35. What is a chapter?

Do you keep toying with an idea for a novel, but you’re not even sure what constitutes a chapter?

In today’s episode, you’ll learn not only why we use chapters but also what to include in them, their average length, and different ways to end chapters.

So tune in to find out how to identify the purpose or goal of your chapter and thus what to write next. Want even more help with finishing the first draft, check out episode 22 also.

Topics discussed in this episode
  • Defining chapter
  • Including internal and external conflict
  • The average length
  • Different ways to end chapters
  • Identifying your chapter’s purpose or goal
  • A challenge for your chapters
  • Know at least this when starting a new chapter
About Erin

For 15 years, Erin has worked as a magazine and book editor, encouraging each writer’s individual voice and strengthening their writing goals. When she became a parent, she set aside her own writing aspirations to focus on her family. As the years passed, she grew increasingly anxious, depressed, and angry until she realized that she had forgotten who she was beyond being a parent.

Despite fearing her skills had atrophied, Erin started writing again. She first created her blog, Life Beyond Parenting, and then created the Parents Who Write podcast. Erin’s current role as a podcaster and writing coach enables her to help parents pursue their writing dreams.

She earned her MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and she has finished the first draft of a fantasy-romance novel. She lives with her husband and their two young boys in Maryland.

Connect with Erin
Join our online community

Let’s connect via my Facebook group, Parents Who Write, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite.


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ABOUT ME

Erin P.T. Canning has worked for 20 years as an editor, encouraging each writer’s individual voice and strengthening their writing goals.

She always planned to write a book, but life had a tendency to distract her. After dedicating six years of her life to motherhood and discovering her ADHD, she started writing again, even though she feared her writing skills had atrophied.

After letting go of her perfectionism, Erin finally finished her own shitty first draft and released her fantasy romance novel, Ruins and Redemption, in 2023. Her current role as a podcaster and book coach enables her to help writers pursue their author dreams.