Using the Table of Contents for Structure and Pacing

First published in The Writer Magazine

Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash

Setting the table

A table of contents isn’t just about noting your chapters; it’s also a valuable tool for shaping your novel’s content. Here’s how to use it to its fullest potential.

It’s an odd little thing, really, usually forgotten in the heat of creating a first draft but so useful to focus, shape, and pace later drafts. At some point during the second draft – possibly a “blocked” day, when a manuscript’s progression stalls – it’s useful to set up your novel’s table, where you might work through chapter titles and lengths and gain the sense of through-line that comes with this knowledge. Here’s an example for a working table of contents for Feenie Bailey and the Dog Days Mystery, my middle grade novel.