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{{trope}}
Chapters probably began during the beginning of story-telling, with one chapter being what the story teller had lined up for the night. A
Sometimes used to separate parts of the plot, sometimes used to give a feeling of in-and-out consciousness (See: ''[[Misery]]''), and sometimes used by inexperienced writers who fail to deliver a better-fleshed out story and only have one plot point occur. Experienced writers will usually avoid this, working in the important, if not unrelated, subject into a new chapter that progresses the story at a good pace. Legendary writers (like [[Stephen King]]) can use the one paragraph chapter to a good use to better give a certain disconnected feeling in the story. (Or can use it because who cares if you don't like it, it'll be on the best-sellers list just from his name alone.)
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It's interesting to note that [[Wall of Text|not all one paragraph chapters are short]]. (Especially in [[Fanfic]] where an entire story can be in one paragraph, if not one ''sentence''.) A paragraph can last as long as it's talking about one subject, technically speaking.
Sometimes, a
The one paragraph chapter usually leads to a sour taste in the mouth of a reader if they're going for the "One More Chapter Syndrome". Imagine knowing that your favorite book has 26 chapters (thanks to the index) being at chapter 23, and then seeing all of chapter 24 (and even 25) in their entirety on the next two pages.
{{examples}}
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Distressingly common in lower-end fan fiction, when the author has an idea, but no real skill at writing -- and has somehow failed to notice that most books and stories above the third-grade level are longer than a few hundred words.
== [[Literature]] ==
* Put together, chapters 10 and 11 of ''[[Alice in Wonderland|Through the Looking-Glass]]'' (in which Alice wakes and the Red Queen becomes a kitten) have only 57 words. They each have a picture, too.
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*** It [[Makes Sense in Context]]... if you've been able to follow the incredibly confusing existential philosophy-speak up to that point.
** Similarly, there's a later chapter consisting of Cash's two-line winding thought that the coffin wasn't balanced properly, ending as suddenly as it begins as he realizes no one is "listening" to him.
* ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish|So Long And Thanks For All The Fish]]'', after the protagonists decide on a trip to Los Angeles, has a chapter consisting entirely of an airport announcement noting that Flight 121 is about to depart for Los Angeles, "so if your travel plans today do not include Los Angeles, now would be the perfect time to disembark."
* ''[[Daniel Pinkwater|The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror]]'' includes many short chapters, the shortest of which consists of the three words "Anything is possible."
* ''Sideways Stories from [[Wayside School]]'': "There is no Miss Zarves. There is no nineteenth story. Sorry."
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{{quote|Is this a fit time, said my father to himself, to talk of <small>PENSIONS</small> and <small>GRENADIERS</small>?}}
* [[Al Franken]]'s ''Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them''. There's a chapter entitled "Who Created The Tone?" That ends with [[George W. Bush]] talking about how his election to the presidency would "change the tone in Washington". The following chapter is entitled, "Did the Tone Change?" It consists of one word: "No."
* The first chapter in Joe Hill's "Horns". In general, Joe Hill seems to be a fan of this trope.
* The very last chapter of ''Angela's Ashes''.
* Wilkie Collins' "The Narrative of the Tombstone" in ''[[The Woman in White]]''.
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