Chapter titles... What is your opinion?

[Sabruness]

Fellow authors, what are your opinions on individual chapters having titles?

I sometimes use them and i sometimes dont.

As a side question: If you name chapters, do you name all of them or just some?

 

[NiQuinn]

Fellow authors, what are your opinions on individual chapters having titles?

I sometimes use them and i sometimes dont.

As a side question: If you name chapters, do you name all of them or just some?

For the sake of consistency, if you name one, name them all. I get pissed when it's not. That's just me but I rather they don't name them at all if they won't bother with other chapters.

 

[TLCsDestiny]

I haven't done chapter titles in all my books but for those I have, I have named all of them. My smaller books are the ones that have chapter titles.
I don't like the idea of giving too much away upon what is going on in the chapter, otherwise what's the point!? The readers might not bother to read it! I like one or two words the most, just to generalize the chapter. :)

 

[Sabruness]

I haven't done chapter titles in all my books but for those I have, I have named all of them. My smaller books are the ones that have chapter titles.
I don't like the idea of giving too much away upon what is going on in the chapter, otherwise what's the point!? The readers might not bother to read it! I like one or two words the most, just to generalize the chapter. :)

Hmm.. that sounds like a pretty good idea. I might use that for my own

 

[yansusustories]

I always use chapter titles especially if the project is long. I feel that it makes orientation easier. For example, if a reader wants to reread a specific part, finding the chapter where it starts might be easier if there are meaningful chapter titles. Other than that, I also like playing around with them. There was one chapter I named 'He Plucked His Flower' so readers expected smut (I'm writing bl) while in fact, the ML literally plucked one of the flowers in the MC's garden.

 

[tak]

i named them all but i try so it doesn't spoiler the story. if you don't know what to name, you can name them based on the story arc. for example,

• Awards Night 1
• Awards Night 2
• Awards Night 3
• Headlines 1
• Headlines 2

Now, we know there's a story happening on the awards night. but what? did MC win? maybe MC didn't attend and there's a controversy? heck, maybe it has little to do with awards. maybe there's a terrorist attack? who knows
The headlines could be a continuation of the previous arc, or an epilogue, or even a prologue for the new arc. anything can be on the news.

 

[Jemini]

Fellow authors, what are your opinions on individual chapters having titles?

I sometimes use them and i sometimes dont.

As a side question: If you name chapters, do you name all of them or just some?

For books, no. Chapter titles are not necessary in books. However, in the case of web novel writing like what is on this site, chapter titles are almost essential. This is especially true in the case of longer web novels. As the number of chapters stacks up, it becomes harder and harder for a reader to find their place when they come back after a break unless you include chapter titles. Chapter titles are far easier to stick in the brain and remember than a sequential number.

I haven't done chapter titles in all my books but for those I have, I have named all of them. My smaller books are the ones that have chapter titles.
I don't like the idea of giving too much away upon what is going on in the chapter, otherwise what's the point!? The readers might not bother to read it! I like one or two words the most, just to generalize the chapter. :)

If your chapter title gives the reader enough information to know exactly what's going on in the chapter, it's not a good title. You gotta use intentionally vague and sometimes slightly misleading titles, including a double meaning if at all possible. The title may give slight spoilers to someone who has not read them yet if they are glancing over future chapter title names, but none of them are enough to reveal exactly what's actually going on in the chapter.

If the reader cares about spoilers, they will avoid looking at the later chapter titles. So, it's fine for the most part.

 

[Deleted member 5560]

For the sake of consistency, if you name one, name them all. I get pissed when it's not. That's just me but I rather they don't name them at all if they won't bother with other chapters.

This. Please, if you're going to do chapter titles, commit. Drives me crazy when when some just randomly don't have chapter titles.

Other people have made good points about why a long running serialised webnovel would benefit from chapter titles! As for me, I have one story with chapter titles and one story without. But I hate coming up with chapter titles. I'm so bad at it and I absolutely despise it. I dug a hole for myself, because I wanted all the chapter titles of my second story to be a small story within itself and have multiple meanings in how it related to the chapter, but it's very hard to keep up with. But, I made this decision, I have to commit...

 

[GDLiZy]

I name them in the way of some foreshadowing so I can easily remember the content of the chapter as well as not letting the title spoil the readers.

 

[Jemini]

This. Please, if you're going to do chapter titles, commit. Drives me crazy when when some just randomly don't have chapter titles.

Other people have made good points about why a long running serialised webnovel would benefit from chapter titles! As for me, I have one story with chapter titles and one story without. But I hate coming up with chapter titles. I'm so bad at it and I absolutely despise it. I dug a hole for myself, because I wanted all the chapter titles of my second story to be a small story within itself and have multiple meanings in how it related to the chapter, but it's very hard to keep up with. But, I made this decision, I have to commit...

That sounds.... WAY too ambitious for a web novel you are in the process of writing. Something clever like that, baring an absurd level of super genius, should only be done with a second release after a series of edits. You're talking an extremely well planned move here. It sounds REALLY freaking cool if it can be pulled off, but very difficult to pull off.

