z

Young Writers Society


A Three Pages Long Dream. Too Long?



User avatar
71 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 4346
Reviews: 71
Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:38 am
Gheala says...



I'm rewriting my novel right now, and I added a dream in chapter three. How long do you think it should be? I know it depends on how relevant and important the dream is to the story, but I'm talking about a maximum.
My chapter is around sixteen pages long and the dream, where he sees his mother dying, takes three pages long (250 words per page). Do you think that's too long?

Oh, and is it okay for Jude not to meet the future love of his life (it's a romantic thriller novel) until chapter four? Or that's too late for a romantic novel? It's just that it takes some time to introduce the important things about Jude.
Tell me what you think and speak your mind.
Thank you :D
I'm back to my YWS after months of disappearance, hoping that I'd gain the immunity of books and quills against the harmful realism of our world.

In case this made no sense, I'm just saying that I'm happy I'm back!
  





User avatar
1272 Reviews



Gender: Other
Points: 89625
Reviews: 1272
Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:42 am
Rosendorn says...



To answer both questions: It's your novel. Do whatever the heck you want.

If the plot demands that he only meet the love of his life in chapter four, so be it! If a dream demands being written for three+ pages, then go for it.

If it doesn't work when you rewrite/edit, you rewrite/edit those parts until they work.

We can't tell you how to write.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





User avatar
558 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 22481
Reviews: 558
Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:26 pm
Matt Bellamy says...



I think that if the dream is interesting enough to hold the reader's attention for three pages, then you can make it three pages. If the reader is sat there wondering what on earth the relevance is, then it might be a good idea to cut it down. And as long as the book is interesting enough and everything you say before the romance is introduced is relevant, then that's fine too. It's kind of hard to judge without reading it, really.
Matt.

Got Tumblr? Me too! http://www.writersam.co.uk

Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine is accepting submissions! http://peekingcatpoetrymagazine.blogspot.co.uk
  








It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected.
— Mark Twain