Amount

Writing help: Chapter lengths and amount of "action&quo

10 Apr 2009 02:43 #15395 by YAGS
So I'm working on my story for the villainess workshop, and it's coming along quicker than I'd expected. I just finished writing the third chapter. My problem is that I think this story is taking a little too long to build to the "good parts".

So generally speaking, how long do you think chapters should be for these types of stories? Also, how long can you go without any "action" and still keep it interesting?

In this case, my first three chapters take up around 4800 words, so I don't think averaging 1600 per chapter is overly long. And my first chapter builds well with necessary exposition, ending with the first little bit of power abuse of the story. I think that chapter came out quite well.

The next two chapters introduce some key characters and keep the plot moving forward, but they have absolutely no action at all. Maybe I'm just overly worried about nothing, especially since I banged out those two chapters so quickly and haven't gone back to proofread them.

What do you all think? Is two chapters (~3000 words) with mostly just talking and no magical "action" too much?

On a similar note, I was wondering if anyone wanted to read what I've got so far and give me some feedback? Though I might want to proofread those two chapters myself first, so maybe I'll share them with someone else after I have time to do that.

YAGS

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10 Apr 2009 05:09 #15396 by argonaut
YAGS:

I don't think it's possible to answer that question in the abstract. If your characters are interesting, if your plot makes us want to know what happens next, if your prose is clear and vivid, I think readers will stick with the story, even if it takes a while to get to the actual ubergirl content. Conceptfan's "Randolph and Kim" was well-received, although Kim was only introduced half-way through (and it was a long story).

Honestly, I think the best thing for you to do is WRITE THE STORY. Trust your instincts, make your own judgment calls. Feedback is depressingly scarce on these forums, but readers are likelier to respond to an actual posted story than to abstract queries like these. Getting a "beta reader" is a good idea, but once again -- you have to send him (or her) a finished story, however rough.

Argonaut

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10 Apr 2009 12:56 #15399 by lfan
I don't think there is a magic formula or magic number of words for stories of this ilk or any other. As Argo, said go with your instincts and do what YOU like to write. If others like it (and they prob will), all the better....

In terms of non-action chapters and segments, as long as the the story has some action in it, it will probably suit the general populace. Some stories that are all action can be crap and some stories that have very little action can be wonderful. One of my faves is Super One (by Marknew) which has relatively little "action" in relation to its overall length. He also spends a good amount of time with characterization of the other characters rather than Andrea (protagonist) at the beginning. The overall result though is an uber-classic....

In short, it all depends on the writers' style and creativity. Part of the fun of these workshops (for me) is seeing/reading each person's unique take on the subject matter and their writing style. There are no right ways and wrong ways, only the author's way.

Look forward to reading yours

ElF



YAGS:

I don't think it's possible to answer that question in the abstract. If your characters are interesting, if your plot makes us want to know what happens next, if your prose is clear and vivid, I think readers will stick with the story, even if it takes a while to get to the actual ubergirl content. Conceptfan's "Randolph and Kim" was well-received, although Kim was only introduced half-way through (and it was a long story).

Honestly, I think the best thing for you to do is WRITE THE STORY. Trust your instincts, make your own judgment calls. Feedback is depressingly scarce on these forums, but readers are likelier to respond to an actual posted story than to abstract queries like these. Getting a "beta reader" is a good idea, but once again -- you have to send him (or her) a finished story, however rough.

Argonaut

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11 Apr 2009 04:06 #15402 by YAGS
You know, I was thinking of Randolph and Kim as the ultimate example of a good story with a long start before the action really gets going, too. That was actually kind of surprising, given who wrote it. ConceptFan's usually all about the action.

I've actually re-read what I've written so far, and it seems to flow pretty well. There's next to no "action" in the physical sense so far, and the magic use that is there is pretty subtle, but I think I built to it well in the first chapter. Which, again, makes the second and third chapters seem a little slow by comparison, but they're short enough to get away with it. I'll try to make up for it in the fourth chapter with a little more action, though not a huge amount expected there, either. Things won't really pick up speed and hit full throttle in this story for at least another two or three chapters.

I'd still be interested in having someone else read the first few chapters and give me some feedback. There's no way I'm going to have a completed story any time soon, as I have a ton of plans for where to take this one, so I can easily go on for 15-20 chapters or more. At this point, I'm just hoping to have at least 7 or 8 chapters to submit to the workshop by the May 1 deadline, and I'll pin a "to be continued" on the end.

YAGS

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11 Apr 2009 07:47 #15403 by yohashuan
Blah blah blah. I'm good for about three, maybe four paragraphs of intro text before I'm ready for the slo-mo play-by-play of hot molten steel slowly dripping off an erect super-nipple. :twisted:

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11 Apr 2009 12:39 #15404 by YAGS

Blah blah blah. I'm good for about three, maybe four paragraphs of intro text before I'm ready for the slo-mo play-by-play of hot molten steel slowly dripping off an erect super-nipple. :twisted:


Heh. Thanks for your honesty. You aren't going to like this story. :P

As I mentioned in the workshop thread, this one's very different from that. The girl in my story is controlling and manipulative even before she gains her magic, and she becomes even crueler with it. But she doesn't have the typical super strength or invulnerability, so nothing quite that obvious when it comes to showing her power. She's far more subtle than most characters on SWM, though no less in charge.

YAGS

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20 Apr 2009 03:49 #15508 by YAGS
So I never did get any responses about wanting someone to proofread what I wrote so far. Anyone interested in the idea of swapping stories in advance of the workshop for some mutual proof reading and feedback? I just finished chapter 5 tonight, which is where you can really start to see where I'm going with this thing, so I'd be curious what someone else thinks of it.

YAGS

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20 Apr 2009 04:28 #15510 by shadar

So I never did get any responses about wanting someone to proofread what I wrote so far. Anyone interested in the idea of swapping stories in advance of the workshop for some mutual proof reading and feedback? I just finished chapter 5 tonight, which is where you can really start to see where I'm going with this thing, so I'd be curious what someone else thinks of it.

YAGS


I'm happy to read and comment on general tenor, theme, characters, etc. Don't have time to edit, but if you want an impression, I'm happy to oblige.

Send it to:

shadar@mac.com

Shadar

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21 Apr 2009 00:39 #15517 by YAGS

So I never did get any responses about wanting someone to proofread what I wrote so far. Anyone interested in the idea of swapping stories in advance of the workshop for some mutual proof reading and feedback? I just finished chapter 5 tonight, which is where you can really start to see where I'm going with this thing, so I'd be curious what someone else thinks of it.

YAGS


I'm happy to read and comment on general tenor, theme, characters, etc. Don't have time to edit, but if you want an impression, I'm happy to oblige.

Send it to:

shadar@mac.com

Shadar


Sent. Let me know if you want me to look over yours before the workshop.

YAGS

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