Novel Without Chapters?

I can't speak to market trends, but I doubt this matters. No agent or publisher is going to reject your book on the basis of not having chapters, and if any find it particularly offensive, fixing it isn't too difficult.

It it doesn't fit neatly into chapters, don't use chapters.

But it has scene breaks, right? The whole thing isn't happening in one room in linear fashion? If you're doing scene breaks, then you're probably doing an extra line feed, or putting "***" in, or something. I think I'd get a little tired if it was just paragraph after paragraph after paragraph.

Terry Prachett never uses chapters...

The first person, present tense is something I wouldn't read. The lack of chapters doesn't bother me at all, if the story is written in a way that makes this work.

Springs2 said:

Terry Prachett never seldom uses chapters...

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Editorially corrected for correctness. He used chapters in a standard way in Going Postal, maybe others. I haven't checked all his many books, though.

At the extreme, you have The Autumn of the Patriarch, by Gabriel García Marquez, which not only doesn't have chapter breaks, it doesn't have paragraphs.

Still, and maybe because of this technique, it is hypnotically readable.

Then again, García Marquez is one of the literary geniuses of the 20th Century.

caw

Speaking strictly as a reader, I like chapters. I always read before bed and a chapter ending is a satisfying place to stop. Chapter breaks also tend to ramp up interest and offer a bit of breathing space. As far as being harder to sell, that's really difficult to say without reading it but I'm thinking it might be. Breaking from convention with a first novel is risky. You want to give yourself the best possible chance for representation.

Chapters are useful to the reader as a place to pause, but as a writer I hate chaptering a book. Ultimately this isn't a deal-breaker.

As a reader I don't care about chapters. I barely even notice them. If you asked me if the last book I read had long chapters or short ones I couldn't tell you. I never stop at the ends of chapters--I'd rather stop in situ.

As a writer I don't care about chapters either, unsurprisingly. I never write them. If I have any I stick them in later. I've considered going without.

The Good Typist said:

What has been your experience with reading chapterless books? Would it be wiser to go ahead and put chapters in anyway? Is a book more "sellable" with chapters?

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In my experience, novels without chapter breaks, or at the very least, section breaks, feel endless.

I just finished The Sea by Banville and it was in two long sections. I kept looking for places to stop. His MC was an older guy who was trying to make sense of his life and his internal narrative went from topic to topic, so the tactic made sense - not wanting to stop the flow - but it annoyed me. That said, some of the most beautiful writing ever and I finished it.

Do whatever works or the story requires, but if the Agent expects Chapters or is annoyed by their absence, why create an unnecessary hurdle?

If you have scene breaks then it's fine to leave the book chapterless, in my opinion. Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite authors, and yes, he rarely uses chapters.

I do like chapters, though, but they are not necessary.

I personally don't enjoy completely chapterless books. The endless feeling even in an otherwise enjoyable one can become absolutely stiffling when reading. That said, I do like ones which are in large sections like Interview with The Vampire. Anne Rice wrote it in 4 sections, and it has plenty of scene breaks for me to stop at if I so desire in each of the sections.

And I agree with doing what works for the story. If that means chapterless then that is what it means. But if the story has an overarching narative, combined with smaller ones. Then, maybe you would be better with doing sections.

I have to ask, because I've read stories without chapter breaks which could have used them. Is it that all forms of sectioning feel inorganic for the story, or could it be you were dividing things up too far? Maybe you could try large sections, and then forgo that if it genuinely doesn't work? Sometimes stories should be without any more division than scene breaks, and sometimes all that is needed is 2, 3, 4, 5 etc. large chapters/sections. You won't know unless you try though.

I have a novella that I originally wrote as a chaptered thing, but now when I look at it chapters seem forced. What I'm choosing to do with this revision is break it up first into sections, and only have chapters if called for. But the story skipps around to different points in the MC's life, and I want to visually illustrate a passage of time.

As long as there are scene breaks, I'd have no trouble getting through something like that. I'm reading The Dark Tower by Stephen king, and although that has chapters, the chapters are quite long with many small scene breaks in it. I like that. As long as it fits the narration.

I'm in the same boat: my new project unfolds in 'real time,' and--for the flow of the story--I'm not using chapter breaks OR scene breaks. I think it works for the story, but I will curious to see what beta readers think.

My hand-written first drafts never have chapter or scene breaks. I add those in when I type it.

But I can't recall ever reading a novel without chapters.

blacbird said:

Editorially corrected for correctness. He used chapters in a standard way in Going Postal, maybe others. I haven't checked all his many books, though.

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He's used chapter for his last couple of books IIRC.

shaldna said:

He's used chapter for his last couple of books IIRC.

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Nation has chapters. It also has a prologue and epilogue, except they're not called that.

Some of my favourite writers rarely use chapters - Jennifer Johnston for one. See also Alan Garner's Red Shift (no chapters, just linebreaks separating the three timelines) and Boneland (ditto, though two timelines this time) and Lucy Christopher's Stolen (no chapters, linebreaks only).

My own novels in progress in my sig are both chapterless, and unless an agent or editor insists I put them in, they're staying that way.

blacbird said:

Editorially corrected for correctness. He used chapters in a standard way in Going Postal, maybe others. I haven't checked all his many books, though.

At the extreme, you have The Autumn of the Patriarch, by Gabriel García Marquez, which not only doesn't have chapter breaks, it doesn't have paragraphs.

Still, and maybe because of this technique, it is hypnotically readable.

Then again, García Marquez is one of the literary geniuses of the 20th Century.

caw

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Yes, he is, but still a complete, toothache pain in the ass to read because of his lack of chapters and paragraphs.

Blinkk said:

As long as there are scene breaks, I'd have no trouble getting through something like that. I'm reading The Dark Tower by Stephen king, and although that has chapters, the chapters are quite long with many small scene breaks in it. I like that. As long as it fits the narration.

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I think King is a master at showing how to use scene breaks for a variety of reasons. He can jump all over the place within a chapter, but keeps everything neatly in place and understandable through his use of scene breaks.