Alright, Awesome Wordsmiths,

I hope you found So, You Want to Write a Book… Part 1 helpful. In this article, we will continue with what you need to include in your novel. To continue, next, you need to think about your chapters. After all, these are what make up the book, of course. But just writing one chapter after another most likely isn’t enough. You need to put much more thought into the pacing and content of your chapters.

Plotting Chapters With a Plot Board

The first way to plot out your chapters is by creating a PLOT BOARD. Click Here for an article on creating a plot board. To recap what is in that article, you would purchase a poster board from the dollar store, along with different colored Post-It notes or index cards.

On the poster board, you’d separate it into sections (see the article link above on what is in those sections). Then, you’d use the post-it notes or index cards to write a few lines on what will take place in each chapter. You’d put the notes where they belong on the poster board, planning out the book.

I did my outline like that when I first started writing, and it was so helpful. Now that I have more experience, I don’t need to go that in-depth, but I highly recommend you give it a try if you’re new to novel writing. If you go this route, you have to do something with all those notes or index cards once you’ve created the plot board. They need to become chapters. Click Here to read an article on how to turn your plot board into content.

The Bobbi Holmes Method

Now that I don’t use a plot board any more, I still need to plan out my chapters to avoid any pacing issues or boring parts of my novels. There’s an author whose books I love. Her name is Bobbi Holmes. I reached out to her and asked her advice on planning chapters because I was having trouble keeping the chapters a fairly even length and enticing. She graciously shared her method, which I’d like to share with you here. Here is what she shared with me:

Write down as many ideas as you can for what needs to happen in your book, the big points. There’s something known as the character arc. That is just the transformation and growth your characters should go through. Throughout your book, if your protagonist doesn’t grow and change somehow, your story goes nowhere. So, when you’re thinking about your story, what needs to happen between page one and the end, all the ups and downs. Write it down on separate index cards.

Once you have as many ideas jotted down as you can (you should have tons), you can then put the index cards in the order in which you want those things to happen in your novel.

What to Keep in Mind When Using Bobbi Holmes’ Method

• Each chapter she writes has four major things happen.
• Each of those four things happen in around 500 words each.
• That would make each chaptere approximately 2,000 words. Is it important to have 2,000 words per chapter? Not at all. Remember, this is what works for Bobbi Holmes and it definitely works for me. It may not work for you, as everyone has their method. However, when you’re just starting out as a novelist, this can help you to keep your chapters organized, even, and have the right amount of excitement.

Click Here to be directed to the article that explains this method more in-depth. I love it, as my writing has greatly improved since I’ve begun employing it in my writing.

The Three Parts of a Novel

Ok, now that you may have better direction on how to write chapters well, let’s look at the other parts of your book. All of the inner guts of the novel, the chapters are considered the body of the book. Click Here to go to the article from which this information comes. It’ll have more information. I’m only mentioning what is in it here. The other parts are known as:

Front Matter

What makes up the front matter in a novel is the following: Be sure to click the link above to see the full article.

• Endorsements
• Title page
• Credits page
• Dedication
• Table of contents (novels don’t have to have a table of contents, but some include one. I don’t.)

Back Matter

The back matter varies in what it contains, and each author is different in what they want there. Here is a list of all that can be included. Personally, I only include an about the author page at the end, but do whatever you’d like for your novels.

• Epilogue
• Afterward
• Appendix
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• About the author

Alright, that’s enough information, for now, I think. I hope this gives you more clarity on how to get started. Let me know your thoughts, and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Happy Writing!

Gina