Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Titles of Individual Chapters

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Posted by cesare borgia (Member # 1363) on :

Does anybody do this? I thought it made my chapters look a lot better, and seemed to give them a focusing point, but I'm not sure if A. I can figure out an original title for each chapter, or B. it's even a good idea in the first place.

I know many authors like to have a sort of appetizer before the chapters, (the quotes from imaginary book by Frank Herbert in "Dune", the somewhat odd chapter synopsis in Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age"), and I was wondering how everybody feels about that.

Posted by writerPTL (Member # 895) on :

The project I'm working on now has little interludes between each chapter that really are starting to tell an alternate story, and are kind of serving as the "title" for each chapter. So far that's worked out pretty well for me.

Anyway, I like chapter titles, especially when they're clever, but sometimes it gives a bit more young feel to a story, IMO. I think of Harry Potter when I say this. However, that's not always true, so if it works out, I say go for it.

And I'm a big fan of quotes and little excerpts and stuff at the beginning of the chapter, but only if they're interesting or complement the story. Random stuff can be annoying, but if you pull it off right, chapter titles and chapter preludes can add a lot.

Posted by chad_parish (Member # 1155) on :

I like the quotes at the beginning of chapters, but 9 times out of 10, it's done poorly. The only book I can think of where they did it well was Footfall, Niven and Pournelle:

"We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
-Curchill

"And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods"
-The Lays of Ancinet Rome

Etcetera...

Posted by JK (Member # 654) on :

I agree with PTL; in my opinion, chapter titles tend to give the impression that the target audience is younger than I am. Of course, if the writing is mature (as in the case of OSC), I don't tend to notice it so much.
Quotes are good. I like quotes. I use quotes. But, again, PTL is right. Keep them relevant.
I disagree, though, with chad; I think Frank Herbert used quotes well in Dune, don't you?
JK

Posted by chad_parish (Member # 1155) on :

Quite true, yes; but, I was thinking in terms of historical, rather than invented, quotes.

Posted by epiquette (Member # 1272) on :

I like titles and quotes if done well, particularly invented quotes. They are probably an added risk, though. Also, I don't think chapter titles are necessarily only for the younger; it depends on how they're done.

Actually right now I am having a bit of a problem. My novel is turning out to have more chapters than I can think of cool quotes for. I will try to fish for more, but I am considering getting rid of them all, though that would be a shame. OTOH, I don't want to pad the other chapters with anything 'unworthy.' The other option is just to have some chapters without a quote, but it seems that I should be consistent.

Oh, well. I'm sure it will all work out.

Erk

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

I don’t agree that chapter titles are only for the young. I like a book with chapter titles---especially ones that foreshadow events or that fit very well. It can be a subtle way of slipping in author voice as well. If a chapter is titled Death of an Army, and you have an army fighting, your reader may assume that the army is going to die in this chapter---you can then surprise them, or give them what they thought. But it may make them read on.

Or you can use a name for each chapter title when you switch POV character. If you are telling the story from two POV characters they can switch back and forth and that way the reader has a heads up---though if you do the switching correctly, you shouldn’t have to do this.

As to quotes---I started out one novel that way, with a made up one at the start of each chapter, then dropped them because they got to sounding lame. I use one real quote at the start of my latest novel---I was lucky enough to find one that set the tone for the entire book. There are a lot of sources out there, and as long as you give credit were credit is due, and the person is deceased, you should be fine. Remember though that some quotes could constitute plagiarism. Some of my favorites are Buddhist wisdom or Native American wisdom---from either source you can find a wealth of things to set the tone. And setting the tone is really what I think a quote at the start should do.

Shawn

Posted by SiliGurl (Member # 922) on :

I don't actually use titles for mine; I've got so many plot threads and main characters (about 1/2 a dozen) that I "head" each chapter with a date and location to establish the shift in POV.

Posted by chad_parish (Member # 1155) on :

I found that books by Larry Bond have the best chapter titles. (Red Storm Rising, although credited to Tom Clancy, was actually co-authored with Larry Bond.)

A "vampire" is the US Navy's radio call sign for a hostile cruise missile. Thus, the chapter entitled "Dance of the Vampires" (in RSR) gave wonder foreshadowing. Similarly, "Dire Straits" (in Red Phoenix) was a naval battle in the Tushima Strait. Etc.

But better to have no title than a poor one, I think.

[This message has been edited by chad_parish (edited February 11, 2002).]

Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 1118) on :

Cesare Borgia,

FYI: I believe that Neal Stephenson's "introduce each chapter with a synopsis" style was copied from popular Victorian novels. In this way it fit well with the mileu of The Diamond Age.

