The Writing Process

6. Structure (Ugh!)

Don't feel bad over bad structure.

Structure can be hard, and to tell you the truth, you don't have to have the right structure in the beginning. Many people do a series of drafts, and if that works for you, go ahead!
Drafts don't work for me. I don't make several versions of the same thing. I write it once, and edit later.
A lot of the time I catch myself editing while I'm writing. I've stopped a lot of that by trying to hold momentum. If I can't think of a word, I don't sit and dwell on it or flip through a dictionary. I write BUFFALO in all caps and try not to think too much about it.
Later, when I'm done with the chapter or if I get stuck on it, I go back and try to find a word.  

if you don't like buffalo, you can pick whatever silly word that makes you smile as long as it doesn't blend in with the story. Don't say dragon if your story is about dragons.

As for paragraphs, that's a kaleidoscope of rules. For the most part, they should be followed. Though you don't have to follow all of them, there are a few that make your whole story change.

never put a quotation in the middle of a paragraph. This is confusing and ugly and shouldn't be done.

Use the right quotation:

"When someone is speaking."

'When someone is thinking in third person.' (Use italics for first person)

Long paragraphs are scary and hard to read, so break them up as much as possible.

Start a new paragraph when:

A scene ends
A scene changes
Someone speaks
The POV changes

Remember, there doesn't have to be a bridge between two scenes. You can skip from one situation to another by starting a new paragraph or doing

This. Leave space between the paragraphs. (But obviously don't make a broken sentence like that)

Now back to the rules of quotations. I'm not an expert, and I'm slightly fuzzy on this, but here's my understanding of it.

When someone is speaking your supposed to use a comma in the quotation like this:

"A comma goes here," she said.

After the comma, 'she' is not supposed to be capitalized.
Ft
However, when they're is a sentence / action after or in between, you use it.

"A comma doesn't go here." He shook his head. "Use a period instead."

The sentence in between should be capitalized.
Then we have quoting within the quote. There should be double quotation marks at the beginning and end of the sentence, and single quotation marks bracketing the quoted sentence within the sentence likes so:

"I don't know. 'a comma goes here' doesn't sound natural," he said, shaking his head again. "It's too complicated."

Yes, indeed, it is complicated. I have messed this up so many times and have only now made it in almost habit.
As long as you structure your paragraphs correctly, and use quotations when someone speaks, it's okay if you don't get the commas and periods perfectly correct.
It's also good to remember that structure looks different from computer to phone and even to paper. A paragraph that looks fine on your computer might be too long on your phone, so it's okay to break it up on your phone if you switched to there for some reason.

Then there's the matter of chapter length.

For a while there I was stressing on this hard. I still do sometimes.
After going on a reading binge, I began to wonder if my chapters were too short or if I switched POVs to often.
I asked a ton of people and got a ton of different answers. Then I decided the only valid opinion on this is my own. Because really, when there's no one left and it's just me, this story is mine.
It isn't anyone's business what the word count is or how many times I switched POVs.
As long as I like it, it doesn't matter if anyone else does.

So please, don't count your words while your writing. Don't worry about what's socially accepted. It puts a cap on the creativity of writing. If word count is important in a project you're doing, worry about that after you've finished project.
focusing on that during the writing screws up the whole process.

The point is, you're chapters can be as long as short as you want, and you can change POVs as much as you want. (As long as it's not in the middle of a scene of course)