Chapters with titles

[Marky Lazer]

Sometimes chapter have names:

"A Long-expected Party," "Wednesday Afternoon Picnic," or "Me, Me, Me."

Personally, I never name my chapters, just 1. 2. 3. etc.

What do you think works best, and why?

[cornelius]

depends on what you're looking for. I'd go for the titels, as a teaser. I'm still working on that myself ( devided my writings in parts, not chapters (yet) )
I'll keep a close eye on this thread, interessting Q , marky.

[Green]

It's all about personal preference and the style of the piece, if you ask me.

Sometimes they're good, sometimes they they aren't. Pesonally I'm not fond of chapter titles that give away what happens in the chapter, but ones that make sense after you've read the chapter are ok

[cornelius]

I like to name the parts after important new characters that join the storyline in that particular part. It doesn't give away that much, IMO. I do havr issues with the other titles though. suggestions are always welcome in " the chronicles" thread.

[Locksmith]

I personally don't really like chapters with titles in fiction books. Take A Game of Thrones for example: the titles of chapters are the name of the character that the chapter is principally about. But, as the book goes on, many chapters are about more than one character, so the title is rather redundant, or just incorrect.

Generally chapter names serve a purpose in non-fiction or reference works, where you have a table of contents which guides you around to a relevant chapter (and may well have sub-headings within that). In fiction, they do not add much to my enjoyment of the work.

[edott]

It seems to me a clever chapter title can be enjoyable but nothing wrong with chapter 3 either

[The Tennessee Kid]

Well.. i have actually been naming my titles after chapters in the bible, my book has a huge amount of biblical and religious reference to it, mainly because the story is about the apocalypse lol but still.... yep..... i name my chapters lol
Josh

[Paradox 99]

I liked the use of chapter titles in the Harry Potter books. One example I liked was the first chapter of OOTP called, "Demented Dudley". It gives you a cryptic hint as to what's going to happen and heightens the anticipation.

I don't usually use chapter titles, but my latest novel has them. I actually found them quite useful as a writer, because they helped me place certain events in context and made them easier to find if I needed to check something.

[Teresa Edgerton]

I used to have a lot of fun coming up with chapter titles -- often with some deep alchemical significance that gave nothing away but amused me quite a bit. Later, I adopted a somewhat arch 18th-or-19th-century-flavored style (it went with the story I was writing at the time), that allowed me to alternate between tantalizing the reader, commenting on the characters, and satirizing the very style I was using. That was fun, too.

Now, I don't know whether it's the death of too many brain cells as I grow older, or maybe I just drained that particular well until hardly a drop remains, but I have trouble even coming up with titles for stories (novels or short fictions) let alone for parts of stories. So these days I just number my chapters and leave it at that.

[edott]

I agree with paradox 99, also i have seen some writers put a quote, not from the chpter but mark twain the bible or something like that, before each chapter and if done right find it is a very nice effect.

[Marky Lazer]

Think about Dune. Every new part start with a quote from the princess. However, the chapters aren't named...

[anthorn]

i like to name my chapters to get an idea of what happens in each and every one Has any one else got a list of chapters already jotted down? just out of interest heres mine.
chapter 1 The streets are paved with blood and feaces.
chapter 2 Shadows of the past.
chapter 3 Hunted.
chapter 4 Egrin mull.
chapter 5 Escape into the hills
chapter 6 Old friends fall out
chapter 7 The seige of Egrin mull
chapter 8
chapter 9
chapter 10
chapter 11
chapter 12
chapter 13
chapter 14
chapter 15
chapter 16
chapter 17
this is all i have done so far, in essance i think chapters with names make it easier to find where you were up to in reading

[WriterDoug]

actual titles for the individual chapters has not been something i have seen in classic literature, and if so, it seems to be a rarity.

i certainly do not discourage it though

for my current novel, I am simply using roman numerals, and there are XXXIX chapters total, which struck me as funny, since I just recently read Kate Chopin's The Awakening which contained the exact same amount of chapters, and they were also denoted with roman numerals.

i did try a couple fantasy novels in the past, and I did use chapter titles for the both of them. in that case, it just seemed appropriate, and I cannot expain why. i also think these may be effective if you are retelling history, or just a historical fiction novel, seeing as they add plausibility to your story. it makes sense to use chapter titles in certain non-fiction / biography pieces.

i was going to write more, but I am being rushed out the door. maybe ill return later!

-WD

[SJAB]

Do what feels right for you, more importantly what feels right for the story you are telling. But as I was told by one agent to whom I sent my work, don't go for the overkill, as in over formatting your work.


Remember it might look good, but you need the meat aka a damn good story as well.

Take a look at Hal Duncan's Vellum, both for formatting and a real good story...

[Coolhand]

I guess it just depends on you and your work. Terry Pratchett doesn't even use Chapters at all, kinda solving the problem once and for all. I do tend to use Chapter headings, not to give away what's comming next, but sometimes to set-continue a theme. I once used the following Chapter Headings as an attempt at humour.

-Plan A
-Plan B
-Plan C,D,E and F.
-Plan G. Just shoot anything that moves.

The gag is that in the first two chapters, the characters come up with two ideas that fail, then in the third chapter everything really goes to hell in a handcart and, hopefully, when the reader come to the heading of the forth Chapter, he get's a chuckle.

Well, I thought it was funny...