My personal opinion is that chapter names can be fun and amusing, but quotes usually seem pretentious.

Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :

I think that Stephen Gould use imagined chapter quotes rather well in "Wildside". It's an excellent book.

Chris.

[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited February 11, 2002).]

Posted by Bardos (Member # 1260) on :

I usually put names to my chapters. But I try to make them witty and not reveal the contents of the chapter. E.g., if a character is about to escape from a dungeon at the end of the chapter, don't name it "Bardos' Escape", for everyone would know that Bardos will escape. Rather, name it "Wandering in half-light", or something like that, that does not reveal what is really going to happen at the end.

Quotes: Because I make alot of chaperts in my books, it would be imposible to think up of say 80 quotes per book, so I don't use them. But they can be pretty nit, if use well.

Posted by cesare borgia (Member # 1363) on :

Thanks Doc Brown, I had no idea that it was anything more than something Neal Stephenson just felt like doing. That's really interesting.

A lot of people are saying that quotes/titles are very good, except that it's hard to come up with good ones each time. The logical answer would be to use good quotes and titles when they're needed, and leave them out when you can't think of anything good.

I wonder though, if readers would just accept it as a quirkiness or actually dislike it? How would you guys (er, and gals, no sexism intended) about using them inconsitantly, say on some chapters but not others?
-Cesare

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

You can use quotes inconsistently and get away with it (as long as you don't set up an expectation that the quote is an important element in your literary composition), but if you use chapter titles, you have to use them for each and every chapter. The only exceptions I can think of is having a name for the first and last chapters and leaving the other chapters simply enumerated, and dividing the narrative into named sections each composed of several numbered chapters.

That being said, I don't think that naming chapters is all that difficult, since an excellent convention is to simply name each chapter for its opening scene. This doesn't need rigidly adherence, so you can put in any special chapter names you think of, and it also justifies using a chapter name twice without causing your audience to blink an eye. There are other useful chapter naming conventions, like character names (already mentioned, but I would add that you needn't restrict yourself to POV characters), or perhaps milieu elements from your story that appear in that chapter (Mt. Rouscanaz, The Grey Forest, Throth Hill, Daxhabag, etc.).

As for quotes, I think that you should limit the quotes you use by some theme that is sufficiently broad to provide a good variety of quotes but defined enough to be easily recognizable. For instance, if you take all your quotes from Civil War Generals, then you'll have quotes for most occasions, but your reader will rarely wonder why you didn't quote Claustwitz or Poe or Plato on some point that they are generally considered definative. The same is true for the Old and New testaments (with the advantage that many Bible editions have exceptionally good indexes so you can find a relevant quote easily), the Tao Te Ching or Sun Tzu's Art of War (with the advantage that both are pretty short and concise), any respectable edition of a well known encyclopedia (but avoid online and CD-ROM versions, quoting from those will make you appear...downright lazy, as will quoting the dictionary), and a good biographies of a given individual of historic importance.

The evident source of all your quotes should be quotable (meaning no plagery issues as well as providing interesting and relevant quotes), and it should bear some relationship to the story itself or some theme developed in the story. You can use Bible quotes for just about anything, but if you're using Civil War Generals, then your story should be set within a tragic war, or in the 1800's, or about soldiers and generals, or something like that.

Limiting your sources to only one or two related sources will make it much easier to find interesting and relevant quotes, which is the main reason I suggest it. Again, if you set up the expectation that every chapter will have a Old Testament or Tao Te Ching quote, don't throw in even a New Testament or Sun Tzu quote, and especially don't throw in a Civil War General's quote.

Also, feel free to choose a quote that you are going to demonstrate unreliable in the course of your chapter. If you are about to write about a prostitute with a heart of gold in your next chapter and you're using Bible quotes, don't feel constrained to use the story about the harlot that helps the Israelites capture a city--'tis just as good (or a little better) to use the proverb about how a wicked woman leads men down to destruction.

Anyway, naming chapters and finding good quotes to put at the beginning of each chapter aren't all that hard, you just need to pick a method and go forward.

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

Whew. I thought I was long winded.

I agree with you about quotes, and about chapter names---you need to be consistent.

I think the difficulty being discussed though, was related to making up quotes from a made up source---then running out of steam on them--or having them sound lame. One person in my crit group does quotes at the start of each chapter that are exceptional and sound like they come from a "real" source.

If you can make the reader believe it then is the right thing to do.

I wonder if naming a chapter after the place the scene will take place is as much as a cheat as naming chapters after the POV character for that chapter.

Opinions?

