I’m an old lady, and pretty much set in my ways, still I love to learn new things, and share the wisdom that I’ve garnered throughout my years. And while I’m much better with compromise than I was in my youth, some things I’m not so willing to give in to. So every now and then, since this is my blog, I’ll vent or share a pet peeve. Here’s my first installment of a pet peeve.

As my grandchildren grew older, we moved from picture books to chapter books, and for them, that was a big thing. They were very [image error]proud that they could now read books that had chapters. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but soon I realized that chapters were very important to me, too.

The other night, I climbed into bed and clicked on my Kindle. I had a new book that had been given to me so that I could read it and post an honest review, which I enjoy doing. I had thought I’d dread the book though, seeing that it was in a genre that I didn’t really enjoy. It added to my dismay when I  discovered that the total Loc on my device read 8067! Oh geesh, I thought, Not sure if I’ll be able to make it through this book. But I nestled in and started to read, and guess what? It was good. I found myself enjoying it. I smiled, and flipped right through the pages. But of course, before long, I found myself getting drowsy.

“I’ll just get to the next chapter and call it a night,” I said to my sleepy self.

But there wasn’t a “next” chapter! I took my finger and scurried through the next few (dozen?) pages, all the time thinking I’ll never get back to where I’d left off. But no matter how far I went, I couldn’t find where the “chapter” I’d been reading ended.

Oh crap!

In my opinion, chapters are a very important part of a book, and sometimes, I wonder do writers really understand their significance.

According to Wikipedia, my favorite go-to source, a chapter is “one of the main divisions of a piece of writing of relative length.” In that same article, it notes, under the heading, Unusual Numbering Schemes, that At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien has the first page titled Chapter 1, but there are no other chapters. That, to me, is certainly unusual.

I can’t say that I understand why an author would not section off their book into chapters, but I do believe that there are a variety of reasons to use them, ones that I have employed often.

Pacing. Cliffhangers at the end of chapters is a popular device to keep your reader “turning the page.” Chapter breaks are strategically placed, and I think adds to the readers excitement and enjoyment.

Switching between points of views and time periods. It is a good way to keep the confusion down on who’s thinking and doing what, (no head hopping here) and where the characters are without having to state it directly. Use chapters to show differences in scenes, characters, and timelines.

Ease of navigation. You can just stop reading at the end of the chapter. Simple, right? That makes it easy to remember where you left off and to get back to that point when you’re ready to start reading again. So chapters are good when you don’t have a bookmark (I love bookmarks), or don’t want to dog-ear the page. And it’s a lifesaver on a reading device where there is way to judge how far you were into a book.

And my favorite: To give your reader a breaking point. When we write, we have to think about our readers, and how and when they read. For instance, on the bus during their morning and evening commute to work they may try to get in a chapter or two. Or, maybe during their lunch break, while in the bathroom (in-home library) soaking in the tub, at the doctor’s office, or like me, at night sneaking in a chapter or two before turning off the bedside lamp. People today lead busy lives and there isn’t much time for relaxation. In my opinion? They need chapters.

Keeping all of those reasons in mind, it says to me that chapters are a necessity. You not only should have them, but they shouldn’t be too long. Your reader needs a place to stop, a place marked where he can ponder on what he has read and get back to that point whenever he gets an extra moment. That is why I tend to keep my chapters no longer than 1,000 to 2,000 words. Short, to the point chapters is just right for me. I’m all for giving my reader a break.

What are your reasons for chapter breaks? Or having chapters at all?