in the video?
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty The final dialog in the last chapter that sets the tone for a good sequel, in other words: What Makes Ending Dialog Interesting To The Reader. But honestly anything remotely related to ending dialog would be cool to learn about.
@@SyroNagashi Do you mean a dialogue exchange between two characters (like Gordon talking to his son at the end of The Dark Knight)? Or a character voiceover (like at the end of Spider-man 1)?
It sounds like you want to know:
- How to use ending dialogue to hint at sequel events
- How to build hype for a sequel
- How to hint at loose ends being resolves in future works
Am I on the right track?
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Yep! I think you figured out what I was trying to say, sorry for the poor conversational skills. I think the most I need help on that you mentioned is, How to use ending dialogue to hint at sequel events.
@@SyroNagashi Awesome, I'll get to work on a video. Should be up within the next month.
When it comes to chapter titles, I generally use numbers. I remember reading a chapter book in grade school about kid sleuths who solved mysteries. The chapters had titles that basically summarized the events in the chapter. In "Chapter 4: The Chase", the presumed villain gave chase to the young gumshoes, with the kids hiding out in the school library when the chapter ended.
Of course, the reader is left wondering if the villain would find and capture them. The suspense (for a kids' book, anyway) was palpable. And of course, the reader was compelled to continue reading the next chapter to find out if the kids would manage to get away.
Imagine my dismay when I turned the page and saw the next chapter title: "Chapter 5: CAPTURED!"
So yeah, I just use numbers now.
Thank you very much for the video. I struggle a lot with structure and plot ideas, but your way of explaining a scene structure is going to help me a lot. On my way to check out the rest of your channel
I use chapters like bookmarks, choose titles like the location took place, or the event going to happen, so I can jump from one section to another comparing notes, because quite often I mistakenly repeated something, or misspelling a name or location and have to go back and check. I may also relocate an entire chapter to smoothen the timeline. Once I'm satisfied, I then rename all chapters to a more appropriate title.
Negative to positive/positive to negative? Those aren't the only types of change. Change can also be things like learning additional information, showing what's happening elsewhere in the story, a shift to another character's POV, a jump in time, and so on.
Yeah it feels like you will end up with a bunch of forced disaster and conflict.
This video was incredibly insightful to discerning & understanding layers of story structure; thank you.
Had been on the fence about subscribing, after recently finding the channel.
No doubts anymore.
I think maybe why I sometimes confuse chapters for scenes is because I tend to make very structured chapters, containing scenes that belong together or connect a cohesive chain of events. And then the next chapter will usually deal with a whole other aspect of the story. Especially when I'm writing a really long book, I often end up with chains of scenes like that. I mean like... oh, how to explain... say x character goes to work where a new character is introduced, events go down leading to a resolution about the job, but a new conflict arises, leading to another scene, and so on, each secene (aside from the first and last) containing both conflict and resolution, until the last conflict in that chain more or less resolves. Then a new such chain starts with a new conflict. So each chain of scenes can kinda feel a bit like a scene in itself, if that makes sense. I don't see them as really one huge scene though, because they change a lot in the ways you talk about.
So I guess my real question wasn't really if a chapter is a scene, but rather... what is this chain of scenes? Does it have a name, or did I just create a new monster? It's like something in-between a scene and an act.
As for editing: Actually, a lot of my scenes (or chains of scenes) are perfectly movable. It's what I'm doing right now with my novel. I hated the pacing and the structure I had initially made, so I'm now swapping around the scenes to create a more cohesive and less choppy structure of the story. Of course this means changing the time/season, what info the characters have, etc, in the scenes so that they will fit in their new place in the timeline. That doesn't mean that all these movable scenes are completely stand alone or pointless. They usually reveal new important information, create or resolve conflicts, but these things can come up in all sorts of orders when you're working with subplots. And originally, I think I put these things in a messy order that's just difficult for a reader to keep up with. Bit of a problem that easily happens when you have a gazillion subplots eventually all tying together with the main plot, to keep track of. (This is a new concept for me to work with so... I'm challenged.)
