Oh, to title a chapter or just go ahead and call it Chapter 72. One of the perennial questions facing any writer.
Do you notice chapter titles when you’re reading? Do you like them? Dislike them? Not even realize they’re there?
Where do you stand?
If you’re reading in an RSS reader or via e-mail, please click through for the poll:
The Invisible Writer says
I'm with Joseph L Selby on this one – a chapter title with a function or metaphor/riddle is so cool! But – sometimes the riddle gives away the secret of the chapter and that's not good.
For a fast pace book I really don't like 'em. Just leave me with the story and action please!
jscolley says
It depends on the type of novel.
Joann Swanson says
I love chapter titles if they fit the style of the book. GOING BOVINE is one of the best examples I've seen. Libba Bray's use of "In Which…" to introduce each chapter is unique, hilarious, and sets the tone beautifully. Of course Libba Bray is a genius, so of course she's going to choose amazing chapter titles!
fakesteph says
Sometimes chapter titles work. For example, I loved them in Becoming Naomi Leon. And in Harry Potter they acted as a sort of teaser that made each chapter more fun to read the first time through. But if they don't serve a purpose, they just get in the way and end up taking me out of the story.
Katherine Hyde says
I like them if they're clever. I especially love the quasi-Victorian kind, e.g., "In which the Space Monkeys raid a Seven-Eleven and Discover Something Not to Their Advantage." But if they don't add anything, nix them!
In my own work, I sometimes use them and sometimes don't; depends on the style of the book.
Allison says
Occasionally I'll notice them, but for the most part I just ignore the chapter title or lack-thereof and plow on to the story.
Krista V. says
Clever chapter titles are all right, but in my experience, it's tough enough to come up with one good title for the whole book, let alone twenty or thirty others.
If they're totally flowing out of your fingers as you're typing along, great. But if you're forcing them, you'd probably be better off without them.
Shayda Bakhshi says
I can't think of them to save my life, but I love JK Rowling's chapter titles in all the Harry Potter books. She has a rare and beautiful gift for them.
Honestly, though, I don't usually notice them in other writers' works.
Perry says
It depends on the story. I find chapter titles help when they fit into the style of writing. Chick Lit is a good example.
In a thriller, or any fast paced book, I don't stop to read titles.
Scott says
Totally depends on the type of story, but I think they can be almost a form of poetry where you like the sound of it (intrigues you to read farther) but don't understand it fully until you have read the chapter.
Lord of the Rings chapter titles, for example, went on to inspire movie score track names, DVD chapter menu titles, and many other things because of their quality.
It's a way for the author to comment on his work to the reader, like an aside in a play. I enjoy everything from "Chapter 9: On Water Beetles and Saber-rattling, Including a Brief Treatise on the Qualities of Pseudo-Semantics" to "Chapter 21: Death from Above!"
chelle says
I've always liked long, evolved chapter titles. Since buying an e-reader, I crave them. If I hit "go to", a chapter number just isn't enough of a clue to get me to the right spot.
John Baron says
I like them when they're well done, especially witty, and don't give anything away, but I find these incredibly hard to do….
Also, in multi-POV novels (as was previously mentioned) they can be a life-saver, and if the story is skipping around through time or place titles can help start the reader off right..
Kristin Laughtin says
I can take them or leave them, both as a reader and a writer. I like them if they're evocative and intriguing without giving too much away, or if they're humorous; either case will make me want to read on. But I hardly notice or care if they're not used, or if they're rather boring. I skipped right over them in JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORELL, for example, but liked them quite a lot in the Harry Potter books, and as someone above mentioned, found them quite useful in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Stephanie Barr says
I not only like chapter titles, I like it when the put little quips at the beginning.
--Deb says
I suppose I like them when they're well done, like that they can give hints (no matter how obscure) about what is to come. (Though, the chapter title "Phoenix's Lament" all but told me straight-out that Dumbledore was going to die in Harry Potter, and I didn't want to know in advance.) But at the same time, I don't miss them when they're not there.
When I'm writing, however? I always give at least a one-word title to my chapters because it makes it easier for me to find specific scenes later on if I need to rework them.
