When do you have too many sections?

[EpitomyofShyness]

Hey, I'm plotting out a tale in which a nine-year-old girl with a vivid imagination gets separated from her family at the airport. She ends up on a journey from California to New York City, trying to get home, which not only takes her through different time periods of America's history, but these time periods have fantasy element's as well. The entire work is not only divided by Chapters but also by Sections.

I had a ton of ideas, and looking at a map of America plotted out the basic direction of her journey. After creating a basic summary I looked at it and realized it was long. Now the thought of writing it all doesn't daunt me, I became worried that it would end up being too long for the reader to enjoy.

It has eight separate stories, starting in California and moving throughout America's history, and at one point even into a potential future, as she travels across the United States.

In brief;

• 1930's Hollywood
• An 1880's Mining town
• A Post Apocalyptic world
• Kansas during the 1960's Civil rights movement
• Missouri, next to the Mississippi River, before 1850.
• Indiana and Ohio, the Civil War.
• Along Lake Erie in Ohio, a time long before Europeans ever set foot in the America's.
• Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the Revolutionary War.

That is a very small summary of the events which takes place in each section. They would each read like self contained tales, with the main character learning something (of course) about herself and the world through each section. She is the Main protagonist, and there is a main Villain as well who we meet early on, and in a way follows her throughout the story. Each individual section also would have a minor protagonist who is the MC's ally, and a secondary Villain. Sometimes the Main Villain takes a backseat, and seems to disappear.

Anyways does it seem like too much? If you think I should cut story lines which would you cut based on the limited info I've given? If you want more info on the individual stories I could provide a little, I've gotten the basics down already.

 

[San Cidolfus]

If you're aiming to make this average novel length--between 140,000 and 180,000 words--then you may have too many segments, but it depends on how you structure the story and interweave those threads. If these segments are completely isolated from each other, then they'll need to each stand on their own merits. Twenty to thirty thousand words spent on each of those isn't a lot of space to explore an isolated plot thread, unless you're deliberately aiming for the episodic feel. If you are, then you're right, that may be too much. But if a reader is engaged in your narrative then they're not sighing about the story being too long. Keep it interesting, and let the story go where it needs to go.

Given how you describe the characters and events, it seems like your protagonist and antagonist provide the momentum for the story, so perhaps episodic settings will work fine. Just be mindful that you focus on the progression of your narrative. If your two main characters propel the story, make sure each of those episodes resonate with them, and don't lose that focus.

If you're thinking about cutting threads, then do it if you think a segment is extraneous or doesn't contribute to the narrative as a whole. If a segment bogs down the narrative, don't hesitate to axe it. You'd know best what works in your story.

Other than that, it sounds interesting. The best way to figure out how a narrative is going to flow is to start writing it, so hammer out that first draft and see how it feels.

 

[EpitomyofShyness]

Thanks for the advice so much! What you say makes sense. I guess if I just feel like a section isn't contributing to the story as a whole I'll cut it out, and I won't know what is or isn't contributing till I write it.

 

[Voldermort]

Sounds like you're a potential Tolstoy.

It actually sounds very good.

I don't think it's too much.

Go with it.

You can always cut later.

 

[sashamerideth]

This is the sort of thing that I am currently writing and self-publishing on Kindle. It may be a bit too much for the traditional publishers, but it would make a great episodic adventure. If you split each time/place into its own story, and put each at about 20-30k words, it would be perfect for episodic publishing.

Sent from my NOVO7PALADIN using Forum Runner

 

[JCFarnham]

While its not impossible to have a book with many sections and a high word count it's very unlikely it'll get published unless your either incredibly lucky or a well established author who can be relied upon by the publishing house. Don't let that stop you if you really want each "episode" collected in print. You might find you're the exception to the rule! who knows!

To this end I would suggest turning this into a series of novellas. This you could very much get away with I'd think. By the age of your protagonist, would I be right in saying your going for at least a YA-feel? In that market I think this episode format could be an asset, maybe even a unique selling point depending on how you play it.

 

[EpitomyofShyness]

Hmm, I really want to go with traditional publishing, I truly have nothing against Self-Publishing, I actually think it is one of the greatest things to happen to the industry ever, it allows so many writers who wish to tell their stories to do so, but I personally at least want to try the traditional route.

I examined it closely the other day, and reluctantly decided to cut out some section that I felt weren't really going to develop the character. I got it down to this, I'll put word estimates of what I sort of expect the minimum word count to look like next to each section. Believe me... it could end up being a lot more.

• The Airport -10,000
• An 1880's Mining town - 30,000
• Fantasy America? - 30,000
• Kansas during the 1960's Civil rights movement - 30,000
• Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the Revolutionary War. - 30,000
• Home At Last - 10,000

So I suppose that is more publishable for a beginning Author. Those were the sections that I had the stories developed for the most clearly. I've replaced the Post Apocalyptic section with something a little different, even though I had the story for that very well developed in my head it didn't really fit in with the rest, but the main Ally of that section will really help the MC develop, so it's become a bit different. I'm not really sure how to describe exactly what I have planned for it though.

Anyways tell me what you all think!

 

[sashamerideth]

The publishers that I have looked at have an upper threshold of 150k words for fantasy submissions, so you are just shy of that currently. I think it could be quite interesting, and I am curious about the American Fantasy segment, as all the others are historical points. Got some sort of Quantum Leap thing going on with the time jumping. Sounds like a fun trip.

 

[JCFarnham]

I'll go out on a limb here.

I really think the premise is interesting enough for you to eventually get it passed a publisher's "you're new why should I care?" filter (if you know what I mean) so yeah.

Sounds fun! Especially considering your younger character, fresh even? Hmmm.

Interesting, interesting, interesting.

 

[San Cidolfus]

Sounds like you're ready to start hammering keys. Jump in and find out what happens.

 

[Drakhov]

Is the story aimed at a younger audience (i only ask because of the age of your MC)? If so a 150k word novel might be a lot to digest - how about making it a series of novellas or short stories?

 

[EpitomyofShyness]

Thank you all so much! You're very encouraging, off I go!