Chapters - Another way

In the past I've approached every novel the same way. I know the finished effort will be 32-36 chapters totalling 90000-95000 words, which means each chapter will have 1-3 scenes totalling 2600 words each.

So, I usually create 35 chapters right away and then set to work.

With this latest novel I've realised this organising method may be ideal for a finished novel, but it's not ideal when plotting and writing. Especially when dragging and dropping scenes between chapters.

So, instead of using 'Chapter 1' to 'Chapter 35', I condensed all my chapters into a dozen or fewer so with one- or two-word titles like 'Hotel', 'Arrival', 'Park' and so on, which contain all the scenes with the same location or major event. Most of them have 4000-6000 words across any number of scenes, and the chapters are arranged more-or-less in chronological order.

(Remember it's very easy to move scenes later, when I'm intercutting subplots and dividing the book back into proper chapters.)

So what are the benefits with this approach? First, I can work on one chapter containing a bunch of related scenes, almost like mini-plot. Second, it's much easier to keep track of twelve distinct locations or major events than it is to worry about 35 chapters with interwoven subplots. Third, drag-dropping scenes is much easier. Also, knowing which chapter to click to begin work is trivial - instead of clicking chapters 27-31 to find out where I stopped, I know I was working on the Hotel section.

I'm sure I'll uncover more benefits, but for now I have to say I'm very happy. I know several posters on the yWriter group have mentioned naming their chapters instead of using the generic 'Chapter 1' and so on, but I never really appreciated the advantages.