# Title on chapters: In or Out?



## Gavrill (Oct 16, 2008)

For my novel I'm working on I was thinking about placing titles on the chapters. It'd look like this:
Running.......(pg whatever to whatever)
Stopping......(lol pages)
etc.

Good idea or no? I'm just trying to give a "theme" for each of my chapters. I know it's done by Rowling, but....that's Rowling...


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## Xipoid (Oct 16, 2008)

I personally wouldn't, but that's just me. No real justification beyond the fact I simply don't consider it.


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## M. LeRenard (Oct 16, 2008)

Chapter titles only work when they... well, when they work.  Victor Hugo (I've recently come to know) was great at making chapter titles: for a chapter involving a police pursuit through the streets of Paris, he titles it "La Meute Muette", or "The silent pack [of hounds]".  It gets the chapter's general idea across, and it's catchy and intriguing.  So I'd suggest, if you want to deal with chapter titles, try to make them as interesting as you can, something that the reader sees and goes, "I wonder what that could mean?".
For example, if you want your chapter to be called Running (as you pointed out), don't just make the chapter about a guy running from something.  That's too obvious.  If the chapter is about a guy running from the law, maybe title it Transgression, or something like that, so that it becomes apparent that he's not just running, but running from the police, or maybe he could have witnessed a transgression of some kind and is running from the perpetrators, whatever.  And if you leave out what he's running from until a later chapter, so much the better; the reader will see that title, be able to sort of guess what's going on, but still want to read on to see if they were right or not.  In other words, make it pertinent, but not TOO pertinent.  It's all about grabbing attention, and if the title gives away too much, the reader might be a little inclined to just read the chapter titles and be done with the book early, since they tell the whole story anyway.
Not that I ever use chapter titles myself.  These are just the things that I enjoy in them when I see them.


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## Gavrill (Oct 16, 2008)

Well I plan the chapter titles to go in a kind of flowing order, such as "Running" then "Stopping" then possibly "Seeing" or "Finding".

My first chapter, "Running", involves both a physical, literal chase as well as the introduction of the secondary character who mentions that she's "Always running from things". 

I don't plan to have some sort of elaborate and amazing chapter titles like Victor Hugo, considering that's far above my level. Instead I just want my simple chapter titles. It's a bit cozier for me to use them really, because it gives me more flow to the story.

I'm hoping to use them as "markers" so I can introduce new thoughts/ideas/perspectives but then again I'm writing for the audience as well as for me.

*Xipoid*, I'm curious. Would you read a book if you happened to glance at interesting chapter titles?


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## M. LeRenard (Oct 16, 2008)

> I don't plan to have some sort of elaborate and amazing chapter titles like Victor Hugo, considering that's far above my level. Instead I just want my simple chapter titles. It's a bit cozier for me to use them really, because it gives me more flow to the story.


I'm wondering if maybe you missed my point.  I don't mean strive to be another Victor Hugo; I just mean attempt to do what he does and make intriguing chapter titles.  They don't have to be brilliant (he was a poet, after all); just interesting.  You can do interesting, because anyone can do interesting.


> as well as the introduction of the secondary character who mentions that she's "Always running from things".


Like this.  That's what I mean; a little abstraction goes a long way.


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## Xipoid (Oct 16, 2008)

Shenzi said:


> *Xipoid*, I'm curious. Would you read a book if you happened to glance at interesting chapter titles?




Chapter titles alone will not convince me to read a book. I consider them immediately prior to reading the chapter, so if I had no plans to read the chapter I will not care about the title. Similar to what Renard said, they are more like finesse. If well done, it could be attractive, but if done poorly it would detract from the book.


Also, I tend to like cryptic, ominous things. So the title should say very little in a dramatic, foreboding way (to garner my attention at least).


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## GatodeCafe (Oct 16, 2008)

I don't use chapter titles, they're too structured. Whenever I title anything, I feel obligated to live up to that title, you know?

I don't "Title" things, I name them posthumously, after the fact and the piece is written and all is said and done. For me, it's more for the purpose of identification than anything to do with the actual contents of the thing being titled.


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## Gavrill (Oct 16, 2008)

Hm. I see the points being pointed. They're very pointy.

But yes, I plan to go with abstract for various titles. That way I can still "live up to them" even if only in a metaphorical sense.


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## nachoboy (Oct 17, 2008)

i'm planning on writing a novel in the near future, and i was just thinking about this.

i absolutely LOVE books with good chapter titles. i remember when i read _Around the World in Eighty Days_ and i totally loved the chapter titles in that book. in case you don't know, they're all like "In Which..." and they describe, in a sentence, what happens in the chapter, sometimes more specific than others.

and on the national novel writing month website [nanowrimo.org] there's a dare thread in the forums where people post ideas of things to put into a novel to pump up the word count, and one of the dares i read was to name all the chapters after songs by the same musician/band. i really like that idea and actually think i might do it.

if they're really good titles, i really like them, but otherwise, i'm okay without a title.


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## Poetigress (Oct 17, 2008)

As a writer, I tend to avoid chapter titles myself, just because they wind up being either so abstract that they're pointless, or so obvious that they don't add anything to the story.  It's difficult enough to come up with a really good title for the whole work -- why make things harder on yourself by having to come up with pertinent, pithy titles for every chapter?

