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Reply Subj: How important do you feel chapter breaks are? Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 at 02:18:05 pm EDT (Viewed 795 times) | |||||||
I'm a big believer in pacing stories. It can be done by language )"He sauntered his way down towards the pool" vs "He pelted to the pool"). It can be done with sentence structure. It can be done with paragraph breaks. On a macro-level it's done with section breaks and chapters. Section breaks usually but not always denote a change of scene, which by definition resets the readers attention. Chapter breaks best underline the conclusion of a chain of events, a theme, a significant plot point, or a cliffhanger. I know some people don't use them or feel they're intrusive. I think they add texture to the reading experience. Even chapter titles of header quotes or "in which..." summaries can shape the reader's experience. Why ignore a valuable tool just to be trendy? Quote: Personally, I always like chapter breaks... even when they're intentionally manipulative and make sure to end on a point where you desperately want to know what happens next. Still, some writers don't bother with them at all... and it's hard to say what's an appropriate chapter length in the Parodyverse. I used to think 5 pages in word was pushing it in the early years of the board... now I look back and those early chapters seem much too slight.I think the length of a story, or a chapter, should be determined by the content. In the current Untold tales story, for example, each chapter in the three(?)-issue arc reflects a progression in the story and a slight shift in tone. I also use issue breaks in Untold Tales as a pacing tool. Leaving a reader to wait for a day or a week with a situation at the back of their mind is a great way of setting up a punch for next time. it adds weight to any plot development. Quote: It probably doesn't help that I've largely abandoned Word altogether after being told I was supposed to buy a new copy 2 years after last purchasing it, because I needed to replace my computer. Combined with the huge headaches of using it for work documents (where people always wanted artwork included along with game documentation, and Word is a ***** to wrangle text and photos together) I just up and dropped it. Started using Google's online word processor for my PV writing... which is nice, since it's all stored online and accessible from any computer that way. I'm using Office 2000 which predates all the clever reporting home spyware and serves me very well, thanks. Quote: Is there really any problem that the Legion's got right now that can't be solved with a hug?Quote: I suppose it would depend on who was doing the hugging. Tandi is a big hugger, as I recall... I could get behind that. Icy probably liked the idea of hugs, but the reality was likely less pleasant with him.Possibly better than a Shoggoth hug, though. Quote: So Citizen Z seems a lock for the new line-up. I assume the Hood feels that it's a good thing that she doesn't want to destroy the Legion for a variety of reasons I couldn't even guess at. I suppose she'd pass the Magweed test at the very least. Plus, I imagine it's just plain meaner for her to help destroy the team when it's not what she wants to do.There is that' but the Hood rarely does anything for just one reason. Quote: All of the above; but our next section offers rather more information that might help you to identify and sympathise with Laurie once more. Heh.Quote: What are you going to do to that poor girl now? In truth, however, I have trouble seeing her as Laurie now. Even she seems to feel a major disconnect to her past. I think that's probably a blessing for her, though, so I have my doubts it will last.Maybe next time will help. Quote: I'm still curious to know what happened to Wangmundo. Not anxious for an answer... just curious.I feel responsible for getting him off the table. In due course I intend to get him back on. Quote: I think Dream has it in him to be a pain-in-the-ass antagonist, but I'm not sure he can be pushed all the way to flat out villainy (if that's who the Hood is referencing.) At least not a sustainable villain... although if he loses enough of his family, I suppose I could see him going out in one tragic, chaotic act.There's a fury in his that accentuates the destructive side of chaos. There's a word for what he'd become if his family suffered the kind of fate that Captain Black wreaked on Mumphrey's kin: Loki. Quote: There's more to R.J. that we'll need to return to in an issue or two's time.Quote: I figured that you didn't get permission to create him just for that cameo. I'm looking forward to finding out what side of the law he ends up fighting on. He seems nice enough, but also antagonizing...Noted. Quote: Quote: He's assembling fragments of Jarvisite. Maybe it's his new hobby.Quote: Would this be related to the Jarvis-Cosmic? I wielded that once... So I speak from personal experience when I say that it's probably not a good idea to go messing around with that stuff.It may well be. This is the second fragment that the Hood's been seen to acquire. Quote: I'm hoping to surprise and shock people some more before we're done. The very next section might have some interesting developments that will affect any future line-up.Quote: No doubt, but you could probably say that about any number of recent sections you've posted. True. Well, it all helps to keep the readership verging on almost two figures. Quote: I'm looking forward to seeing the final line up... I know a good number of them, and have an idea about many others thanks to the images I drew for you, but I'm not really convinced that I could predict the line-up with 100% accuracy at this point. Plus, with poster participation constantly in flux, I'm not sure what last minute changes might occur. At the moment my plans remain unchanged. The sudden reappearance of posters is more likely to disrupt them than absences. Quote: I'm ultimately curious to see how big the line-up is, and what kind of power levels it has. I suspect this will be one of the more powerful Legion incarnations. Quote: Quote: The new champion is a character who's appeared before in Untold Tales. Any ideas?Quote: Well, if there's brain eating involved, then I do hope that it isn't Jay's alternate knight son Sir John de Jaboz. Rasputatious would probably enjoy the brain eating--nothing new for him there-- but I somehow don't think that's the direction you're going. Grace O' Mercy would be an interesting way to go, but I don't think that's in store for her...Quote: Yeah, I have no idea.Noted. Quote: As for who should take Amber's job if she won't come back: I say Beth Shellet worked on the current president's campaign from early on, and is rewarded with a job with the administration...Beth did unofficially crew support staff during the Parody War - right before she was mind-tortured by Wexford the Dissected Man then brainwashed by Elizabeth von Zemo to murder Mumphrey. You can see why she might be a little reluctant. Quote: Of course, I suspect you might already have different plans for Beth's return someday.She's really a G-Eyed cast member, and now he's back he gets dibs. | |||||||
