The chapters are variable lengths. There are scene breaks within them, but not all of those scene breaks make good chapter breaks.
I've started working on my outline and the framework might be 10 chapters at 2,500 to 3,000 words a chapter. Too long for a single chapter? Before I really get going I want to make sure I start off on the correct foot.
(Oh, hi, Elissa! Fancy seeing you here.)
It's time to break out the welcome mat for the new folks!
That's the exact mat I have at my house. What were you doing at my house, Timp?
I have a quick question about character ages vs. audience age.
Kids read up, so if I have a core group of characters ages 10 (MC#1), 12 (MC#2), 12, and 14, where does that put the age range of my most likely audience? I'm suddenly afraid I'm looking at 7-10 year olds, and that's probably too young for my story.
You know, it's not just characters and their ages that decide the target audience of your group. There is a huge difference in the way 8yos think as opposed to 12yos. So, since your core group of characters are all over the map (MG-wise), I suppose it depends on how the book feels. Does it feel like it targets 8-10yos? Or does it feel more like something the 12-13yos would identify with?
Once you decide who you are writing for, then you can always spend more time with the characters who are on the older side of your audience. For example, if you are targeting older MGers, then you might find yourself spending more time writing scenes where the 14yo is in charge. Or, if you choose the younger crowd, your 10yo and 12yo can be the ones you focus on, with the older kids acting as mentors or guides.
Make sense?
So this new editing method I'm trying is really helping me tighten this book. I know that for all books, but especially as your target audience gets younger, you need to have something going on all the time. I tend to slow down the story at times with introspection...too much at times.
I saw this blog post: http://cristinterrill.com/2010/11/07/revising-by-color/ that suggested going through and coloring your text according to whether it's action, dialogue, description, or introspection. (Haha, I just reread, and that's not exactly the categories that are suggested in that blog post, but those are what I did)
I printed out the 2nd draft and highlighted because my netbook's touch pad would have made doing it on the computer a nightmare. The only problem is that I won't be able to see the end result, color-coding-wise, unless I do it all over again from scratch later. But I think it does make it easier to do actual edits.
Anyway, I'm finding big chunks of world- and character-building introspection that probably doesn't actually need to be there, and cutting out everything from a few words to half a (long) paragraph here and there. I even killed some darlings. I know. For some reason, tightening a novel makes me feel so productive, even though I've gotten more lax about it over the years.
Anyway, I thought I shared, since pacing is so important for MG.