I've started reading a book that has chapters inside of chapters. For example: Chapter One: [TITLE] 1. [Scene] 2. [Scene] 3. 4. Etc. Chapter Two: [TITLE] 1. [Scene] 2. [Scene] 3. 4. Etc. The book is a translation. It seems like a cool idea. Like, instead of asterisks to show a change if scene, its another number. What do you guys think about this? Do you do this in your writing?
I've seen the device in books though (naturally) no titles immediately come to mind. Seemed to work just fine.
Steven King did that a lot back in the day, I think. I've always associated that with longer, sprawling, multi-POV books. Like with twenty 50 page chapters subdivided like that, rather than seventy 15 or so page chapters. Honestly, I don't know if the style of chapter division matters much to most readers. I personally don't care so long as the author gives me convenient places to stop, whether that's short chapters, asterisk(ed?) sub-divisions, double-spaces, or whatever. Some of those 19th century books with interminable walls of unbroken text discourage me. It's like, how long do I have to go to get a break?
Personally, I like the concept. And sometimes it can feel like the right way to deliver a certain story. I guess I might get sick of it or see it losing its appeal if too many authors were to start writing stories this way, but I don't really see that happening.
I have tried something similat in WIP2. The chapter is a battle with multiple scenes from POV shifts. Where the reader gets to see the events from both sides. Doing this needs a solid backbone to hold it all together. The question i ask myself when trying it is, "does this draw the reader further into the story?"
