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Chapter Name or Number?
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Truth to tell, I like books that name their chapters when I read.
I named the chapters in my first novel, and just numbered them in the second. The moods of the two different stories seemed to call for the different methods.
Ken wrote: "I named the chapters in my first novel, and just numbered them in the second. The moods of the two different stories seemed to call for the different methods."This is how I feel. I wouldn't mind writing a book one day that used chapter titles instead of numbers. I sort of did that with one of my shorts.
I do love me some Act Titles though.
I have used all kinds of chapter naming schemes. I don't really have a favorite. It just kind of depends on the book. For shorter, straightforward books, ones that don't rely heavily on a particular style or mood and which aren't meant to be "serious" works, I generally stick to just some kind of non-title numbering scheme. For books heavy in mood or content, or ones with a quirky or particular style, I will be more likely to name the chapters, but might still use a numbering system with them.At one time or another I've used all the following styles:
* I, II, ...
* Chapter I, Chapter II ...
* Chapter One, Chapter Two ...
* One, Two ...
* 1., 2. (Each one followed on a new line of centered text in bold containing a time and location stamp like:
1.
The Present--Cargo Liner Carapace, Deep Space)
* 1. It Must be Thursday, 2. Punctuality ...
* House of the Manifest God, The Battle of The Locus ...
The important thing if you choose to name them, I think, is to make the title relevant to the chapter's content, but without doing any spoilers.
As a reader, chapter titles hardly register on me until I'm finished a book. If I like the book I might go back to the TOC and look at chapter titles more closely. But some people do look at chapter titles first, and if they see a chapter called "The Death of Sir John" then that can be a bit of a spoiler (or feel like it, even if Sir John doesn't actually die in that chapter). I've seen people put off by that.
Tolkien, I think, did chapter titles well. Unfortunately, I also think his famous chapter titling made a lot of wannabe writers think it makes you look more authorly to have them, and then proceeded to write bad or pretentious chapter names.
As a rule...numbers of any kind are better. Roman numerals used to be the thing, but if you have more than like 30 (XXX) chapters, they can become unreadable to modern audiences:
CHAPTER MMMCDLXVIII: THE BEGINNING
Pro'lly not a good thing. ];P
For my first novel I just used Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and so on.For the new one I'm using the chapter number and a name. For example, Chapter 7: Interrogation.
Well I guess you have to be as vague as possible to not ruin the story but what sounds cooler? Chapter 12 or THE STORM.
It spikes interest.
Micah wrote: "I have used all kinds of chapter naming schemes. I don't really have a favorite. It just kind of depends on the book."I agree with Micah. It depends on the book.
I can't see any advantage to locking yourself into a particular style.
I really wanted to use the PoV name that the chapter was centered around for my next book, but if people looked through the list and saw names that vanished halfway through, it would spoil all of the fun.
Charles wrote: "I really wanted to use the PoV name that the chapter was centered around for my next book, but if people looked through the list and saw names that vanished halfway through, it would spoil all of t..."lol. Good point.
Micah wrote: "The important thing if you choose to name them, I think, is to make the title relevant to the chapter's content, but without doing any spoilers."I started off with unique chapter titles, but most my chapters are also broken down further into scenes and what Micah noted became an even bigger challenge. Now I stick to Chapter Number.
I do both. The only issue is trying not to repeat them. Spoilers can be an issue with chapter names too; I can think of one popular series that came out in recent years where the author loved to spoil what happened in the chapter right in the name.
I had started out naming my chapters 'Day One', 'Day Two', etc. but then I skipped days and it didn't feel right to have chapter 5 named 'Day Ten' for example. So I scratched the idea. While I like reading books with chapter names, I already have problems finding book titles, let alone chapters. It's only numbers for me.
It all depends on the story. Most of the time, I just use numbers, but for my more humorous works, chapter titles are an excuse for an extra PUNch. ;)
Ellison wrote: "I started off with unique chapter titles, but most my chapters are also broken down further into scenes..."A possible solution to that would be to name the chapter and number the scenes.
One novel I finished but abandoned had 3 Books in it, each one named. Then originally I had chapter numbers, which I started at One for each Book. Later realized that might look confusing so I named the chapters as well.
It depends on the novel style, but I tend to favor chapter titles. To me it adds something to the chapter, a resonance.
