Chapter titles

dawinsor said:

Can anyone think of a novel whose chapter titles added to your enjoyment or interest? Maybe through voice, or being some sort of puzzle or, I don't know, anything.

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How about E.M Forster's A Room With a View.

They are kind of cheeky without spoiling any of the upcoming action.

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books have chapter titles. They're often pretty witty.

Sometimes they work with the overall ambiance. For instance, some random titles from Patricia Wrede's Dealing with Dragons (a YA fantasy playing with fairy tale tropes):

1 - In which Cimorene Refuses to Be Proper and Has a Conversation with a Frog

6 - In Which the Wizards Do Some Snooping, and Cimorene Snoops Back

14 - In Which the Wizards Try to Make Trouble, and Cimorene Does Something about It

They work as a rough outline, without actively spoiling plot points, and the manner in which they're written plays into the "once upon a time" fairy tale theme.

Some chapter titles also set a mood, or (especially in humorous works) are puns or wordplays.

TBH, though, except in rare instances, I don't pay much attention to chapter titles. If coming up with pithy, relevant chapter titles is holding you up as a writer, in other words, just number them. Save that kind of nitpicking for revisions.

I second the question, as I once read that adult literature shouldn't have chapter titles because chapter titles are silly/childish/unclassy or whatever. Are they? I liked my chapter titles until I got insecure and replaced them by numbers....

dawinsor said:

Can anyone think of a novel whose chapter titles added to your enjoyment or interest? Maybe through voice, or being some sort of puzzle or, I don't know, anything.

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I love Diana Gabaldon's chapter titles. They are often very clever.

NaeimGiladisLegacy said:

I second the question, as I once read that adult literature shouldn't have chapter titles because chapter titles are silly/childish/unclassy or whatever. .

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No, they're not silly. Or they don't have to be. I have chapter titles.

It's interesting because I can't recall chapter titles in any book I've read. I'm sure they are there, but I guess I just ignore them.

I can't think of any. There's nothing wrong with chapter titles, but I hate the ones that tell me what's going to happen in the chapter. If you tell me what happens in the chapter, there's a good chance I won't finish the novel. I'd rather just read the chapter for myself, and find out what's in it that way.

I don't have any suggestions, sorry, but just to say that if it's a question of deciding on chapter titles or not, this is my experience: I almost gave up my chapter titles in my debut novel bc I read that publishers and readers don't like/read them. I am so glad that I didn't. My readers like my chap titles' 'voice', as per comments in several reviews, and so did acquisitions at my publishing house! I'm not smart enough to be witty; I title my chapters with a phrase from the narrative that is indicative of the flavour or meaning of that particular chapter. So, I take an actual word or phrase from the ms and make it the title.

Some of my readers have commented that they like finding the chapter title's phrase or word in the chapter, like it's a challenge or something. LOL. *shrugs* I just like writing my first person POV books this way. A quirk of mine.

I remember last year's Broken Monsters had some pretty good chapter titles. They were references to classic and indie rock songs mostly, if I recall correctly.

Isaac Asimov has witty chapter titles. Second Foundation comes to mind. I like his titles because sometimes they make me want to skip forward and read the chapter ahead of time. Harry Potter also had great chapter titles.

Scott Sigler typically has chapter titles in his books. He writes science fiction and horror and they seem to work well with his books.

A couple of Gabaldon's chapter titles from Written in My Own Heart's Blood, for instance: In Which the Women, As Usual, Pick Up the Pieces; Don't Ask Questions You Don't Want to Hear the Answers To; The Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Gregory Maguire's Wicked has chapter titles as well.

Brightdreamer said:

Sometimes they work with the overall ambiance. For instance, some random titles from Patricia Wrede's Dealing with Dragons (a YA fantasy playing with fairy tale tropes):

1 - In which Cimorene Refuses to Be Proper and Has a Conversation with a Frog

6 - In Which the Wizards Do Some Snooping, and Cimorene Snoops Back

14 - In Which the Wizards Try to Make Trouble, and Cimorene Does Something about It

They work as a rough outline, without actively spoiling plot points, and the manner in which they're written plays into the "once upon a time" fairy tale theme.

Some chapter titles also set a mood, or (especially in humorous works) are puns or wordplays.

TBH, though, except in rare instances, I don't pay much attention to chapter titles. If coming up with pithy, relevant chapter titles is holding you up as a writer, in other words, just number them. Save that kind of nitpicking for revisions.

Click to expand...

Sounds like what Voltaire did with Candide, or Optimism. I always had a bit of a giggle at his chapter titles (eg. "How they had a magnificent auto-da-fe to prevent earthquakes, and how Candide was flogged").