Synoptic Chapter Headings -- A Turnoff to Agents?

[childeroland]

Title says it all. Do synoptic chapter headings -- for example the type used in 'Blood Meridian' and in some classic novels -- a turn off to agents? I mean agents of fantasy fiction.

[IceCreamEmpress]

As a joke, or for serious? I think it's hard to do for serious now that they've been parodied so extensively--it works with Blood Meridian because that's a reference to the 19th-century Western tradition.

[childeroland]

I meant for serious. Ah well.

[Mara]

You mean where a chapter heading is followed by "wherein" and a summary? Yeah, that's usually a joke these days.

[childeroland]

No, no 'wherin' necessarily. I mean just a series of dry short bites denoting events of each chapter: 'Philip goes to X - Kempe meets Raleigh at Y - A murder and a theft.' Something like that.

[myrmidon]

Well, I have no idea about agents, but I know I like it when it's well done. The Believer (magazine) does this for most of their big articles/interviews and I always enjoy it - and something clever there has often convinced me to read an article that I wasn't necessarily going to commit to (especially since their articles and interviews are generally so long and in depth). I guess I feel like it's like anything else - if done well - it has a good chance of being well received.

And that was the worst, most circular advice ever.

[Traven]

You've got to have something really special to be able to pull them off and not look ridiculous.

[childeroland]

It might look ridiculous even in short bites--I mean totally avoiding any arcane language?

[Donna Pudick]

Don't do it. Maybe it's just me, but I hate gimicky formatting. If you sell the book, the designer and editor may want to hear your suggestions about it, but don't submit it that way. As a former article writer and magazine editor, we did that kind of thing all the time, as well as putting read-outs in the body of the text. But that was magazine writing in the 90s. Book writing's a whole 'nother bag.

[childeroland]

I suspect it's the same with books, Donna.