My original intention was for In the Hearts of Kings to be a publisher-friendly, economically written 70-100,000 words. No chance of that. It’s become a trilogy, with each volume being separately published, By Violence Unavenged being the first.
Today’s writing session ended with a reconsideration of structure. By Violence Unavenged has fallen comfortably into three parts, the division based on chronology and historical/biographical events. Each part has twenty or so chapters. The chapters flow well, but twenty chapters per part feels cumbersome. Personally, as a reader I like short, manageable sections. I think this stems from having to wade through Orwell’s 1984 at the age of seventeen, and counting the pages to the end of excruciatingly long chapters. Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence, in which chapters are sometimes only two pages, was bliss (as is Maugham’s concise and eloquent writing).
Back to By Violence Unavenged. Each of the three parts breaks nicely into thematic/topical subsections; and the subsections promise to keep the story in order. But am I breaking it up too much?
A big book is a feast. Regarding ‘big books’, do you prefer a degustation with breaks between courses? Or do you like piling your plate with text?