Shawn

Posted by greyscale (Member # 1366) on :

I wouldn't consider that so much as a cheat, Shawn, as a sort of useless effort. I mean, unless the location of the scene is critical, it doesn't seem like it would add much.

For the record, I have read books where that was done--specifically the Death Gate Cycle by Weis and Hickman; great read, by the way, highly creative--and while they didn't seem to tell me much, I also didn't really bother reading them. Heh.

Anyway.

Posted by Bardos (Member # 1260) on :

Whatever you do, you must be consistant. If you put quotes in the begining of a chapter, then quotes you must have in every chapter. If you have the POV character's name in one chapter you must have it in all chapters (though, I never do that, for in my large stories I, usually, write in omniscient POV, about all the characters, so there isn't one main character to name the chapter). The same goes for everything else. Locations, or dates: put them in _every_ chapter, if you choose to use them. Or the classic "Wherein" --eg, Chapter 345, Wherein Bardos wanders in the darkness, trying to claim his freedom. I used this once, but I've stopped, for it reveals much of what the chapter is about. Though, it sometimes gives an epic feel to the story. Michael Moorcock uses this rather well in some Elric stories.

Having said all of the above, you might want to get original! There is no problem with that. You might what to do crazy things with chapters. One has a title; the other a date; the other a character's name; the other a quote-- But try to be consistant in this disorder --i.e., don't start to form a pattern in the middle of the book. (I hope this makes sense!) Remember there is Order even in Chaos; though, we cannot understand it.

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

In my latest book I gave each chapter a title, and then a date at the start of the text. It involved a lot of time travel---so the date at the start of the text was a reminder of "when" the characters are.

I read The Death Gate Cycle. Another that used the POV character's name is Game of Thrones, can't think of the title of the second book right now. I have also seen books that use first person and switch POV's by titling the chapter with the character name---if you skipped the title---you got lost!

Shawn

Posted by Brinestone (Member # 747) on :

On a similar but somewhat unrelated note, what are your opinions on quick setting updates included under the chapter title/ number? i.e.:

Chapter 12
Lima, Peru 3518 AD.

In some ways I think it is a quick, efficient way to switch scenes, especially in a story I am writing now where time and place shifts are somewhat common. On the other hand, it may seem cheap because it is used so often in movies...Is it better to slip this information into the actual chapter somewhere?

Another thought on chapter titles: The Hunchback of Notre Dame looks like a comedy if one were only to read the chapter titles. They include "On the dangers of confiding in a goat," "the story of the cake," and many other absurdly hilarious titles. The novel itself is quite dismal, and so the chapter titles lend an air of cheer to the bleak world, a sort of comic relief that can permeate even the darkest scenes. And after reading the chapter "The story of the cake," I know that the story isn't silly at all, but quite tragic. I have an in with the author. I don't know if this would work on every book, but I like how Hugo used the chapter titles as an integral part of the storytelling. They weren't just for fun, they served a purpose.

[This message has been edited by Brinestone (edited March 01, 2002).]

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

I did that with my latest novel---used a chapter number, a chapter heading (that did go with the events of the chapter) and then a date. I figured since there was a great deal of time travel that it would help.

Shawn

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

Yes, that can be a helpful convention for the reader, not just with time travel stories either. In any novel where the precise timing of events is critical to the narrative, that can be a good way to keep the reader on track with the events in the story.

Posted by uberslacker2 (Member # 1397) on :

This is more of a question. What do you people think of writing sections of a history or false books. Primarily I ask because my current project isn't set on earth. Or at least any earth ever recorded in history. I guess you could call it fantasy. Would it be viable to make up holy books for some of the religions and stuff and quote the made up books? I know this requires lots of extra creativity but would it be worth it?

On naming/introing chapters I have but one question. Is it exactly nescessary to do that as you write? Wouldn't it be easier to finish the story by simply putting roman numerals in it (sometimes I just put breaks and don't even bother to make a significant marker). Then once you're done and you know the significance of all of your events (this sort of relies on the assumption that you don't know exactly what is going to happen) you go back and title the chapters and what not. Just a thought.

the Great Uberslacker

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

Whatever works for you is what is important. My first drafts are a huge mess. I don't put nay breaks in and many times I don't even use punctuation. Every thing just sorta runs together and i jump all over thep lace as far as scenes ect. go.

You have to find what works best for you.

Shawn

Posted by Maccabeus (Member # 1369) on :

Uberslacker> I would say creating fictional books is a good idea, but only because Dean Koontz did it. _The Book of Counted Sorrows_. Actually, I think anything you can do to enrich your fictional world is good so long as it doesn't detract from the story in some way.