I'd like to preface this post by asking your forgiveness. Please forgive me for the lack of creativity that is about to follow. I'm sick and actually curious to know how you'd answer.
What's your opinion on chapter introductions?
Do you like numbers? (For example, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, etc)
Do you like chapter titles that tell you the main subject of the following text? (For example, Cassandra Clare's City Of Bones: 1 Pandemonium, 2 Secrets and Lies, 3 Shadowhunter, etc)
Do you like chapter titles that subtlety give you information but use humor to do so (and take out numbers all together)? (For example, Kiersten White's Paranormalcy: Oh, bite me; A population of nightmares; Not - Me And I)
Do you like chapter headings that reveal more about a character's interests? (For example, Carrie Jones'
Need (her MC is obsessed with phobias): Phobophobia: fear of phobias; Mnemophobia: fear of memories; Didaskaleinophobia: fear of going to school, etc)
Do you notice chapter titles at all or do you just read the story?
Have you noticed another way to introduce a chapter I haven't mentioned?
So, tell me, What's your opinion?
I love Carrie Jone's chapter headings. But then, she didn't use them in her Flux books and I loved those too.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a preference when I'm reading. When I'm writing, either a chapter heading will just 'come to me'. If it doesn't I'll go with just the 'chapter one' etc...
ReplyDeleteWhen I read books and someone has given titles or put quotes or pictures, I find them clever.
ReplyDeleteCool ones:
The Hating Game
Shiver
Delirium
Harry Potter
But if they're not there, I don't care. My recent manuscripts just have numbers. Maybe I'm not being creative!
I like this option: "Do you like chapter titles that subtlety give you information but use humor to do so (and take out numbers all together)? (For example, Kiersten White's Paranormalcy: Oh, bite me; A population of nightmares; Not - Me And I)"
ReplyDeleteBut only if what is to come is humorous, if it's in a murder mystery novel I would refrain.
But all in all I prefer word chapter headlines to 'chapter 1'
I think the titles can be clever but I don't miss them if they're not there.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't care for is quotes or poetry at the top of each chapter.
I don't use chapter titles myself, but I do love something clever a la Paranormalcy or Need. I especially love it when you get an inkling of what might happen in the chapter, but not enough words to know exactly what.
ReplyDeleteGreat question. I don't think I've ever thought about it much. My MS just has numbers, but now that you mention it, I do find chapter snippets rather intriguing. I guess it just depends. Some of them can be good enough to make each chapter feel like you've just read a short story. That's exciting to me. I'm just not clever enough to pull off something like that. Hope you feel better. You need some of my homemade chicken noodle soup and get better tea.
ReplyDeleteOh baby, I do it all! In my MG each chapter has a really messed up title. For example: Chapter One: How to Save a Boy from being flattened into a Pancake. Things like that. My memoir has only numbers!
ReplyDeleteI tend not to notice chapter titles unless they're funny. But I feel like they take me out of the story sometimes, like they disrupt the flow of the narrative.
ReplyDeleteIf a book has chapter titles, I'll usually read them, but I don't really care if they're there or not. Sometimes, if I'm really into a book, I won't read the chapter titles just so that I can find out what's going to happen next sooner. ;)
ReplyDeletePersonally, I prefer just numbers. I’m there to read the chapters, not the titles.
ReplyDeleteI like all chapter headings you mentioned. I've used them in some of my own works, but not in others. It depends. Interesting topic!
ReplyDeleteI usually just read. But most of the books I have read don't label their chapters. It was fun reading HP though and trying to decipher what the title meant before you get it revealed to you. :)
ReplyDeleteI like chapter titles! For children's books, I like the titles to foreshadow what's to come. (I think J.K. Rowling's chapter titles are brilliant.)
ReplyDeleteI like any kind of chapter title. Just a number is boring, but it does make more sense for adult fiction I suppoooose.
I think it depends on the book and it's tone and style. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn books use chapter headings brilliantly to reveal important information. I've read other books that do that too. I prefer just to number my own chapters. Maybe I'm just not that creative about it.
ReplyDeleteI only notice chapter titles when they hint to something significant, otherwise I just pass over them. The problem is that when they do mention something significant than I'm mad because I don't want any hints. I don't like to even have a clue as to what might be coming. So, I guess my stance would be just to stick with chapter numbers. Although, Kiersten's chapter headings were pretty good. As good as they are, though, I'll stick to what I said :)
ReplyDeleteI think if you're going to use them, use them well. Otherwise, just go w/plain ole numbers. I only use numbers, but I notice when they're named. Both good and bad... :D <3
ReplyDeleteget well soon!
I'm really lazy about chapter titles. I personally don't read them even when they are in the book, so I don't put them in mine.
ReplyDeleteI don't notice too much when I'm reading, but I do like creative chapter titles. The thing is, if they come across as sounding like someone is "trying too hard" to be funny/witty/whatever, then it just annoys me. For example, I liked the chapter titles in Paranormalcy, but that kind of cute/snarky style of titles could also very easily be annoying.
ReplyDeleteI think it might depend on how relevant the title is to the chapter - because I don't really like it if the ch. title is put there to be cute and actually has very little to do with the chapter itself.
I usually fly past them when I read - although they do get stuck in my head somewhere.
ReplyDeleteSome authors also use quotes from poems and plays.
:-)
I guess numbers, because I really never notice.
ReplyDeleteI like numbers (or roman numerals) but I don't really care. It doesn't make or break a story for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a preference, actually. They all appeal to me. Maybe I'm too easy? I just love to read so much that I can go any way the writer does!! This was a great post, btw. You never give yourself enough credit!!
