Comments on: Why I Like Chapter Titles

By: SteveG

SteveG — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:16:05 +0000

And if you do title your chapters should there be a table of contents? Not all books with chapter titles have them.

And, as you all probably know, Terry Pratchett doesn’t do chapters at all. Except for The Colour Of Magic, which had 4 parts. With labels.

By: S.C. Butler

S.C. Butler — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:06:07 +0000

Luck to you, then.

By: Keith

Keith — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:52:26 +0000

You’ll be able to, as soon as I find a publisher.

By: S.C. Butler

S.C. Butler — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 22:31:46 +0000

Keith –

Excellent reason for chapter titles. And I want to read that one.

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:46:32 +0000

I number the chapters for my first draft and then add chapter titles on the second. I like chapter titles for one simple reason: point of reference.

Say you read this great book a few years back and you remember this choice phrase, in, you think, the party scene where the drunken astronomer is hitting on a lesbian from another planet and doesn’t even realize it. What chapter was that in? 16? 17? 23? Or was it in the chapter called “The Lugubrious Hootenanny”? If you have chapter titles, the latter is at least a likely place to start looking.

By: S.C. Butler

S.C. Butler — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:56:39 +0000

One of my pet peeves is when writers quote ‘real world’ authors in fantasies that have no connection to the ‘real world’. Throws me right out of the story.

Then there are those old eighteenth century novels which have a summary of what’s going to happen at the beginning of each chapter.

By: Steve Buchheit

Steve Buchheit — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:33:07 +0000

Then there are quotes from other works at the beginning of chapters, even quotes from fictitious works. For me, if it’s a serious “literature!” (must be said from the craggy cliff, shouted into the crashing waves and shrieking wind while holding the manuscript pages tight in your hand) I don’t see them working all that well. But for humor sake, I think they work excellently.

“Phase one in which Doris gets her oats…”

By: S.C. Butler

S.C. Butler — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 03:14:41 +0000

There are many different ways of titling chapters, and only a couple of not (with and without numbers, as far as I can tell). Whatever works best for the story is what I say.

By: bob charters

bob charters — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:28:57 +0000

What about chapter titles that are made up of a series of short phrases, as what Mark Twain did for Tom Sawyer? Sometimes the whole chapter, because it’s composed of many scenes, can’t be made to fit neatly into a one word or single phrase description. I did that for one novel that hasn’t been accepted just yet. It wasn’t a sci fi, and I thought that style fit the general mood and period covered by the narrativel. I’m toying with the idea of doing it with my current work, a space opra, in which each chapter is divided into scenes, each labled with the narrative point of view.

I’ve done just about every chapter title style as I saw it fit with the style and mood of the book.

By: Kelly McCullough

Kelly McCullough — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:29:17 +0000

I use them when I write YA, but only rarely when I write books for an adult audience.