Even as a reader, I tend to skip chapter titles, because they can sometimes end up being spoilers to some degree.  And if the titles are clichÃ©d or clunky, it does detract from the book for me.  They can be done well, but again, it's a challenge.

Most of the novels I can think of that use chapter titles weren't published recently, and those that were (like the Harry Potter books) were published for a midgrade or YA audience.  I'd say, if you're writing it for fun and for FA, do whatever you want, but if you're aiming to get it published, just number your chapters and save your creativity for the text instead of the titles.



Shenzi said:


> I'm hoping to use them as "markers" so I can introduce new thoughts/ideas/perspectives but then again I'm writing for the audience as well as for me.



For me, just the chapter break itself serves that purpose.


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## Gavrill (Oct 17, 2008)

I'm writing for a YA audience, since I am technically YA and whatnot. 

I guess that would be the proper thing considering my novel doesn't have much violence and very little romance. I'm taking everything into consideration, trust me.


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## jinxtigr (Oct 17, 2008)

I like using chapter titles when the chapters are that clear that a poetic title will properly encapsulate the spirit of the chapter. Lest we forget, "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" was named after a Wind In The Willows chapter title 

These are mine- the current one doesn't use chapter titles but maybe it'll gain them when I change its format over...

*Kings Of Rainmoor* (a fantasy novel)
1- Jinx Outside Rainmoor
2- Inside Rainmoor
3- Settling In
4- Hail, Monster, Well Met
5- Lord Peter's Tour
6- Honor to the Living and the Dead
7- The Lonely Place
8- Aftermath
9- Black Tie and Tails
10- Dead of Night
11- Entangled
12- King of Rainmoor

*Ghosts Of Rainmoor* (a fantasy novel)
1- Home
2- Adjustments
3- Remember Me
4- Cavalry
5- Refugees
6- Ultimatum
7- Cabinet
8- Garden
9- Return to Rainmoor
10- Visitor
11- I Thee Wed
12- Alone
13- Redecorating
14- Second Time's The Charm
15- Drumroll
16- Convergence

*Aquarius* (a sci-fi romance novel)
1- Introducing Aquarius
2- New Friends
3- Driving Lessons
4- Christmas Morning
5- Confrontations
6- Morning on Aquarius
7- Topside
8- Shuttling Bipes
9- Maggie Trouble
10- I Thought I Had Problems
11- Glimpses
12- Disaster In The Main Tank
13- Recovery Is Not Pretty
14- Plans For A Picnic
15- Worst Picnic Ever
16- Denoument
17- Anticlimax


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## jinxtigr (Oct 17, 2008)

Holy crap, it pasted them as working links. oooookay- didn't intend that, but if those books sound like fun, have at it. I meant to just post the chapter titles


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## nachoboy (Oct 17, 2008)

jinxtigr said:


> I like using chapter titles when the chapters are that clear that a poetic title will properly encapsulate the spirit of the chapter. Lest we forget, "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" was named after a Wind In The Willows chapter title



i don't know how, but i totally forgot about that chapter title. _Wind in the Willows_ is not only one of my most favourite books, but that chapter is one of my top favourite chapters in any book i've read.

oh goodness, that's a brilliant book.


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## Kender3421 (Oct 17, 2008)

I, personally, do not title chapters but if you can do it and do it right, then I say do it. I just can't keep up with what I title things. There are some who can do it, like Rowling, and there are others, like Clancy, who just can't do it. In final retrospective, it's really up to you.


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## Frasque (Oct 18, 2008)

I usually use them at least when in the middle of writing as a memory aid to what's going on in which chapter.


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## ScottyDM (Oct 20, 2008)

*Seriously, it doesn't matter. There's no rule, or even a rule of thumb, so do what you like.*

I'm putting a little story together and while planning the thing I broke it into five parts, and I titled my parts (for the same reason Frasque uses titles). These are mine:
A World of Hurt
A Glimmer of Hope
The New Quest
Tale of the Bones
Kinsman's Quest
These titles won't survive into the final draft because I don't want divisions in the story. A scene break is necessary, but I don't want anything as disruptive as a page break and title.

Scotty


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## Tanner (Oct 20, 2008)

I can't think of a title for my over all pieces, let alone names for the chapters.  I still would name them "Chapter 1" but past that, it would recieve no other name.  I think for people that can create clever names, it's good to do.


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## V_D_O (Oct 21, 2008)

I make the decision on a case-by-case basis. I've got a short, 9-chapter work which I'm giving titles, but the titles are almost exclusively short words or phrases, often taken directly from a line in the work itself. I sift through the first blurbs that come to my head when considering the work, and choose the one which seems relevant on the highest number of levels. 

On the other hand, I've got a way-more-than-9-chapter work I'm not planning on titling. I'm not confident enough in my ability to find sufficiently poignant titles for each of them.

If done wrong, they can make the reader groan and/or just stop reading altogether.
If done right, they're certainly an improvement. The first things that jump to my mind when I think about Asimov's Foundation series are the titles of the final two chapters in the second book.


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## M. LeRenard (Oct 21, 2008)

> Victor Hugo . . . was that the same guy who wrote a book in which two chapters were titled something like "Nonsense, please skip"?


If not, I know a few places where he might have been more considerate to do so.


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