Micah wrote: "Ellison wrote: "I started off with unique chapter titles, but most my chapters are also broken down further into scenes..."A possible solution to that would be to name the chapter and number the ..."
A good way to handle that would be 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc, then 2.1, 2.2, 2.3.
A nice modern take on it.
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For Boo!, my non-fiction book about ghosts, I broke it into a few parts, then had little headings every few pages to give an idea what the section would cover.
Very White Jesus is more like a series of tiny stories rather than a novella, so I gave little titles at the beginning of each story but did not number them. For The Asphalt Carpet I gave headings every couple of pages to indicate the places Daniel was traveling through.
I found an alternative solution that adds an extra oomph and it works for me. But it took me a while to get to.I use a simple chapter heading followed by a featured quote. This way the quote and heading don't compete, my TOC stays tidy and readers can interpret the quote however they like without spoiling anything in the story itself.
Of course the quotes are relevant but vague.
Good question! I myself actually number and title them, ex: Chapter 1-Reminiscence. I do it so people can identify a chapter and it keeps the title in their minds so that when they read the chapter they have an idea of what it's about and at the end can figure out why I gave it such a name. Also from a simple point I like both, I feel it gives a simple way to remember each chapter.
I number my chapters. Why? Because that's the norm for my genre - romance.
As others have mentioned, it depends on the story. Some of my stories don't feel right without a chapter title, others don't feel right if I do attempt to add chapter titles.
In Flowers of Dionysus, my first novel, each chapter was named for whichever character's point of view that chapter was exploring. (I don't like to switch points of view in the middle of a chapter, so this works.) If I write another novel with multiple POV characters, I'd probably do the same thing again, to make it easier for the reader to follow who is doing what.If a future project has just one POV character, I'm fairly sure I'll stick with numbered chapters. Easier to remember, and to reference after the fact, in reviews or discussions and such.
I can't say I would never use separate names for each chapter, but I can say right now that that option appeals to me the least.
I number my chapters. It never crossed my mind to give my chapters a title. I like the simplicity of just going with chapter 1, chapter 2... Although, I don't mind reading books with awesome titles and a quirky sense of style to the chapter headings. And for some books it does make sense. I guess not for mine since I never even considered it...lol:)
C.B., i numbered and named my chapters, except for chapter 6, which is an elegy. I didnt give a title for chapter 6 for a reason. So, i think giving titles or numbers only is ok as long as you have a reason for it.
I've always tended to use numbers over names except in one instance where the chapter headings related to a poem which served as the theme of the story. Realistically though, I never really got it to work. Although a large number of the chapter names were good, there were always a few that seemed a little lame in comparison - I think it's one of those things that if you can think of enough brilliant chapter headings to cover all your chapters then it should be fine, but if you're only doing it for the sake of one or two chapters then possibly not. As Charles said, Act Titles may work better in that scenario...
I love it when authors name chapters, but I also want the numbers to make it easier to keep track of things, or when I'm recommending a section to other people.So ideally, if chapters were being named, something like:
1. NAME or Chapter 1: NAME
Would be ideal. XD
Grey wrote: "I love it when authors name chapters, but I also want the numbers to make it easier to keep track of things, or when I'm recommending a section to other people.
So ideally, if chapters were being ..."
I used both, and I'm sure most authors do.
So ideally, if chapters were being ..."
I used both, and I'm sure most authors do.
I still use roman numerals for my chapter headings as well: "Chapter XVI - Mark of the Serpent"It just appeals to me do it that way.
I prefer to number them; I've never really thought about why! I used to title chapters in the past (unpublished works) but for my recent novels I chose to chapter numbers.
I named my chapters because they are not so long. I read another book that had done the same and liked it very much.
it depends on my books. some have numbers, others names few have quirky titles and one and numerals. but yeah my books tend to surpass 30 chapters so i haven't done numerals in a long long time. (my shortest doorstopper is 33 chapters lolz)
Just numbers with me. Only my short stories get named.
Depends on the tone of the book. Sometimes naming the chapters helps to compliment the tone of the book.
I think it may be a question of whether the flow of the book needs either. I have not used them so far in my novels, although I have encountered authors who find titles effective with their style. They look at them as kind of teasers to peak the reader's (or potential reader's) interest. Numbers really can't do that. So maybe the answer is a question: "What does the book need?"
Question: Do you prefer to name your chapters or number them? Any reason?