My Favorite Chapter to Write and Why

I’d like to go on record as saying that choosing a favorite chapter overall was difficult, because there’s quite a few that deserve this spot. But when it came to singling out my favorite chapter to write…only one came to mind.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy writing the other chapters of Fire & Flight, but the last chapter, chapter twenty-eight, was by far my favorite chapter to write—and also a close second to my favorite chapter over all.

Without giving too much away, chapter twenty-eight is the grand finale of the Heirs of Tenebris trilogy book one: Fire & Flight, and sets the tone for the sequel. Like a lot of things with Fire & Flight, I didn’t know I was writing a trilogy. At first, I thought “okay, this is going to be a long, epic novel.” I soon realized it might work better as a duology…and then the writing devil on my shoulder whispered it needs to be a trilogy in order to do the story justice. And so, that led me to wonder, “how I am going to end Fire & Flight, but leave enough of a hook or bridge to set up two more books?”

The answer came to me in the form of a long chapter, divided into three different perspectives, and lots of revisions to make it readable. In this chapter, we have perspectives from all three of my main characters that kind of cannon, back and forth with each other, to cover the scope of what’s happening at any given time during the course of this final chapter. This led me to one of my biggest concerns: does chapter twenty-eight make sense? Next came my fear that it was too long, but after talking it over with my mom (who has been an amazing help in providing me with feedback while in the drafting stages of Fire & Flight) and my editors, I was assured that it wasn’t. I also realized breaking it up into multiple chapters didn’t feel right to me. And so, chapter twenty-eight became the mega-chapter that is today.

I might be biased, but I sincerely believe chapter twenty-eight is the crowning achievement of my writing thus far. With so much to juggle and the sheer intensity of the action, this final chapter in Fire & Flight was the most satisfying for me to write, revise, and finalize.

With all of this talk about my favorite chapters as both a reader and to write as the author, I’m looking forward to seeing all of your reactions throughout the course of Fire & Flight and hearing what your favorite chapter is and why. Hope to you’ll journey through Tenebris with me in Fire & Flight, the first book in my YA fantasy trilogy before book 2, Embers of Eternity releases this July!