Writing Beefing up short chapters

bulmabriefs144

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This can be used for everyone, not just me. So like I made a chapter (it's a bonus section to a book, but want to get it done before the 18th of this month) , and it's really a transition between two chapters but it's very short, only about a page. Basically, the main character in this side srory got a job as a manga/anime artist, and the chapter transitioning between the job and it going horribly wrong just tells how they worked in the job, and kinda feels weak due to lack of content. What's the best stuff to add, to make a chapter longer? I suppose I could add a sex scene, but it feels cheap and they're kinda too early for that (still in the Netflix and Chill cuddling stage of things).
 
D

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idk give other side characters screen time.
or just write filler.
 

bulmabriefs144

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(Pets kitten)

I was thinking "but I just have the one side character, there are no other side characters..." then I realized I do in fact have another side character that isn't in focus during the main story.
 

AnonUnlimited

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Sometimes it’s better to just combine chapters. Depends on readers.

Some love fluff, some like me hate it. I like it when stories get to the point.
 

BearlyAlive

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Add more characters. There's been a trend in fantasy books (or at least in the ones that got translated to German) during the 90s to early 2ks where stories had at least one plot string that seemed to have no relation to everything else up until the end of either the book or the whole story.

Or do it the anime way and stuff the little bit you have full of filler episodes. Your story is about your character working? Write three chapters about his way to work. Two chapters about them monologing about whether they want to wake up or not, 5 about them making food, and another 3 about them going food critic about it while and after they eat. (PLEASE, don't do this!!!)
 

bulmabriefs144

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Hahahaha!!! It's almost this bad. The side story is about them making the Magical Princess Minky Momo series, an infamous series for coinciding with a major earthquake and having an onscreen killing off of the main character by truck. The story probably could be done in about 5 pages, instead I'm gonna make a 12 chapter short story.

I added this to one of my chapters (so adding the character in this chapter didn't come out of nowhere).

ISEKAI

A large crowd of thugs surrounded Yuki and I while we were walking home. Well, they were not technically thugs. Officially, these were the heroes Expiation Man, Chastity Sister, and Rube Goldberg. They were all very powerful in their own right. Expiation Man had the power to forgive sins, Chastity Sister was a major nuisance to people's love life, and Rube Goldberg was an expert at designing those gadgets that automatically butter and toast bread (or elaborate traps). "Stop evildoer!" one of them said while we were just minding our business and talking about whether the IRS should in fact be abolished and replaced by a fair tax that only charges for sales, "Now you will answer for your crimes!" I shook my head, "Leave us alone! Or Yuki and I will stop you!" Yuki spoke up, "No I won't!" Oh right. Yuki's power was that she only aged on leap years, great for looking young and beautiful and staying school teacher for much longer than the normal working period, terrible for battling villains or thugs.

"Yeah?" one sneered, "You and what army."

"Heh," I said, smirking. I pressed my hand against the ground, and a portal to another world appeared. Out popped sentai fighters from several shows. "Spade Ace!" said one in red. "Diamond Jack!" said the one in blue. "Heart Queen!" said the pink one. "Clover King!" exclaimed the fourth in green. Another group appeared. "AkaRanger! AoRanger! KiRanger! MomoRanger! MidoRanger!" said the red, blue, yellow, peach, green (respectively) squad. A third team appeared, these ones had super suits with geometric shapes in the colors of red, blue, green, yellow, and pink. They didn't bother to announce who they were, until later when they declared they were OhRangers. Yet another group came, this one with ninja-themed powers, only to suddenly change into sentai suits, calling themselves the Ninja Rangers. The latter had a white ranger. There was a traffic safety sentai squad, but the less said about them, the better.

The three of them screamed as a large squad of suited soldiers pounded them to the dirt. "I guess, this army?" I said, laughing as the two of us walked home.​
Isekai's power is to be reborn in other worlds, and he/she can summon any characters from there who aren't a part of an active story (that character is not yet introduced, the show was canceled, or the show is over, etc). Perfect opportunity to draw from some very dated shows like the early Sentai stuff.
 
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bulmabriefs144

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Ummmm, words is not how I calculate chapters, because words can be short and choppy or very long. The bonus section is about 9,000 words so far. The other section was about 100,000 words (about 20 chapters, just over 200 pages). So I guess 5,000 words average per chapter for the main book and 1,000 words average for the bonus book.
 

MatchaChocolate69

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Congratulations, your chapters are quite long compared to the norm.
However, it's a good practice not to go below a thousand words per chapter, so I would aim to reach at least that milestone in your case for your bonus cap.
 
D

Deleted member 68927

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This can be used for everyone, not just me. So like I made a chapter (it's a bonus section to a book, but want to get it done before the 18th of this month) , and it's really a transition between two chapters but it's very short, only about a page. Basically, the main character in this side srory got a job as a manga/anime artist, and the chapter transitioning between the job and it going horribly wrong just tells how they worked in the job, and kinda feels weak due to lack of content. What's the best stuff to add, to make a chapter longer? I suppose I could add a sex scene, but it feels cheap and they're kinda too early for that (still in the Netflix and Chill cuddling stage of things).
Let it rest for a while, then reread what you have, and you will figure out what you can add. It works for me. I normally let it rest for about 5 minutes, though. That said, I use this technique once in a blue moon because my chapters are just 1k word long and the flow normally gets me to the end of the chapter easily.
 

QuercusMalus

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If I have very short chapters I look to do one of 4 things:

1. Move to part of another chapter. Either in total or split between two existing chapters.
2. Add a pov section for another character.
3. Insert world building background info that is relevant to the story, section.
4. Leave as is, and I might just post it as a 'bonus' chapter at the same time as the preceeding chapter.
 
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