So I keep a list of chapters as my guide to keep track of everything. This list of chapters also has brief notes of what scenes they contain. So when I need to find a specific scene I can always find it pretty easily by referring back to my list of chapters. This again, is perhaps easier for me because I have such structured chapters. And because I decided to label the documents by the chapters. So to find a specific scene, I need to know which chapter it is in anyway. Or was in in the previous draft.
My favourite way to label chapters is by giving them a fancy name that hints at something that happens within that chapter, as well as a number. For example "Chapter 87 - It takes one to know one" is a line a character says to another within that chapter hinting at something new being revealed, as well as the order of the chapter within the story. Yes this is my favourite way to label chapters because it's the most practical way for editing. Then I know easily where the chapter is, as well as what it's generally about.
I remember a Scooby Doo chapter book with the chapters entitled the names of our main characters, and each chapter tells from their respective perspective.
Funny thing… I’m literally trying to figure out what I should consider for chapters in my book… I’m clueless… your video magically appeared.
Thank you. Very helpful.
So my teacher from my filmmaking school told the class that (mostly) all scenes are always taking place in one specific location, and I think he’s completely wrong about that. So if we were to believe him, then all the locations in the chase with the detective and the suspect are all different scenes of a few seconds each. I refuse to believe this. Could someone please tell me who’s right and who’s wrong?
righteous as always, great advice
Thanks!
I usually use descriptive chapter titles but for my current novel I decided to use locations to save on unnecessary description.
I like chapter labels as "Chapter 1: [A Badass and Relevant Description Here]"
My favorite post-conventional way to label chapters is the way Frank Herbert does it in Dune. He puts in a quote from a 'future history' book that will resonate with what is to come in the chapter. Gives the story much greater depth and richness and shows how grand in scale the story really is.
Hi Brandon I’m writing a horror/thriller novel and I have scenes that are boring, but necessary to write in order for the story to move from place to place and follow what I have planned. My question is could you make a video on how to spice up boring scenes or sequences I want my novel to be interesting and a page turner, but sometimes I feel discouraged when writing a scene that i can’t leave behind but it’s boring. It ultimately shuts down my creative process. That’s would be such a huge help!
Ohhhhh that's a great idea. I haven't done a video like that yet, so I'll get to work on it ASAP. Expect it by the end of this month.
Anything specific you'd like to see in the video? Like any particular types of scenes you'd want me to cover (Travel scenes? Waiting Room scenes? Etc?) Let me know so I can focus the video on what you need most
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I have a part where my characters are driving past woods for a long while to kids in the back are sleeping and nothing important is happening I feel like I made the time change too many times it was morning then night really fast and it might confuse the reader, but I don’t have anything to fill the chapter with. I thought about deleting the chapter and starting with something else but it’s necessary to be there to show how my characters get to the place they are going to. So I really think Travel scenes and scenes where nothing important happens and how to get past them. Also I’ve been wondering how do I switch scenes to characters that are not around or have anything to do with my main characters at that time. Like if I wanted to introduce the antagonist in their area how would I do that and not confuse the reader on when we switched and why? I know to add Time,place and who is present but how would I do that without switching chapters?
@@Saucy.Waffles Thanks for the input. I'll get to work on a video ASAP.
As for your other question about switching to the villain, the best way is to use a Chapter Break or a Scene Break. That way, you clearly define that there is a change in scene. Once you do that, establish the new POV/Setting/Scenario. I did a recent video on Scene Transitions that should help:
ruclips.net/video/wCMwrORDfwg/видео.html
I personally like to name all my chapters. For example;
Chapter 1 - A New Dawn
Chapter 2 - The Outsiders
Chapter 3 - Judgement Day
None of those are actual chapters of mine, lol. Just examples. I like doing that, though, cause it makes each chapter feel more like a mini story within the book. Plus, the name of each chapter will be somewhere within that passage, so it'll be fun for readers to look out for!
A scene can do more than establish something changes. They often tell me something I need to know to understand the world. A New Hope: Luke asks to go into town and is told no. The only thing that changes is Luke's expectations. But the point of the scene is: Luke is being raised by someone other than his biological parents; they care about him; they are farmers; Luke wants to see the world but feels like he's being held back. That is the point of the scene.