K.L. Brady says
I've got to admit, I like them when they're clever, when they're goofy not so much. For example, I really like the ones in "Getting to Happy" and thought the ones in "Breaking Dawn" were kinda goofy. But that's just me. I don't do my chapter titles until the book is done, and only if I'm really feeling titles. I'm on my third book and so far 2 out of 3 have titles.
SSB says
I title every chapter when I write. When I am reading, I love to figure out what words of the chapter makes the title significant. I view titles as a teaser, an insight of what is to come.
Sandy Shin says
I like quirky, meaningful, and/or abnormal chapter titles; but most of the times, I don't actually notice them as I read.
Eddie says
In some books, I appreciate chapter titles. Books like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter benefit from their chapter headings, which can ground the reader in a book as long as the former or illuminate the text as they sometimes do in the latter.
But in other fiction, particularly literary fiction which comprises most of my reading, I really dislike chapter titles. I don't even like numbered chapters most of the time, preferring simply a new page with the text beginning mid-page, as in A Mile Down by David Vann.
If they're used well, I do like epigraphs or quotations at the beginning of chapters.
gilmiller says
I guess you could say I have mixed feelings. If they're well done, I look at them. The ones that get me are those such as John Maberry uses in his Joe Ledger novels, where they are not so much titles as times and locations. As far as my own writing goes, I'm horrible at titles so I won't use them on my chapters. Just numbers for me, thank you.
Tessa Quin says
I love them. I always study them and see if I can guess how they relate to what's to come.
Dawn Pier says
Like so many others here, I enjoy chapter titles when they are well done. As for my own WIP, I have titles for each of my chapters because they tell ME what is covered in that chapter. They just popped up while I was working on the outline. Not sure if they will stay or go. Some will definitely require revision if they stay, but some of them are fun or ironic or both. So maybe they will get to stay.
reader says
Can't stand them. I think they are stupid, honestly.
I'm reading a good thriller right now and my only complaint so far are the chapter titles, which are alternating between on-the-nose and baffling.
Just say no.
lahn says
It depends on the story. Sometimes I skip right over them or I'm fine with simple numbers. In some books, they really contribute to the story, by making you think about connections.
Sam Wood says
I voted that I skip past them, but more accurately: I forget them. Or I can't keep them in my head (I'm making myself sound really absent-minded, -sigh-). Especially the ones that go, "Chapter Eleventy-One: In which this, this, this, this, and this happen." If I remember the entire thing, then I've got spoilers. If I do not remember the entire thing, then I'm inevitably distracted while reading because I have this urge to flip back every few pages and check my progress through the title list. Weird.
indie-grrl says
I love the idea of chapter titles. They can be suspenseful enough to make me keep reading, even when I know I should put the book down–or beautifully written in a way that just enhances the manuscript. If I'm really absorbed in a book, though, I don't even notice them, and I hate when an author tries to be clever in their chapter titles, but doesn't quite get it right. It starts the next section of the book with a feeling of, "Oh. Why would I want to read about that?"
Personally, I only use chapter titles (and loooong ones) during NaNoWriMo ;D
karen wester newton says
I say either do fantastic chapter titles or none at all. Titles like "At the bookstore" or "Mary makes a friend" are worse than useless.
Marice Kraal says
Chapter titles need to add to the story in some way, the same way every word in the story needs to be there for a reason.
If the chapter title makes me laugh, or adds suspense, or cleverly sets the tone of the chapter, then it's all good.
Otherwise, just leave blank and get on with the story.
Susan Kaye Quinn says
I've noticed a lot of shorter chapters and lack of naming in kids books lately (including YA)…trend?
Mi says
I like chapter titles. I think some are very relevant and worthwhile, whereas others really suck. A lot.
Like, JK Rowling's chapters are good. Very good in fact. I always read hers.
But others are just….terrible. I can't think of any outright examples, but I certainly have read a few and thought to myself "yeesh, what where they thinking?"
amyashleybooks says
If novels were ladies, then chapter titles would be eyeliner. Some can rock it and some can't
Lila Swann says
I usually skip right over chapter titles. Two exceptions: I got Deathly Hallows on the night of the midnight release, and I read every single page from beginning to end. So I literally read the dedication, and then the chapter titles, etc.