(That said, it sounds just too good. I'm seriously going to have to think about that concept for some future story, or possibly even a future edit of my current story.)

 

[XianPiete]

I like chapter titles.

 

[Ai-chan]

Ai-chan normally don't put chapter titles, but Ai-chan does for stuff on scribblehub. Why? That's a secret between Ai-chan and the electronic god.

Titles for chapters are generally an afterthought. Once a chapter is written, Ai-chan reads from top to bottom. Then Ai-chan decides on the most basic of the most basic summary of the chapter.

For example, it's a chapter about Radokans shooting Temolisians in an epic space battle that will determine a certain Temolisian's wedding. Ai-chan would name it, "Pew pew to the pew."

 

[kira]

For books, no. Chapter titles are not necessary in books. However, in the case of web novel writing like what is on this site, chapter titles are almost essential. This is especially true in the case of longer web novels. As the number of chapters stacks up, it becomes harder and harder for a reader to find their place when they come back after a break unless you include chapter titles. Chapter titles are far easier to stick in the brain and remember than a sequential number.



If your chapter title gives the reader enough information to know exactly what's going on in the chapter, it's not a good title. You gotta use intentionally vague and sometimes slightly misleading titles, including a double meaning if at all possible. The title may give slight spoilers to someone who has not read them yet if they are glancing over future chapter title names, but none of them are enough to reveal exactly what's actually going on in the chapter.

If the reader cares about spoilers, they will avoid looking at the later chapter titles. So, it's fine for the most part.

That makes sense as a reader I look for the chapter title when I come back to read the novel. But, as a writer I find it hard to give my chapters titles w/o giving away the gist of the chapter..it takes me a bit to think of one !

 

[Jemini]

That makes sense as a reader I look for the chapter title when I come back to read the novel. But, as a writer I find it hard to give my chapters titles w/o giving away the gist of the chapter..it takes me a bit to think of one !

The real trick is making it seem like the title is giving away information while it still feels like you can't just skip it. In my case though, it is somewhat easy to do this due to my writing style. My writing in general is VERY heavy on both meaning and content. As such, all I really have to do is come up with a title that sounds like a kinda sage take on some important stand-out point of the chapter.

This is also an area where having longer chapters helps. I average around 3600 words per chapter. Even if my title DOES blatantly give away a point in the chapter, there will be plenty of side detail still that readers will know cannot be skipped. My writing style is very lore and world building heavy, which is where a lot of the extra words are spent. I generally do expand on the lore just a little bit each chapter, so the reader really will be missing something if they were ever to skip a chapter, and they would feel it too. (The only chapters this doesn't count for are a few very close to the beginning, which may be re-worked in a potential future edit.)

 

[kira]

I will have to check out your novel! Mine is pure fluff lol :-)

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Fellow authors, what are your opinions on individual chapters having titles?

I sometimes use them and i sometimes dont.

As a side question: If you name chapters, do you name all of them or just some?

Fellow authors, what are your opinions on individual chapters having titles?

I sometimes use them and i sometimes dont.

As a side question: If you name chapters, do you name all of them or just some?

I realized during my time with early works i wont name that i quickly cant remember shit about small details sometimes. And going back to find what i wrote about certain things was damn near impossible when every chapter is just numbered. So much easier find things i wrote in the past when the chapters have memorable titles.

Plus they help set up the readers for the chapter itself. Give them a hint as to what to expect, or throw them off completely, of leave them intrigued and wanting to know what;ll be going on.

Also making chapters with titles and chapters without titles just seems messy and annoying, but thats just my opinion.

In short, there's always a good reason to think up of chapter titles my friend. But if you're the type to write short as fuck chapters where things never really happen, at least nothing noteworthy, then stick with just numbers. Unless you write at least 2000 words per chapter and have something interesting enough to base a chapter title on. Or if you break them into parts and have multiple chapters with the same title. Thats fine too as long as you number the parts

 

[queenofthefuzzybugs]

I like chapter titles, especially clever or humorous ones. (In books they aren't necessary, but if done right they're amusing so I still like them.) Of course I'm not witty enough to think up really cool chapters titles so they end up being vaguely descriptive or hyper precise.

But ultimately I do them more for myself than anyone else. I'm up to 85 chapters now and if I didn't have titles... I have no idea how I'd find anything in my own story. I don't know how authors with 100+ chapters find anything without them. I suppose you can make them for yourself but not show them to readers? But that's no fun. Since I'm taking time to think them up, I might as well share them.

I agree with others. If you're going to do them, do them. If not, then don't. Consistency is very satisfying to the human mind, so why not practice it?

 

[Chaaruzu_Corner]

Hmmm I use them so that the readers would get an idea of what the chapter is :) I would slap my knee if I get a clever title but overall I use them for that purpose

 

[Kotohood]

I can't say about the others. But I just put in chapter names cause they sound cool.


Also yes, name them all.

 

[ChubbyLiv]

All my chapters have a title.

They are not for my readers but for me. ←(*꒪ヮ꒪*)

I can quickly remember the content of the whole chapter with the title.

Chapter titles make the novel more neat and organized.