Naming your chapters - Yes or no?

[dansimmonds]

I'm working on my debut novel right now, and in the draft, my chapters do have titles. However the further along I get, the less imaginative they're becoming and the less likely I think it'll be that I even use them. Do you have a viewpoint? Does it help in your experience in keeping the readers engaged?

 

[Maggie Maxwell]

If it's not something you can maintain through the whole novel, then just go with Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. After all, chapters are mostly there to break up pacing, give readers a chance to stop and come back knowing exactly where they were (assuming they can put the book down, of course.) Chapter titles are often more common in younger fiction, YA, MG, chapter books. If your novel fits in there, then maybe (more likely to be beneficial the younger your audience), if you're doing adult fiction, it's probably not something many people would bat an eye at whether they're there or not.

 

[Carrie]

I think, like the rest of the writing, titles need to do some work to earn their inclusion. In my memoir, I used titles that were exact phrases lifted from the chapter that foreshadowed the theme of the chapter. I think they were useful and they were usually amusing. I don't use chapter titles in my fiction because I'm not sure what purpose they would serve. But if you have a reason to use them, just be clear about what it is and go for it!

 

[TrapperViper]

I'm working on my debut novel right now, and in the draft, my chapters do have titles. However the further along I get, the less imaginative they're becoming and the less likely I think it'll be that I even use them. Do you have a viewpoint? Does it help in your experience in keeping the readers engaged?

FWIW, I think that naming chapters sometimes suggests the manuscript is too episodic. Plenty of authors name chapters regularly, though, so I'm not saying this is a rule. It's my impression that I've heard is shared by some agents, too.

I say keep naming your chapters for your own sake. Once your manuscript is complete and you are in the editing phase you'll know what to do. First priority is to finish it

 

[Whiteout]

I name my chapters just to make it easier on my readers. Most leave off on a chapter so a chapter name helps them remember where they were if they do not use a book mark. Yes, they have the number but a witty name helps even more.

But I do watch out that my chapter names are witty, but do not foreshadow events. Sometimes I will use foreshadowing in chapter names if it improves the novel, but it’s something to watch out for if they are included.

 

[PPeterson]

I've always liked the idea of naming chapters, both for the reader and the author. They act as a mini-title for the mini-story that a chapter should be. A title teases the reader with coming events before the chapter begins, and they remind the author to view each chapter as its own story. This keeps us from getting lost in the big picture and prevents us from writing boring or useless scenes.

 

[CMBright]

I have enough trouble coming up with titles, I don't want to worry about mini titles for each segment, aka chapter. I did for the "outline" for my NaNoWriMo novel, but I'll strip the chapter titles out when I finish and start editing.

Chapter titles like "Setup, Meeting", "Her World Expands", "Betrayal" and so on. Ten chapters to hopefully average 5k words or more to hit the word goal.

So, in the no chapter title group, except as a very basic writing prompt tool.

 

[Cindyt]

I actually did this while writing the historical I published in January 2021, but it didn't feel right and went back to Part and chapter. I think it works best when you divide the book into a few long chapters. James A Michener did a good job of naming his 10 chapters in Centennial.

 

[Unimportant]

If there is a reason to name them -- if the names add to the reader's experience or aid the reader's comprehension -- then yes. If there is no reason to name them, and names detract at worst or add nothing at best, then no.

 

[PraiseRao]

I don't use chapter titles for readers, but I do use chapter titles for myself. In Scriverner I use chapter and scene titles. It helps me know what's where especially in editing. I keep a current scene list on hand to get an overview of everything.

 

[Catriona Grace]

My current novel is told from several viewpoints. I put the Chapter number and the name of the POV character. When a novel has a single viewpoint, I just use numbers. I supply chapter numbers and titles for nonfiction.

 

[ChaseJxyz]

Everything in Scrivener has a title...but they're really shitpost-y and only for my benefit (shitty spy mission, hey birb whats up, time for angry nap). I don't put chapter titles in the "end product" because I, too, really suck at titles, so coming up with a ton of titles would be torture.

