---
title: Chapters
category: Chapters
tags: chapters, structure, pacing, scenes
contextKey: chapters.overview
micro: Group scenes into readable story movements and keep each chapter focused.
quickTitle: What are Chapters?
quickSummary: Chapters gather scenes into manageable story movements, helping you control pace, tension and reader expectation.
screenshot:
---

# Overview

Chapters are the reader-facing containers that turn a sequence of scenes into a shaped reading experience. In PlotDirector, a chapter belongs to a book and contains one or more scenes. The chapter does not need to carry every detail of the action. Its job is to help you organise the narrative, decide where a reader enters and leaves a movement, and keep the rhythm of the book visible.

Think of a chapter as a purposeful stretch of story. It may cover one continuous sequence, a set of related beats, a shift in point of view, or a deliberate contrast between scenes. Some writers plan chapters before drafting. Others draft scenes first and only later decide where chapter breaks should fall. PlotDirector supports both approaches because the scenes remain the core building blocks.

# When Should I Use This?

Use chapters when you want to group scenes into a readable flow. A chapter is useful when several scenes share a mini-arc, a location, a time period, a character focus, or a question that the reader should carry forward. Chapters are also helpful for checking whether your book has too many long stretches without a shift in mood, point of view or consequence.

Do not worry if chapter boundaries change. In early planning, a chapter may be little more than a holding place. As the story grows, you can refine titles, summaries and order so the structure reflects the actual book rather than the first outline.

# How To Use It

Start by giving the chapter a clear number and, if useful, a working title. Add a short summary that explains the chapter's function rather than recounting every scene. For example, "Beth realises the house is not empty" is often more useful than a long list of actions.

Add scenes in the order the reader will experience them. If the chapter starts to feel crowded, consider whether it actually contains two movements. If it feels thin, check whether the scenes are doing enough work or whether they belong inside a neighbouring chapter.

Use the chapter page to review the scene list, open individual scenes, and move into the timeline when you need a wider view of the surrounding story.

# Example

A chapter might contain three scenes:

- Scene 1: Maggie arrives at the hotel and notices the locked ballroom.
- Scene 2: Beth warns her not to ask about the old photographs.
- Scene 3: Maggie finds a photograph of herself taken before she was born.

The chapter summary could be: "Maggie enters the hotel mystery and receives the first impossible clue." That summary tells you what the chapter does in the book.

# Writer Tip

Give each chapter a reason to exist. A good test is to ask: what changes for the reader by the end of this chapter? They may know a new fact, fear a new danger, understand a character differently, or feel a stronger question pulling them forward.

# Common Mistakes

- Treating chapter summaries as full synopses instead of quick structural notes.
- Keeping a chapter intact after its scenes have clearly split into different story movements.
- Ending every chapter at the same emotional level, which can flatten pacing.
- Forgetting that a quiet chapter still needs movement, pressure or consequence.

# Related Guides

- [Scenes](/Help/Article/scenes.overview)
- [Characters](/Help/Article/characters.overview)
- [Story Assets](/Help/Article/storyAssets.overview)