I always skipped Twilight's chapter titles (they were usually one-word, vague blandness that didn't matter) until Jacob's part in Breaking Dawn. He had the most HILARIOUS chapter titles, and I enjoyed them very much. And once I realized that Stephenie Meyer actually chose her chapter titles as Bella would have chosen them, I went back and read all of the previous chapter titles and was sort of awed at how Bella-esque they all were. I'm not a Twihard, but I just found that sort of neat.
readingkidsbooks says
I love chapter titles. If well done, they can tell you so much…kind of like a great pitch.
DeannaC says
Not a fan. In fact it's something I just skip over.
ryan field says
This is difficult to answer. From a stylistic standpoint I like neat clean novels that just keep moving forward without interruption.
But I've read great books with chapter titles. And from this poll so far, people obviously seem to like them.
I know I came in here for something says
I like to see chapter titles because they suggest to me that the author has given thought to why the text IN the chapter needs to be thus demarcated and set apart.
Whether the title directs or misdirects the reader, summarizes what is to come or raises intriguing questions, a chapter with its own name lays claim to its own identity, its own main idea, as a building block in the argument of the story.
Thus there is awakened in me the further hope that the book itself has an overarching point to make.
Marva says
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. I ignore. If an author gives me some verbiage, I pay attention.
Personally, I like chapter titles beyond numbers since I'm a fan of pun-ishment. Those readers who ignore my titles lose out on some of the fun.
Sommer says
Most of the time I kind of don't like them. They distract me, like, "Ooh how does this random word play fit into this chapter I wonder?" and I go in expecting something that I'm probably going to be wrong about.
Or worse, the chapter title gives something away I'd rather have found out on my own.
I have seen some cool uses for chapter titles before when they serve a function to the story. I've seen them used well to indicate time/place when the passage of time or the moving from place to place is important to the story.
ClareWB says
I like titles–and voted accordingly. But I'm really wondering what agents think! How did you vote, Nathan?
M Clement Hall says
In non-fiction they have purpose, but not in fiction.
KM Fawcett says
I don't care for chapter titles. They wake me up and remind me that I'm reading a book. I don't like being pulled out of the story magic.
Adam Heine says
Well done chapter titles (especially if there's a table of contents) help me keep the story straight in my head.
Or even better, they help me find that one thing that guy said before they got on the airship, that didn't seem to mean anything at the time, but now I get it and I want to see what else I missed!
That said, though, I have no preference. I'll read anything. It's just that I remember a story better if the chapters are titled well.
ms.gail5325 says
Yes, although I don't usually give chapt titles a lot of thought, they make it easier if I'm reading more than one book at a time. And if I am explaining the book to another person I can find the subject matter with ease.
Right now I'm more upset with not being able to log on Fri night.
uhmmmmm……ms.gail5325
Maya says
Chapter 5: I love them when they are witty and intriguing, hate them when they are spoilerific!
Nan says
I don't really notice chapter titles one way or another, except for Gene Stratton Porter's (early 20th-century Indiana novelist and naturalist) books, where her chapter titles read like this: "Wherein Freckles Strives Mightily and the Swamp Angel Rewards Him." I mean seriously…how can you resist that kind of an invitation to read on?
Dawn says
It depends. Most of the time, if I'm really into the story, I don't even notice them. [Often I don't even notice the numbers!] But if there's a huge passage of time, or POV switch or suddenly we're "back in the 1800s" when we've been in the 1980s–I like a little heads up (nevermind why we'd be darting between the 1800s and the 80s)
Dawn says
And I never use chapter titles of my own. I feel it kind of pegs me down and spells out something that doesn't need to be spelled out. (hopefully).
Ruth says
I especially like the kind similar to the scene titles used in the sitcom FRASIER. Great wit.
Sheila Deeth says
Sometimes I love them. Sometimes I ignore them. But I never hate them.
Weaving a Tale or Two says
Personally, it depends upon the book. As a rabid fan of an incredibly popular series, I was one of the fans who go crazy trying to figure out what the chapter titles might tell us about the forthcoming book.
Except in that case, I don't really pay that much attention.