How does one write a 1k chapter book?

[doravg]

Do I sacrifice marshmallows to the writing god? Maybe spill some hot chocolate on an altar? Just how do some people concentrate on a story long enough, to write 1k chapters. And not 1k word chapters either, but 3k and more. I really want to write one 1k chapter book. But I seem to stop when I all ends are tied. Just this morning, I finished a 65k word book. I could have written more, but the ending came naturally. How to stave off the ending long enough to write 1k chapters? Oh, and I dropped two projects today, and ended up writing 15k words, of which only 11k are in books that I didn't drop. Writing 100 books is hard, when the prompt book is scoured for all ideas. And I am just at the 21st book.

 

[SailusGebel]

What?

 

[doravg]

What?

How does someone write a 1,000 chapter long book?

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Well, one thing my brother and I have noticed with 1k chapter books is that, the themes and events are repetitive with a little or subtle change. There's also that time when he read a xianxia where the MC took several chapters just walking and meeting people.

 

[doravg]

Well, one thing my brother and I have noticed with 1k chapter books is that, the themes and events are repetitive with a little or subtle change. There's also that time when he read a xianxia where the MC took several chapters just walking and meeting people.

But, I don't want to be repetitive. Surely, there are books which are both original 100% of the time, and 1k chapters long.

 

[FGCCheckmate]

Just write sequels and call the series "a book."
That's a how a lot of webnovels operate. Even though the story itself could be divided into several arcs or books, all writing is under the same story.

 

[SailusGebel]

How does someone write a 1,000 chapter long book?

If you look at the majority of Chinese novels, they simply repeat old arcs. And I didn't see a lot of English, Japanese or Korean novels that are 1000 chapters long.

 

[Mellohwa]

But, I don't want to be repetitive. Surely, there are books which are both original 100% of the time, and 1k chapters long.

Lord of the mysteries, I think, not sure though.

 

[scarecrow.author]

You need to have a story that can naturally keep going (almost) forever. There are a few ways to do this, but the most simple and potentially the most popular is: Threat appears. MC gets defeats threat. New threat appears and the endless cycle continues. That's what progression fantasy novels do. Just get stronger forever

Another way is by writing self-contained chapters. Each chapter is its own short story (or could be a few chapters if one chapter is not enough) and new stuff keep happening to the same characters. That's what a lot of TV serials do. Look at Rick & Morty for example.

Anoterh-nother way is by making a slice-of-life story. If you focus on the daily life of a cafe waiter, for example, then what is considered "different" and "new" is way different than what you would see in a progression fantasy story. But just because it is a simpler, more daily-life kind of story, doesn't mean it is worse. Some of my favorite stories are considered "slice of life"

 

[doravg]

If you look at the majority of Chinese novels, they simply repeat old arcs. And I didn't see a lot of English, Japanese or Korean novels that are 1000 chapters long.

Hm, but I want to write one 1k chapters long book, without falling into this trap. Just one, just once.

 

[kophzi]

I actually sympathize with you, finishing a story when it naturally and organically ends feel correct, but wanting to forcefully extend the novel to 1k chapters puts it at risk to: deus ex machina, some stupid shit that no one likes happening, people realizing the novel is deliberately not ending/closing plot holes.

I think that's why we're seeing stories with multiple protagonists now, so there's two hero journeys tied into one book. More to explore.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

But, I don't want to be repetitive. Surely, there are books which are both original 100% of the time, and 1k chapters long.

To be honest, my novel is about 300 chapters (14 volumes) long, and I'm having difficulty coming up with themes for the three remaining arcs (six volumes). So I guess if you want to reach 1k, and you got the habit of ending your arcs as soon as possible, then you'll have to come up with new themes so your readers would still be interested.

 

[doravg]

You need to have a story that can naturally keep going (almost) forever. There are a few ways to do this, but the most simple and potentially the most popular is: Threat appears. MC gets defeats threat. New threat appears and the endless cycle continues. That's what progression fantasy novels do. Just get stronger forever

Another way is by writing self-contained chapters. Each chapter is its own short story (or could be a few chapters if one chapter is not enough) and new stuff keep happening to the same characters. That's what a lot of TV serials do. Look at Rick & Morty for example.

Anoterh-nother way is by making a slice-of-life story. If you focus on the daily life of a cafe waiter, for example, then what is considered "different" and "new" is way different than what you would see in a progression fantasy story. But just because it is a simpler, more daily-life kind of story, doesn't mean it is worse. Some of my favorite stories are considered "slice of life"

Thank you for the advice. I think I have a better idea of what to do now.

 

[Corty]

Isn't a book doomed to failure if you look at it from the angle of how many chapters you can or want to pump out instead of what the story should be? Honest question.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Isn't a book doomed to failure if you look at it from the angle of how many chapters you can or want to pump out instead of what the story should be? Honest question.

The tendency to slow the pace, or not move it at all is high.

 

[doravg]

Isn't a book doomed to failure if you look at it from the angle of how many chapters you can or want to pump out instead of what the story should be? Honest question.

I don't know. But, is there harm in trying? I write what I describe as word vomit anyway. What is a bigger puddle, when the story is already the pantsing rambling of a mad muse?

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Technically I'm writing that. But I suspect it'll wrap up at about 500. Here is the trick. Deep dive the MC. You have to start low, I mean low. I beat my MC for 19 chapters. Then, I slowly, ever so slowly, day by day showed every significant movement of the very complex political movements of an entire kingdom.

I am up to ch 98 at 2-3k a chapter and I am just, finally getting around to explaining his relationship with his family.

Read HKN if you want a practical example. Because I have enough material to write 1 million words, easy. Maybe 2.

 

[LilRora]

There are two things to do if you want as many chapters as possible that I can list now.

First is detailing even the events of little importance and skipping as little scenes as possible. If you analyze long stories vs. short stories, you'll easily see that majority of long stories are not much different from slice of life despite not being tagged as such - they detail everyday events that are not important to the plot or character development.

For instance, going to a shop would be only described quickly in a short story, while a long story would have the mc list things they buy, reasons for those, and probably meet another damsel in distress or an old friend.

The second things is repeating the themes, which should be obvious enough. It's hard to find a long story which mood and focus shift drastically throughout it - at most there is a change in the mood and the goal of the mc that's sparked by some drastic event putting a mark on the mc.

 

[Corty]

I don't know. But, is there harm in trying? I write what I describe as word vomit anyway. What is a bigger puddle, when the story is already the pantsing rambling of a mad muse?

If you look at it that way, then sure, why not. Fingers crossed and best luck!

 

[DarkeReises]

Lord of the mysteries, I think, not sure though.

Lord of the mysteries would count, but like FGCCheckmate said, it's multiple books under one title. LOTM is 10 books iirc