Great vid! thanks!
Thanks for watching!
I add some quote to flavor things up that comes with the name of the chapter and it’s content. Thank you for sharing 😊👍❤️
Thanks for watching!
I like the chapter title that are foreshadowing, but still leaves a question in the readers mind.
Great video! I myself was confused !
I prefer numbered chapters, but due to my tendency to add new chapters in the middle of the manuscript without updating the titles of the chapters that come afterwards, my critique partner has endured a lot of confusion. (For example, she’s currently reading the second chapter 5, which should be chapter 7, but I never updated the title.)
I guess I feel you can have several scenes in a chapter, especially if they are fairly close in time. A larger time lapse might call for a chapter. Depends on how you link them.
When reading I don't have any preferences. When writing it depends on the story. If I write a story that follows a clear forward timeline, I tend to name my chapters by the date and divide the story into days. If I have a more "convoluted" story with diffrent POVs and timelines I usually split my chapters by a theme or a goal or a hint and name it this way to have a quick overview for myself. That doesn't necessarily mean that those chapter titles stick around. The final titles are decided with the books "vibe" in mind. So a fantasy story that should feel "old-timey" or "classical" definitly will get chapter titles, while my dystopian detective series sticks with "date, day, hint", much like my detective would lable his case files. My YA gangster story will most likely be numbered chapters, because there would be no benefit from having titles or another format plus most chapter breaks are there to give the reader a break, not to convey something within the story.
I would be interested on your thoughts of nested scenes. I am referring to situations where one scene may start before a previous scene has been resolved.
I think it depends on the genre and tone but, usually, I prefer to name my chapters. I like to think of them as episodes, so I name them. But I write fantasy not gritty, realistic crime dramas-which probably work better with dates and times.
I’m kind of a novice when it comes to writing but I still believe that less is more so I just go with the traditional numbered chapters but I still name them though
I've started my chapters with quotes from ancient texts that pertain to the overall mood of the chapter. I have a set of novels from the 1800's that used that structure and I've always found it intriguing. I'm probably too old-fashioned for my own good.
Usually the songs on an album are the result of an artist's creations during a season of life. This means the songs can all speak to a similar set of themes, ideas and topics. So the aim of an album name is to try and sum up the big story/concept that all the songs pull from when they were written. It's not always like these, especially today. But traditionally, an album is like a "book" with the songs inside being like "chapters." It is a cohesive collection of songs used to tell a bigger theme or project an overall vibe. Think of an album as a book. And your songs as chapters.
Every book has chapters. Every album has songs.
Each chapter is different. Each song is different.
But the collection of chapters (the collection of songs) is what tells the full story of the book (of the album). 💿 Mini book 📕 📖 📚 chapter book 📕 📖 📚 full book 📕 📖 📚 are the same but in general albums 💿 are a book 📕 📖 📚. Chapters mean a main division of a book, typically with a number or title. And book vs studio albums are typically the same studio albums are book 📕 📖 📚.
POV changes in my (novel); MC has 12 1st person chapters, 4 secondary characters get 3 1st person chapters each. 24 chapters total... (or so?) The SC's chapters will in effect be short stories structured within the main narrative and placed to support that main narrative. I HOPE!
NOTE: this is the 1st novel of a trilogy +.
By the end of novel 1, flaws are established. Some form of the villain has touched each and hell's handbasket is full.
Novel 2 introduces 3 new main characters. A good guy f/ novel1 turns into the avatar of the villain. The tone changes.
Novel 3 Sh@t hits the fan. -(Still working on this!)
But what if a fragment of my story causes a significant change, but doesn't follow all the scene structure requirements? Like, someone was walking with no clear goal and suddenly *disaster*
The way I execute a chapter is mostly based on setting. Length is almost irrelevant to me. An example of this is in my post-apocalyptic action crime thriller where the two main characters meet to discuss a plan of attack (or rather arrest) of the protagonist’s traitorous family member. The protagonist wants to kill this family member for the heinous crime they committed but the deuteragonist instead wants to take them to jail. They’re outside of a coffee shop discussing this plan. But the next chapter has them outside the protagonist’s house.