I DO have a project where every scene AND chapter have a title...but it's an interactive novel and the reader needs to know exactly where they are and that the scene has changed. For my own organization, they're numbered, and things that are at the "same time" have similar numbers and titles.
So Ch 1 ==> scene 1.1 ==> 1.2 which can then go

• 1.2.10 The Permanece of Things ==> 1.3 The Truth of the Matter ==> end
• 1.2.11 The Malleability of Things ==> 1.3.1 The Matter of the Truth ==> 1.4 ==> 1.5 ==> Ch 2
• 1.2.12 The Incorrigibility of Things ==> end

Path 1 is you don't change anything so you don't go on your adventure. Path 2 is you change a thing and the story keeps going. Path 3 is you screwed up a thing and die. If I just used the numbers, it would be difficult for the reader to know where they are or what's going on, so the titles are for ease of navigation. I spend a lot of time thinking about them, as they need to both reflect the scene and the path that the reader is on.

I think of it as a UI/exdiegetic storytelling element, but that's how I think about "metadata" for a narrative in general. How much weight that does have (or SHOULD have) on the story is very hard to quantify. Like do we all read the back of the book before we start reading it? Do we recognize the publisher and assume it will use specific tropes? Did we all play the Fortnite event to know that Emperor Palpatine was going to be in Episode IX? If a reader sees it, they can't un-see it, but you also can't rely on them seeing it before they consume your story. So "The dead speak! Emperor Palpatine is back!" is really effin' confusing for people who didn't see the trailer or play the Fortnite event or any of the other marketing material in regards to that movie. Which is going to be more and more people as time goes on. So things like titles should be a nice bonus or extra info, but shouldn't be required to understand the story.

 

[MaeZe]

Mine are named by POV and date. I have a couple chapters that are years earlier and near the end of the novel the POV changes to another character because the protag is not in the scene and I'm not very skilled at 3rd person.

 

[BenPanced]

I've never even given it a thought. I haven't created a project that warrants it, so I just number my chapters.

 

[Nether]

When I was drafting my first novel, I tossed in titles just to make it easier to get back to earlier sections. I think I stopped using the convention midway through drafting my second novel. Even though it was a YA novel, it didn't feel thematically right for the book, and I'd always planned to remove them anyway.

My very first writing class (either middle school or high school) outright discouraged using using chapter titles, mentioning that it really wasn't done anymore; however, there's honestly no reason why you *can't* do them.

My big problem with chapter titles is that they can give too much away, or get a little too descriptive. I imagine if I do use them again, it'll tie into the theming somehow. Right now, I use basic numbers (and have a chapter breakdown in another document to make cross-referencing easier) or I use the space to designate the POV and, if it's set across a larger time-frame, the date as well.

 

[iBleed2]

I'm working on my debut novel right now, and in the draft, my chapters do have titles. However the further along I get, the less imaginative they're becoming and the less likely I think it'll be that I even use them. Do you have a viewpoint? Does it help in your experience in keeping the readers engaged?

I've tried to name chapters but found that during the initial process of writing that the story was too fresh for an apt title. I suppose this depends on the amount of planning you've already done up front. I tend to have loose plans, more like suggestions or signposts.

If your chapter titles are becoming less imaginative, you might want to check what's going on in the story. This might be some indication that later in the story, you're losing narrative/emotional drive and the story itself is also becoming less imaginative.

My current work doesn't use titles but it does show the date. I have original months and the days are different than the Julian calendar. It reads something like Chapter Thirteen, The Fourteen Day of the Harpy. Something like this. Hope this helps!

 

[neandermagnon]

I name my chapters just to make it easier on my readers. Most leave off on a chapter so a chapter name helps them remember where they were if they do not use a book mark. Yes, they have the number but a witty name helps even more.

Don't most people use bookmarks? I'm forever finding makeshift bookmarks. No matter how many actual bookmarks I acquire, I always seem to need more and end up using random bits of junk mail or whatever I have to hand that's made of paper/card or similar and can fit between the pages of the book.

That said, I don't think you need a reason to do chapter titles if you enjoy doing chapter titles and it enhances your book. Personally I find that creative chapter titles can be eye catching and enhance the story. How well they work depends on the tone of the book and the story. They really can add a lot to the right kind of story.

Going back to the OP: don't feel obliged if it's not working for your story. In some types of story, chapter titles can be distracting and/or contain spoilers. They are something that needs to be done well. Half-hearted or poorly executed chapter titles would be better off not being there at all. On the other hand, if you are set on having them and right now they're half-hearted and poorly executed, you can leave them as they are for now, finish writing the book, then go back and rework the chapter titles. It's not something you need to fix right now.

