Writing Do you divide your work into 'Volumes'?

[YatagarasuStudios]

I have a work that I have made with volume division in mind, but I want to ask if this is a 'regular' thing to do, or if I should just not list or split into volumes.

The way things are written, each volume is, functionally, the start of a new story, so I don't know if a lack of division will ruin things in that regard.

 

[proxybaba]

I split my single story in volumes with different arc in it but it would be better to write a new fiction if you are introducing a brand new story in every volumes.

 

[LilRora]

Volumes are usually physical-book-sized; generally people who want to sell paperback divide into volumes. Those that don't usually call it arcs or don't do it at all. So I wouldn't say it's a regular thing, but it's normal.

You can divide your story into volumes, it's not like there's anything saying you shouldn't. And if it can help with clear division, all the more reason to do that.

 

[Nocturnis66]

Yes, makes everything easier to track. It's also fun to make volume covers.

 

[YatagarasuStudios]

I split my single story in volumes with different arc in it but it would be better to write a new fiction if you are introducing a brand new story in every volumes.

How often is it done on the site? I do know that this site's format was based on NovelUpdates which inserts different Volumes under the same story.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

I have a work that I have made with volume division in mind, but I want to ask if this is a 'regular' thing to do, or if I should just not list or split into volumes.

The way things are written, each volume is, functionally, the start of a new story, so I don't know if a lack of division will ruin things in that regard.

Oh yes. I divide my arcs into volumes, for easy management of plot points and characterization too. Right now, I got 15 volumes up, with Volume 16 in the works. The entire work is divided into four arcs. Dividing works by volumes isn't unusual; it actually depends on the author's style of narration (and a few bits of OCD organization too).

While it's true that every start of a volume is a beginning of a story, I always pick up from what I left in the previous ones, hence the coherence isn't lost.

Yes, makes everything easier to track. It's also fun to make volume covers.

I definitely agree to this. I love doing covers, back covers, character intros and prologue scenes for each of my volumes. That is, aside from sets of in-chapter illustrations (usually four) to accompany each book.

 

[EternalSunset0]

Yeah. Fun to assign volume characters anyway and writing new glossary entries that update as the story progresses.

 

[J_Chemist]

I have my story planned to be split into Arcs rather than volumes. It's simply too long and I have zero intention of selling it on Amazon or whatnot.

 

[Corty]

I split one of my longer stories into three books.

Mostly because it took ages for the document to load after 500+ pages, and I was impatient AF.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

I wrote the whole story and separated it by arc. Now, I'm working on publishing it so I'm setting up volumes now. New volumes don't technically have to be a new story altogether, they just have to be a continuation of the story with at least some level of conclusion (IE arc completion, character deaths, and answering questions that leave give more questions than they answered).

 

[RepresentingCaution]

It's all up to you. I probably would if I was more serious with my writing, but I have too many other things in life to worry about.

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

Along with keeping track of things, writing in volumes adds some narrative structure to serial stories. This way, it helps to organize the events of a long-running storyline.

 

[Speedwagon889]

It becomes more necessary to do so the longer your story is. If you have a million word behemoth that doesn't ever drop below page 2 of 'most recent stories,' then yeah you'll need to split it up into volumes. If you're just writing a short story/normal length novel then it's probably unnecessary. Anything in between is more or less up to individual preferences. I'm not a fan of doing it unless it's absolutely necessary. I'd just prefer to split it into two completely different stories, though that's probably my love of interconnected narratives talking.

 

[StainedGlassThreads]

I do volumes. Personally I find it a lot easier to write if, rather than doing it chapter by chapter, I do a whole volume of several hundred pages all at once. It just meshes a lot better with my personal writing style.

For those curious how that works, I skip around the volume writing the scenes that interest me or that I have outlined in special detail, then I write 'connective tissue' to get the characters from one place to another, then I read it as a whole and go through several rounds of editing for typos, consistency, character arcs, quality of fight scenes and prose, etc. It takes much longer than writing one chapter per week, yeah, but usually I have another full volume serving as my buffer.

New stories may not be how it often works in the wonderful world of web novels, but it IS how most series operate, so I don't think it should be so huge a problem.