Or the best example of this is a chapter has two characters conversing in a room and then the next chapter has one or two of them in another room even when they’re in the same house.
1. Can you break-up a story outline (ordered major events) into scenes? How would that work? Thank you.
I don't see why not. Just need to identify each scene
How about beats versus scenes? That would do with some explanation. Many thanks for any reply.
How about *‘chapters vs the whole book’?* What should the structure be? Also, if a story will have *‘multiple volumes’,* how do you plan the volumes?
I like chapters to have names, titles, or whatever you want to call them. I do make an exception for the wheel of time where most chapter titles are meaningless (A New Weave in the Pattern).
I dislike it when I'm listening to an audio book and they're not chapters, they're just numbers.
What a clear video, thank you so much! 🌷
I'm unsure if I'm understanding scene structure right in relation to various POVs. If you found the time, I'd so appreciate your input 😌
Would I keep seperate orders of scenes for each POV?
If chapters signify switching back and forth between two POV's, overall, would I need to stay within the strict structure>...>decision? No, right?
Rather, would it be e.g. a cliff hanger right after A's disaster... then a switch to chara B's action?
And if two POVs met at one point, would this make two parallel scenes? Would e.g. one POV's action be another POV's conflict?
Also: Would it be possible that A's scene is forwarded/resolved even though we're currently in B's head and only perceive A's reaction process from the outside?
I've seen a chapter of four words. It completely reversed the development and motivations of a character, fired a long-built Chekov's gun, revealed one of the biggest mystery of a story and turned to be a complete and utter disaster for everyone involved. Processing the meaning of these words took from ten minutes to several days for readers, but everyone of them was shocked at the comprehension. That's what I call a masterpiece (the story is Worm by Wildbow/John McCrae if you're interested).
Can an Action scene be followed by another Action scene, or should an Action scene ALWAYS be followed by a Reaction scene?
I'm writing a series where nearly all the chapter titles are dates.
Sometimes this conflicts with what characters might say. Such as, the colony ship left earth 396 years ago, but the colony's date on the chapter is 459. I leave shit like that for the STEM geeks to salivate over.
I don't understand how a chapter can contain no scenes, unless the chapter is literally blank. Explain, please? Cause I can't see how that's possible. (Nvm, you answered it in the video. XD) But a chapter can definitely contain anything from one to several scenes. Say, a scene with the MC, and another scene with the antagonist perhaps, and then back to another scene with the MC, and so on. But the scenes are all part of a specific part of the storyline.
Glad the video helped!
I've seen an example from a while back. Each Chapter was labeled with a simple number but, if the first person POV was not that of the protagonist, the chapter title had a subheading for which character's head you were in. Near the end of the novel, the protagonist had overcome the trap the villain had carefully manipulated multiple forces into place to get rid of him, unknowingly ruining the villain's plans. The next chapter consisted of switching to said villain's POV and the entire content of the chapter was literally a single word of dialogue: "Fuck." Then back to the protagonist for the next chapter and denoument.
Don't mind either way - as long as the author has a plan and it's not just decided on a whim.
In one of your replies below you mentioned the word chapter spreadsheet.
I found that curious can you tell us more?
Just write something that you care about
Absolutely
If your scene takes a chapter you're doing something.
Does taht mean my chapter consists of action and reaction scenes? Or should each chapter be either goal-oriented or reactive?
Discworld doesn't bother with chapters. I guess Terry Pratchett found them pointless.
Please, I'm curious, how does a chapter not have a scene?
What's the difference between a beat and a scene?
I'd prefer chapters with specific labels.
🤠👍🏿
Thanks!
Cormac McCarthy makes this video look silly. lol
Where did you get all this info about structuring scenes? Do you recommend a book?
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain. I discuss it in this video: ruclips.net/video/012OMrKp85M/видео.html
Got my copy will be reading tonight. Thanks man!