new chapter/scene

Hi Julie. Great question.

Take a look at the structure of your novel overall. You can probably divide it into three "acts" like a play. The opening act establishes the characters and reveals the major themes or the controversy/obstacle/task to be done. Then in the second act, the quest is begun and the obstacles start piling up. At the end of the second act, it seems hopeless. They will never fulfill their objective. Then the third act comes along and they find the key, solve the mystery, or swim to shore. The story is wrapped up and the reader has a cathartic experience that releases their emotions.

Now within each of those acts there are scenes, and the scenes are the basic structure of chapters. A play changes scenes when there is a change of location, characters, or action. For example, the hero and heroine have just made a grueling and near-panicked escape through the tunnels beneath the ancient metropolis, possibly killing the over-sized rat that has chased them. In the next chapter they are sitting beneath a tree in the park catching their breath and confessing their love for each other. Or, the narrator has been telling the story from the man's point of view as the couple discuss what to do about their son, then in the next chapter, the narrator picks up the story from the woman's point of view. We'd never put both POVs in the same chapter.

Maybe one of the most significant things about starting a new chapter is how you end the previous one. The end of a chapter is a natural stopping point for a reader. They close the book, turn off the light, and go to sleep. They close the book and go make dinner. They close the book and watch the final episode of "Lost." The question is "Will they come back?" Did the chapter end with enough tension and suspense to draw the reader back to the book or to make them regret having to close it?

I often sub-divide my scenes into "beats" that are sometimes significant enough to become chapters, but often are moving the same thought along. These are sometimes designated in the chapter with an extra line space, graphic element, or in some cases a different typeface. This is often the case if an author is going back in the character's memory in the middle of an action. "As he listened for the tumblers to fall in place, feeling the clicks in his fingers, he thought of the first time he had cracked a safe." Then there is half a dozen paragraphs describing the first time that ends with "...and the last tumbler fell into place." Then we are back into the main action. Usually these beats don't grow up to be whole chapters.

Hope this was helpful.