Two Questions

[ShadowsPale]

My first question is about the length of a chapter. As I am writing my story, I am finding that most of my chapters are between 3 and 4 thousand words. However there are two chapters that are close to seven thousand because it didn't seem right to end them until then. When is a chapter too long? I like long chapters myself but when I look at those two and then the others, they seem way too long.

My next question is writing dialogue for a small child. In the story there are a couple of chapters centered on a five year old girl. I was writing her dialogue based on how my five your old niece speaks. I have read fics where I could barely understand what the child was saying because of the way the speech was written and then in others I have thought "No small child talks like that!" because the writer didn't bother with trying to write the speech as it would have sounded. How do you get a blend that lets the reader "hear" the youth in the character without going to one extreme or the the other?

Here here is an example of how the character speaks.

"Mommy says I am bad for not sleeping but the scarwy lady won't let me. I can hear her climbing up to my window and I waked up. I try telling Mommy but she says I am dweaming, but I'm not. She is real and she is going to get me if you don't show her your teefs. Please Jaime, I don't want to get gotted!"

Edited May 17, 2011 by ShadowsPale

[KerantliDreamer]

On chapter sizes, I'd say it was how you feel about them. I know mine ranges from just over 1000 words up to about 3500 words (or sometimes just under 1000 words), yet I have seen some that look to be 6000 to 7000 words.

As for the other question regarding 5 year olds speech, I've noticed it depends on their speech development. Some can have "advanced" speech, while others still can't be properly understood with some sentences. I'd say by your example, it sounds okay to me, but I only know one child in that age range (My own sons are 3 and 2 years of age)

[yukihimedono]

"Mommy says I am bad for not sleeping but the scarwy lady won't let me. I can hear her climbing up to my window and I waked up. I try telling Mommy but she says I am dweaming, but I'm not. She is real and she is going to get me if you don't show her your teefs. Please Jaime, I don't want to get gotted!"

I think that the way you wrote her speaking is fine. As long as it's readable and can be understood, then I don't see a problem.

[ShadowsPale]

Thank you both. I was worried about some of my chapters being too long but mostly about the child's speech.

[Melrick]

The problem with really long chapters is that readers can find them daunting at times. For example, if the chapter is shorter then the reader is more likely to make decisions such as: "I'll just read this chapter and then go to bed". If the chapter is really long then a person is more likely to say: "Oh I can't be bothered reading all that." Your dedicated readers likely will be fine, but new readers are just as likely to skip it as read it. Maybe after the story has grown by a number of chapters, then you could slip in the odd long chapter, but certainly not at the start.

As far as writing for children, that's always a very difficult thing indeed, and one that a great many professional writers don't get right. I think as long as the child doesn't come away sounding too adult - and as long as the child is understandable - then you're fine. Observing how a real child of that age speaks is a good indicator.

[naturechild02]

It's not just about how they speak but what they say. My seven year old says words and phrases that are way above her age level and speaks very clearly but gets her tenses all screwed up.

"I took a really great picture while she runned through the yard!"

On the other hand, my three year old says complete sentences that seem grammatically correct but the words are slurred and strange.

"Kide cat rune way."

I suppose it depends on the child you are describing in the story, not just their AGE so much as their speaking abilities.