I have learned that chapters do not always have to signify a break in a scene. Some authors tend to use chapters as a sort of stopping point for the reader. I tend to use chapters as a devise for enticing my readers to read on...more like a commercial break in a TV show. Sometimes I even employ subchapters, which can sometimes be a single paragraph long.
Slicing that epic chapter into more bite-sized portions often leaves the reader wanting more. The longer the chapter, the more full the reader will feel at the end, and the more likely they will be to put the book down when you provide them with a stopping point.
cethklein,
You said that your long chapter is an action-filled sequence? In my opinion, that is the perfect opportunity to slice and dice. If the action is engaging enough, the situation outrageous enough, I’m pretty sure that most readers will read on. I know that I will. Just make sure you end on a cliffhanger. Especially in an action sequence, it will absolutely drive your reader crazy…in a good way! It might even make your fast paced scene seem even faster, and the next thing the reader knows, they’re getting paper cuts because they can’t turn those pages fast enough.
Give it a shot. Cut right before something is about to happen, or before someone responds to something someone else said. It will make whatever is going to happen next seem big. Maybe it’s not that big…but you’ve still got the reader where you want them: READING! And by reading I mean eyes glued to the page; not counting ahead to see how many pages they have before they can stick their bookmark in the crease and get back to doing laundry.
You’ll probably want to do some re-writing at each chapter start…to make the chapter break seem “natural”, but, hey, there is ALWAYS re-writing to do.
Hope that helps.
