If your writing a book how do you know when you start the next Chapter?

Question

I'm writing a book and well I'm really young so I know nothing about writing a book I'm just doing it for fun but please answer my question about starting a new chapter.

Answer 1

Your chapter is over when you feel it is. Once you feel you have achieved what you wanted to in a chapter, just move on. No chapter has to be a certain length. Just stop when you feel that's all you want to put in the chapter.  

Answer 2

end the chapter either with a suspenseful event or some sort of resolution. cliffhangers are usually the best way, in my opinion, to close a chapter because they get readers excited for whats next. above all though, you should close a chapter when you feel like it needs to be closed, as there are no real rules about chapter endings

as for needing chapters, i strongly suggest it. reading a book without chapters, which i have done and am doing now, is incredibly hard because there is no place to break and the book sounds like it is rambling on. even though you say you are only writing for fun, the slight challenge of finding chapter breaks is well worth it. if you end up wanting to edit anything, its almost impossible to do without chapters

good luck on your book!

Answer 3

Chapters are what moves the plot along.

Each chapter could be one scene or a series of related scenes.

Each chapter should have a conflict and a resolution, however minor they may be.  A chapter should also include change.

I like to end each of my chapters in a 'cliffhanger'.  This makes the reader want to move on to the next.  It does not have to be a major, earth shattering cliffhanger to do this.

Here is a shortened example:

When he walked into the crowded restaurant and quickly scanned the room, she hoped he was the one.

He was tall and well dressed if a bit on the edgy side and exuded an air of confidence. His chiseled, handsome features made her heart skip as he made his way to her table.  

Lester, her sister had told her, was a bit shy but "one of the sweetest guys you'll ever meet."  Lester?  This guy seemed like anything but a Lester.

"Miss Johnson?  I'm..."

"Please, call me Lorna.  And I do know who you are."

He sat in the seat across her she noticed his eyes, or more accurately, the color of them at the same time she noticed a mousy little man in a tweed jacket talking with the hostess.

"Miss Johnson?"  It was the hostess.  "Your date just arrived."

She looked at the stranger across her with confusion in her eyes.  "But I thought you were....but you knew my name."

"Yes, I do," he replied, "my name is Special Agent Feldman with the FBI.  I need you to come with me to answer a few questions."

End of Chapter

This leaves the reader wondering what is going on and what it was that she did.

You will resolve this in the next chapter and so on.

Answer 4

There's no rule about this, though you could think of a chapter end as a place for the reader (and the characters) to take a breath.

It could be at the end of an event, a time period, or a point where the reader just HAS to turn the page.

You could take some books you've read and see how those stories were divided into chapters. Sometimes where they end makes no sense at all.

Why not just write your book and then decide how to divide it into chapters?

Answer 5

If you're writing a book start a new chapter when you feel it's time to break the monotony.  But, more important is - starting a new paragraph when the words look too dense on the page.  

And, above all...start new sentences often rather than rambling.

Answer 6

Whenever you resolve a chunk of your story and are ready to start a new part, then you can start a new chapter. Chapters are just to break the story up, though, there is no set length. They're also a chance to switch points-of-view, too.

So when a bit of your story is resolved, move on to the next chapter when you feel ready.