 

[Norsebard]

(...) in the draft, my chapters do have titles. However the further along I get, the less imaginative they're becoming and the less likely I think it'll be that I even use them. Do you have a viewpoint? Does it help in your experience in keeping the readers engaged?

I'm going to give the most standard, and probably least useful, of all answers: it depends. Depends on the genre, the type of readers and what they expect of you (and the story).

I've done chapter titles a few times over the years, but the feedback I received only touched upon the cleverness/cheekiness I was going for a couple of times.


Norsebard

 

[CMBright]

Don't most people use bookmarks? I'm forever finding makeshift bookmarks. No matter how many actual bookmarks I acquire, I always seem to need more and end up using random bits of junk mail or whatever I have to hand that's made of paper/card or similar and can fit between the pages of the book.

</snip>

Or toothpicks or straw wrappers or the dust jacket flap or... Definitely a member of the makeshift bookmark for paper books club. More than once, the straw went in the drink, the clean, dry straw wrapper went into the book while reading at a fast food joint.

ebooks don't need bookmarks, the program does it for the reader. Even so, there is a table of contents with chapter links at the front of the books. In a recipe or grammar books it is very useful.

 

[Al X.]

In most of my books I have named the chapters. I don't start out with the name (or names) of the chapters, but wait until finishing at least the end of the chapter, if not the whole book. There is nothing wrong with being a little cryptic. I think it keeps the readers more engaged.

 

[anaemic_mind]

As an ebook reader, I wish more books had them. I find going back and re-reading passages near impossible with numbered ones unless I've bookmarked or made a note somewhere (which I almost always forget to do).

From a writing POV, I started naming my chapters in Scrivener just so I could keep track of what they were about at a glance without looking at the scene names themselves, but decided I quite liked some of them and plan on keeping them. It's sometimes a challenge coming up with words or phrases that summarise the action/emotional feel but don't contain spoilers but I find the more complete the chapter is in terms of edits, the easier it is to come up with decent, strong titles.

Incidentally, a blog I follow had a post recently about chapter titles: https://annerallen.com/2021/10/chapter-titles-great-marketing-tool/

 

[dansimmonds]

Thanks all. Really appreciate some of these replies. I'm not particularly leaning one way or the other right now, it was more to see how others viewed the topic - As some have alluded to, the chapter names initially were written to help me shape the outline of the book, hence as I can see the final arcs coming to fruition I have a clearer idea of where I'm going and therefore the titles weren't as important.

I can see there's pros & cons for both, so I think I'll focus on finishing first with the current titles and then revisit it during editing.

@anaemic_mind, thanks for sharing the blog post. Much appreciated and a viewpoint I hadn't considered when it comes to ebooks, particularly as I'm self-publishing.

 

[Nether]

Don't most people use bookmarks? I'm forever finding makeshift bookmarks. No matter how many actual bookmarks I acquire, I always seem to need more and end up using random bits of junk mail or whatever I have to hand that's made of paper/card or similar and can fit between the pages of the book.

I'm ashamed to admit that I've often wound up using a piece of paper towel or, I'm even more ashamed to admit, toilet paper. (Not that the use of toilet paper is necessarily any reflection on the quality of the book.)

Part of that is not finishing books so they wind up back on the shelf bookmark still in place, but I also routinely lose the stupid things.

 

[TeresaRose]

Yes. My current WIP (rehashed from over five years ago), Women's Fiction/Romance has them; suits the book. But my thriller does not.

 

[Aenelis]

I tend not to write titles for my chapters, but it's a personal choice. I don't like chapters hinting at what's going to happen next because it skips a little ahead in my reading progress. For example, the chapter title THE KING'S VISIT would ruin what's to come for me. I recognize I'm probably alone on that. I'd rather be an at-the-moment person walking beside the lead character or be the character, and not being given insider/author information on what's coming up next. I think it's more exciting to the author on promoting the next chapter in a few words. Imagine a movie pausing after every scene with a new scene title, such as T-REX'S ESCAPE. "Thanks a lot!" I'd probably shout.

At the end of the day, I think it comes down to these questions for fiction books:

1. Do you want to let the reader predict what the chapter is going to be about?
2. Do you have different points of views and want the title to indicate who is the next POV?
3. Is the chapter title really necessary for re-hooking the reader (consider revising--I think the reader should already be hooked), or is the chapter title more important for you as a focus point?