For writers, each word teased out of the imagination is a step towards a sentence. Every sentence leads to a paragraph. Put enough of them together and you have a chapter. Put enough chapters together and you have the makings of a book.
Words, sentences, paragraphs. All are important but the humble chapter seem to be the poor cousin of the story business; they don’t get much air time in the grand scheme of things, overlooked by concentration on ‘spell-binding flow of words’ or ‘compelling themes’ or ‘sumptuous narratives’. I mean, how many times do you hear someone enthusing over a chapter – unless it’s a bearded, leather-wearing member of a biker gang? Never is the answer. Not so much as a nod of recognition.