Some Chapters Are Longer Than Others

 
Not only do I sometimes look at the next chapter in my outline and realize "I already wrote that" and cut that chapter from my outline, but sometimes I discover that the chapter I'm working on–a chapter that steadfastly refuses to end–was actually two chapters.
 
Dropping a chapter is less work. Sure, I have to make sure that all the story/plot/character elements the chapter was intended to convey are conveyed elsewhere in the text, but that's typically not too hard. Find a convenient paragraph, and hang a lampshade on it.
 
Splitting a chapter, though, can be more involved. This is the opposite of "tightening", which is what dropping a chapter feels like (and might even be). Just splitting the chapter into two consecutive chapters makes no real sense, most of the time. Why bother? Just leave it long. So splitting means that at least one other chapter, possibly already written, possibly not, will be inserted between the two chapter halves. And that has implications on story pacing, reveals, and so on.
 
All of which to say, yes, I spent yesterday splitting a chapter and rippling the changes throughout the updated outline. I ended up adding 2 chapters to the outline, bringing the total for the book back up to 25. One of the new chapters won't be especially long, but I think it will give me a chance to provide more interaction and maybe even some hints of backstory. So it's all good.
 
I'm reasonably certain that I will not be finishing this novel by 31 March, my first deadline for 2012. Right now, I'm estimating mid- to late-April to type "The End" on the first draft. I'm also estimating the completed manuscript to be about 115K words, about 15% longer than my original planned length. Of course, those are just estimates, and could be way, way off, one way or the other…
 
-David
 
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