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Q&A Is it necessary to use chapters for fiction?

Life doesn't happen in chapters — at least, not regular ones. Nor do movies. Homer didn't write in chapters. I can see what their purpose is in children's books ("I'll read to the end of the cha...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Carlo‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question style chapters
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T07:58:25Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/33314
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Carlo‭ · 2019-12-08T07:58:25Z (over 4 years ago)
> Life doesn't happen in chapters — at least, not regular ones. Nor do movies. Homer didn't write in chapters. I can see what their purpose is in children's books ("I'll read to the end of the chapter, and then you must go to sleep") but I'm blessed if I know what function they serve in books for adults - Terry Pratchett

If there isn't a clear break, or reason, between scenes or segments, then why have chapters at all? I'm asking this because I'm working on a novel that I would like to see flow in the way of a movie. Some scenes may be rather short, so I don't want to commit a whole chapter to it (similar to James Patterson's style).

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-02-16T06:25:28Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 27