ReplyDeleteI mostly prefer plain numbers . . . unless the author is brilliant with humor in naming then. Then I like titled chapters.
ReplyDeleteI love chapter titles as long as I don't have to provide them. As a Harry Potter geek (and moderator on an HP forum) when the finaly book was getting ready to come out, we were dying to get advance information on chapter titles hoping it would give us some hints about the book. Jo had provided those for earlier books. She was not at all accommodating.
ReplyDeleteI loved the titles for the Jake chapters in Breaking Dawn. They were such a reflection of his personality and so different from the others. I think it's great when an author can have fun like that.
I believe that if you vary from the "norm" - Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc., that it really should flow with the story. Your example of Paranormalcy is a perfect one. The chapter titles flow perfectly with the book.
ReplyDeleteOr at least I think so anyway!
I notice chapter titles and they've ruined more than one chapter for me - giving too much info without realizing it.
ReplyDeleteMy fav"
ONE
TWO
THREE...
You get the idea.
I'm not keen on chapter titles, especially if they try to tell me something that should come out in the story itself. I think they can do more harm than good, unless very well done.
ReplyDeleteAs for other things, like verses or quotes at the top of the chapter, again I think they need to be done well or they can sound like pretentious twaddle. I think Frank Herbert used quotations very well in Dune, because they were tangential to the story rather than a part of it, they illustrated aspects of his world, and they were in keeping with the storytelling.
Oooo, good one! Hmmm, the clever ones are cool (HP), but I don't like the ones that give away too much. And numbers are fine, too. You've gotten me to thinking. Now, I need to drag out some of my favorite books and see what they have!
ReplyDeleteI prefer just numbers. I rarely like titled chapters, but one that sticks out in my mind was in Donnelly's A Northern Light, where each chapter was a word she looked up in the dictionary and was closely tied to something that happened in the chapter. It was really clever.
ReplyDeleteI'm an old school numbers guy unless it is really well done with meaningful quotes or something.
ReplyDeleteSometimes a chapter title leaves me feeling worried because I try to work out what it means for that chapter and before I've even started reading I'm thinking, Oh no, is that really going to happen? So, while I've enjoyed some chapter titles, maybe just numbers is better...
ReplyDelete(I've used just numbers, but that could also be because it takes enough creativity to write the darn novel without trying to creatively name each chapter!)
Great question. I like both ways. I've used just numbers, but I've used headings too. it just depends on what hits me at the time to use -- then I keep it running through the manuscript :)
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem with whatever way the author chooses to do chapter headings, but personally, I prefer just numbers.
ReplyDeleteI tend to dive right into the words, so authors who spend their time coming up with clever chapter titles are wasting their time on me. lol
Boo that your not feeling well :(
ReplyDeleteUntil you brought this up, I actually never even thought about it. My brain skims right over the chapter number and/or title. I'm more prone, I suppose, to seeing the number but that's usually just to document my progress in the book or where I left off. Erm, I guess my stance is that I don't notice so it must not make an impact on me at all. Yikes, that sounds bad...but it's true.
PS. I emailed you back :) Take your time in the response I know your head hurts. <3 u!
It depends on the content. I LOVE LOVE LOVE great titles in YA books... the Percy Jackson Series? Best chapter titles EVER! They were also very nicely done in The Book Thief. In my favorite genre, though, Suspense, there is a big risk of it giving too much away. I wrote chapter titles for my first book, but I haven't since.
ReplyDeleteLike you could ever have a lack of creativity!
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a preference although I think I have tried something different each time. In my last ms I put a brief quote from one of my characters. I can't think of any specific books off the top of my head though.
Hope you feel better soon!
Personally I only like chapter titles in fantasy or in chick lit.
ReplyDeleteYes, I notice chapter headings. I notice forwards, author's notes, and epilogues, and excerpts for upcoming novels.
ReplyDeleteI like all the methods you mentioned, to be honest.
But I do think it should be an author's conscious choice, and is, as you alluded to, a stamp by the author.
For instance, Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys" is a cheeky book with cheeky chapter titles such as, and I paraphrase, "Chapter 6: In which we discover something of great importance."
Contrast that with more literary books with simple numerical headers, untitled.
I personally give my chapters working titles when writing, sorta the way you would with a short story.
- Eric
Hi. Just popping by to say thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of whatever isn't going to tell me what the chapter is about before I read it.
ReplyDeleteThey make me happy. It's like...going to the bank when you have money and getting a sucker. Happy feeling of reading with an unexpected sweet bonus! SO DON'T YOU DARE GET RID OF THEM! Smackdown...okay...just a skype smackdown but still a smackdown!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I don't like it that chapter titles give me a clue as to what's going to happen next bec. I like to be surprised. Most of the time though I don't mind. In my own writing I find it taxing to come up with chapter titles so I just number my chapters. :D
ReplyDeleteWhen I see chapter titles I think, aw cute! But when I see just numbers its not like I'm like, darn I wish there was a chapter title. I really don't mind them. So really, whatever the author chooses to do is fine with me. And I agree with Colene- DON'T get rid of your chapter titles.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think it has to do with the book. Yours has a contemporary element (haha, no pun intended) so witty and cute chapter headings are fun. Mine is a more serious, "classic" fantasy so witty and cute chapter titles just don't fit with it. So I just do numbers.
It depends on the book. Some of mine have just numbers - one series has lots of titles - "The torpidity of snot" is the sort of title the chapters have - kinda crazy funny. I also read a book once that every chapter had a cheery title, but it was a horror book - very cool chilling effect. If you title - it has to be done well. I don't care for dull, blah titles.
ReplyDeletenumbers are just fine - not roman ones please