Okay sorry another chapter question

[Danger Jane]

My one WIP isn't falling naturally into chapters. Didn't on the first draft and isn't on the third. I don't have a problem with chapterless books--just read to the next scene, no big deal.

I realize the real answer is "if it works it works," but realistically, are agents and editors going to be turned off, in general?

[maestrowork]

There really are no rules about chapters... that said, I think for submission purpose, maybe just arbitrarily break them into chapters -- it's easier to read that way. Places for the readers to stop and grab something to drink. ;)

[CheshireCat]

Unless you have one very long, unbroken block of text because the scene never changes, time never passes, and you never move from what one character is doing to what another character is doing, then you will have "natural" breaks in the story. And if not, you certainly should, IMO.

Look for a scene change or change of POV or timeshift, and break a chapter there.

How much is "natural" and how much is "arbitrary" is going to vary from story to story and writer to writer, but modern books have chapters, and readers expect them.

IMO, if you submit a manuscript with no chapter or scene breaks, it's going to be viewed negatively by agents and editors.

[Danger Jane]

All right, thanks. Sorry if I wasn't clear--there are scene breaks, I just haven't been thinking in chapter form, I guess. But I'll probably figure out some way to organize the scenes by the final draft. No need to turn off readers over something as trivial as chapter divisions.

[job]

What CeCe said.
Chapterless manuscripts are going to be seen as experimental fiction or literary fiction.

CeCe's three suggestions for finding the natural chapter breaks are spot on.

Maybe, to get yourself started, you could approach this from a different direction ...?

Maybe enter the ms and insert page breaks every time you change place, time or POV.
These would be your 'proto-chapters'.

Then you'd ask yourself which of these 'proto-chapters' are too short to stand alone, and which pairs and triads of proto-chapters need to be melded together.
Your mental task wouldn't be to 'break up' the flow of the manuscript ... it'd be to find natural links between scenes.

Dunnoh if that would help any ...

[kristie911]

As a reader, I'm very turned off by chapterless books. There's something about hitting the next chapter that makes me feel good when I'm reading. No chapters and, unless it's a truly fantastic book, I probably wouldn't finish it.

[Danger Jane]

Thanks. I definitely will figure out some chapters for this. No need to make selling any harder than it already is.