How do you decide a name of a Chapter?

[HellerFeed]

I am having a hard time deciding on a particular chapter name.
I usually break scenes into multiple chapters, kinda dragging the plot a bit.
Naming chapters take a chunk of my time deciding what exactly should I name it.

So how do you decide on a name for the particular chapter?
Is there any site where we can paste our chapter and then let the site generate chapter names based on AI? or something similar?

Share some of your tricks and tips, please.

 

[EternalSunset0]

I just think of a word or phrase to describe the events that happen. Or something related to a theme that I wanted for the chapter.

If all else fails, I just Wikipedia a random anime's "list of episodes" and try to find inspiration from those titles. Long-runners are especially helpful here.

 

[SakeVision]

For example, the recent chapter of my novel told about a fox eared demihuman being interrogated by human.
I thought it would be cool to make the title some kind of fairy tale reference, so I looked at the list of aesops tales to find something with a fox in a title. And there it was-fox and the eagle. I immediately imagined that fox is the one character, and the eagle is the other.

But my joy was even greater when I read the moral of this story-the fox and the eagle is a cautionary tale that warns those who are in a position of power not to mistreat their inferiors.

 

[KiraMinoru]

Takes me like five seconds to write a title after I’ve written the chapter. Just don’t think too hard about it and title it something vague that relates to the chapter. You could even use part of a line in the chapter and put ellipses before it gets to the most important part in the line.

 

[Anon_Y_Mousse]

For me I write a chapter first and then the title. This is just a personal opinion of mine, but I usually make the title of a chapter related to a line that's a part of the "main point" of the chapter but isn't enough to spoil the whole thing.

 

[Aoi_Sora]

Why not be practical and use only numbers?

 

[BenJepheneT]

i write down a summary of the chapter, cross out all the words except for two, then play darts with a thesaurus.

 

[EmEs]

Perhaps use a particularly intriguing piece of dialogue from the chapter, maybe a question, or a command. Anything that might stand out.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Why not be practical and use only numbers?

Because then anyone looking for a certain scene has no idea what the content of the chapters is. They just have to guess.

Takes me like five seconds to write a title after I’ve written the chapter. Just don’t think too hard about it and title it something vague that relates to the chapter. You could even use part of a line in the chapter and put ellipses before it gets to the most important part in the line.

Roll credits. *ding*

For me I write a chapter first and then the title. This is just a personal opinion of mine, but I usually make the title of a chapter related to a line that's a part of the "main point" of the chapter but isn't enough to spoil the whole thing.

Mine's quite similar. Either I make the title based on the intent of the chapter I want to write, or I write the chapter and come up with something "poetic" to describe it.
For instance, when I was outlining the story I was like, "Oh, chapter three should be called, 'Raising an Army' since- well, that's what it'll be about."
But then, when I actually got to that point after twenty chapters(My pacing is terrible) I named the chapter 'Breath of Life' for two reasons. One, it's thematic. Two, the MC was having a panic attack, and trying to calm down using breathing exercises. I was really proud of it, even though it's kinda dumb.

A lot of chapter names can work out that way.

 

[TotallyHuman]

>looks at what happened in a chapter
>tries to isolate some plot point
>names according to decided format for novel/arc/bunch of chapters

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

Mine would be what main importance I have when it regards to the chapter inside. Would it be about love, revenge or family? Think more for a bit and decide which fits the theme of the chapter and decide the name based on it. You don't need to be fancy and even awesome to write a title, just be simple if you want to but always don't try to based the chapter on the title, let the title be based on the chapter such that you won't rewrite too hard on the chapter to fit to the title.

 

[DubstheDuke]

Each of my chapters usually has some sort of recurring theme in them. Some word or phrase that is either used in repetition as some sort of metaphor or to prove some sort of point, or almost like a little climax (When someone drops the statement). I base my chapter names on that.

 

[HokuouTenrou]

Took my favorite album/song names, then modify it. Usually only very loosely related to what happened in the chapter.

 

[Underload]

I have a ten second rule. I pick whatever pops in my head in ten seconds.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

I am having a hard time deciding on a particular chapter name.
I usually break scenes into multiple chapters, kinda dragging the plot a bit.
Naming chapters take a chunk of my time deciding what exactly should I name it.

So how do you decide on a name for the particular chapter?
Is there any site where we can paste our chapter and then let the site generate chapter names based on AI? or something similar?

Share some of your tricks and tips, please.

Memes. I decide my chapter titles based on memes.
Observe: "I'll start my own X, with blackjack and hookers" and you can basically add anything you want to the blank space.

Or I just make a chapter title based on that chapter specifically. I'm pretty creative and comedic when it comes to titles, back when I actually gave my stories chapter titles. One of the more unique ones was in reference to there being a family trio of cute Dryad characters, and the MC thinking, "should I try for the whole set?" Or something. Because "After All, You Need Three Trees (木) To Make A Wood (森)" get it? Cuz they're tree spirits! A lot of my titles I consider pretty interesting or funny. Which really helped me remember exactly what happened in that specific chapter, or helping me later track down some piece of info I forgot.

Anyway, I always only ever spent like ten minutes kn a chapter title at the most. It had its benefits, titles, like what I mentioned, but being creative and being lazy doesnt always work out so after my first story I stopped making chapter titles. Every other of my stories dont have titles.

I mean I COULD think of titles. But as I'm lazy and impatient, I just reserve it for my main story. Almost regret it, cuz i do forget things and gotta go back to track down info and no titles makes that more annoying. .

I have a ten second rule. I pick whatever pops in my head in ten seconds.

What if the words "big dick in your cat's bum" pop into your head?

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

By the time I write, I know how the story will end. So I pick a name that will describe the whole thing! Well... Try to.

 

[greyblob]

Accurate chapter names ruin the suspense for me. It's easier, and more convenient, to not bother with picking a name.

 

[BlackKnightX]

For me, I use a quote or an interesting line in the chapter as a name. I think it sparks curiosity and make the readers want to find out more.

 

[yansusustories]

I usually take something that stuck out to me while writing or editing. E.g., a specific incident that comes up, some quip a character made, or just a nice phrase. It's often something that summarizes the whole chapter or a large part of it because they lead up to it. For some (shorter) projects, I also have naming conventions like a two-liner where one part always includes some kind of action and works like a sub-heading. Sometimes, I purposely go for titles that are misleading where readers would expect something to happen that isn't the case at all.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

I am having a hard time deciding on a particular chapter name.
I usually break scenes into multiple chapters, kinda dragging the plot a bit.
Naming chapters take a chunk of my time deciding what exactly should I name it.

So how do you decide on a name for the particular chapter?
Is there any site where we can paste our chapter and then let the site generate chapter names based on AI? or something similar?

Share some of your tricks and tips, please.

It depends on what is going on in your chapter. I had such a hard time thinking of chapter names due to the size of each of my chapters so I just came up with an arc name and added a part number. For example, Final destiny - Part 008. Something like that has done well for me at least. Others may disagree though. It's really just a matter of preference. though, if you want good chapter names then I would think about it like this. what are the characters doing? how are they doing it? why are they doing it? who is doing it? once you think about these things then try and think of a word or phrase that can encompass all of it. I hope this helps.

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