Chapters

[anthimeria]

For those of us writing lengthy prose, I want to pose the question--What do you think about chapters?

I tend to read books straight through, so I don't notice chapters.  This, unfortunately, means I have a hard time writing them.  I know they serve a purpose, but what?  You tell me.

Should they all be approximately the same length in a given work?  Why do they exist at all?  Should there be internal structure in a chapter?  A cliffhanger ending?  How do chapters function for readers?

Comments

[lassarina]

One author I read a lot (Elizabeth Lowell) has taken to simply making each scene a chapter. Sometimes this means a chapter is three paragraphs long. I'm really quite okay with that.

Other authors might have one chapter for each minor plot arc, leading to a total of 9 chapters in a 450-page book.

Really, it can go any which way.

[anthimeria]

Making each scene a chapter seems like a radical concept (I've read my fair share of books with short-short chapters, but that's a bit much). I might have to check it out, just to see.