Hello all, writing with a quick question: my novel has multiple location changes and I'm wondering if it's kosher to include a brief location description at the beginning of each chapter? This is standard in stageplays and screenplays so that the reader knows exactly where/when they are and I'm just wondering if it's ever done in novels? I'm thinking along the lines of "New York City, August 1928" or similar. Thanks! John
I don't see any reason why not. It's not as if it interferes with the quality of the writing itself, and it certainly avoids confusion. In fact, I think many other books have already done this. Go for it.
I've seen plenty of SF novels that have the date and location in space (think John Ringo), and fiction with date, time and country/city/sea location/vessel listed right at the beginning (think Tom Clancy), especially when there's a fair number of POVs being used to tell the tale.
yup... it's been done successfully by many authors... as long as you don't make it an info dump, it should work...
It is a SF novel, would you recommend putting location/date only at the beginning of a chapter or is it kosher to also use a subheading mid-chapter, etc?
Well, anything that keeps the reader on track gets my vote. Anything that distracts the reader from the story doesn't. I guess it's all how you work it. If readers get used to your mid-chapter scene changes with headings, this will work fine. If it jerks them out of the story, then it won't. I wouldn't be inclined to use headings within a chapter, myself, but would rely on simple transitions to make the change clear. If I'm doing a major scene change or POV change, I usually change chapters as well. However, never say never!
I agree with just about everyone here. It's been done, it works, so go for it. Even if you do it a lot, it's better than confusing the reader by not doing it at all.
Speaking as a reader, I never read these lists of characters/locations/times and don't seem to have any problem enjoying the stories. If I get confused, well, it's just a novel.
As everyone else have already said, if it makes things more organised and less confusing, it's definitely worth ago. Atop of that it might have other positive effects as well. For example, if the reader is told that something will happen at a certain date seeing as this date comes closer each chapter/scene change can definitely help build the suspense and make the reader try to piece the different events at different places together for the final event/climax.
Consistency is the key, definitely agree. It's not a huge issue early on but the way my novel is structured, the pace really picks up toward the end and so the location changes start to come fast and furious.
And that I think is the choice: going the more literary route and risk losing/confusing the reader or going for more clarity and risk distracting the reader. I agree that it's better to risk a momentary distraction than to confuse someone.
Which is exactly how my novel ends, there's a set date by which something must be done and in the last few chapters I compress the timeline to give a 'ticking clock' effect as D-day approaches, so I'm hoping that listing the dates and locations will help create suspense that builds toward the climax and resolution.
