WP 2.0 and large posts

This is an issue I’d like to beg the developers of wordpress to consider in future developments – I use wordpress to store fiction – that is, some of my writing. I use the ‘pages’ feature to divide the text up into chapters, but sometimes I need to go back and edit the stories, and this can be a real pain in the tail.
For example, one of my stories is over 12 chapters long, and loading/saving (editing and saving) takes a very long time. Especially when I need to edit the code – loading the HTML editing window in a popup takes an incredible 4-5 minutes, and surely it’s twice as bad for folk on dialup.
Are there any suggestions out there for settings which might aid me on this? I really enjoy wordpress for it’s flexibility and innovation. :3