Writers, How Do You Come Up With Chapter Titles?

[Aceinthehole]

Sometimes when I write chapter titles just naturally come to me. They come from the main point of the chapter, or just a line that sticks out to me. 

 

Yet, there are also moments when I can't for the life of me think of anything. It seems like a shame when I write a chapter I particularly like but can't do it justice with a good title. 

 

So, fellow writers, what's your processes for coming up with a good chapter title?

Edited June 4, 2018 by Aceinthehole

[FormerMember4]

I have a similar approach. Use something that stands out, or encompasses the feeling. Like the time I remarked (It was the slap heard around the world). You said you almost used it. I think a chapter title should grab like the story title. It’s just as important.

[Carlos Hazday]

The first 72 chapters of my CJ series were all Bruce Springsteen song titles. Not sure how I started that. Probably began writing during one of my periodic binge listenings. I've experimented with several other approaches since. My current method is to use the initials of the story title and Roman numerals. It makes it very easy to know what chapter and story notifications about reactions or comments refer to. 

[northie]

I do think a title for a chapter is important. Not essential, but it is there to draw people in. Perhaps those who are not your usual readers? Of course, people like @Carlos Hazday could probably call their chapters anything they want,  . Me, I've got to be more creative. Yes, it's usually a word or two that sums up the chapter, hopefully something slightly oblique, not in your face.

[Carlos Hazday]

@northie

 

Not sure how I feel about that comment! LOL

 

Series readers probably don't care after they're hooked but at the same time it's hard to attract new ones while in the middle of book 9. Whenever I gat around to a new multi-chapter story I'll most likely use titles again.

 

I think titles are more important in serial postings than in the real world. Peddling a chapter at a time is harder than trying to sell a whole book.

[northie]

2 minutes ago, Carlos Hazday said:

Series readers probably don't care after they're hooked

I was only teasing ... But yes, that was what I was thinking of - long-running series with a dedicated readership.

[Brayon]

Depends on the story, and if I'm doing more than one "chapter." I like chapter titles that are linked to the content of the chapter itself. However, I totally borked one story here on GA with the chapter titles.

[Aceinthehole]

On 6/4/2018 at 2:51 PM, BlindAmbition said:

I have a similar approach. Use something that stands out, or encompasses the feeling. Like the time I remarked (It was the slap heard around the world). You said you almost used it. I think a chapter title should grab like the story title. It’s just as important.

 

I agree. That was a great suggestion. It was one of those chapters where I could't fully decide on a title!

 

23 hours ago, Carlos Hazday said:

The first 72 chapters of my CJ series were all Bruce Springsteen song titles. Not sure how I started that. Probably began writing during one of my periodic binge listenings. I've experimented with several other approaches since. My current method is to use the initials of the story title and Roman numerals. It makes it very easy to know what chapter and story notifications about reactions or comments refer to. 

 

23 hours ago, Carlos Hazday said:

 

Series readers probably don't care after they're hooked but at the same time it's hard to attract new ones while in the middle of book 9. Whenever I gat around to a new multi-chapter story I'll most likely use titles again.

 

I think titles are more important in serial postings than in the real world. Peddling a chapter at a time is harder than trying to sell a whole book.

Haha The Boss! I love it! It's really interesting you use roman numerals, it's something I personally wouldn't do, but I imagine it creates a cool aesthetic and feeling to your stories. I have a slightly different opinion, so it was really interesting to read your take on it. Thanks for sharing!

 

23 hours ago, northie said:

I do think a title for a chapter is important. Not essential, but it is there to draw people in. Perhaps those who are not your usual readers?  hopefully something slightly oblique, not in your face.

 I agree. I think the right chapter title can catch someone's eye while they're scrolling and pull them in.

5 hours ago, BHopper2 said:

Depends on the story, and if I'm doing more than one "chapter." I like chapter titles that are linked to the content of the chapter itself. However, I totally borked one story here on GA with the chapter titles.

Interesting, I think I may start focusing on making sure chapter titles directly relate to chapters. Of course while using Northie's advice for them not to be too in a reader's face.

[Timothy M.]

I suck at coming up with chapter titles, but I always have them in my ongoing stories, because I dislike coming back to my favorite stories (by other authors) and being unable to find the chapter I want to read again which is what happens if they just have chapter numbers.

 

You should check out the stories and ask the advice of two GA masters at chapter titles : @AC Benus and Gary aka @Headstall

[FormerMember4]

6 minutes ago, Timothy M. said:

I suck at coming up with chapter titles, but I always have them in my ongoing stories, because I dislike coming back to my favorite stories (by other authors) and being unable to find the chapter I want to read again which is what happens if they just have chapter numbers.

 

You should check out the stories and ask the advice of two GA masters at chapter titles : @AC Benus and Gary aka @Headstall

I agree! I can handle how @Carlos Hazday does chapter name and number. There is nothing worse than seeing chapter 20, ok... Which dang story does that belong to?

[Carlos Hazday]

11 minutes ago, BlindAmbition said:

I agree! I can handle how @Carlos Hazday does chapter name and number. There is nothing worse than seeing chapter 20, ok... Which dang story does that belong to?

 

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's easily confused.

[Superpride]

I read a young adult book with a gay main character a few years ago that used a significant dialogue quote from each chapter as the chapter titles.  I thought that was very unique, and it really helped me to know what to anticipate before reading the chapter.

[Pmsingtiger]

I put the most random thing that comes to mind, or the song I'm listening to as I write the chapter. My story Little Miss Who has all its chapters based on a country song. 

[Mikiesboy]

Chapter titles have to relate what is in the chapter, at least for me.  I normally dont have issue thinking up story or chapter titles. Usually they come while i'm writing.

[CassieQ]

I usually don't title my chapters until I am posting them on GA.  Then I usually go with something significant that happened that chapter.  However, I am bad about naming stories and occasionally chapters, after song titles, it's a habit I'm trying to break.  

[Billy Martin]

What Ace said in the beginning.

[Sasha Distan]

Song titles are a big thing for chapter titles. But usually i choose if a story is going to have chapter titles or not, and the ones that so, I make it part of the planning and keep lists and ideas. Like, all the chapter titles for Tiger Winter had to be one single word, so those were sometimes tough to think of, but the ones from Summer Camp were based on the theme of the chapter and a much looser format, and they came quite easily.

 

lists, lists, and more lists! Lists are your friend.

[Thorn Wilde]

In my Nemesis series, the chapters are all named for songs by Placebo, which is my protagonist Nick's favourite band (and one of mine, obvs). In Lavender and Gold, all the chapter titles start in 'The', and are then somehow descriptive of the chapter's contents. Most of the time when I write, though, I don't really do chapter titles, unless something really clicks with it for me. In Storms, the chapters aren't really titled, except with the name of the character whose point of view the chapter is from.

[Former Member]

Some TV series have patterns for how each episode is titled. The Big Bang Theory uses pseudo-scientific phrases. Friends was famous for their “The One with…’ names. Mr Robot gives each episode a number (season number, decimal point, episode number – episodes beginning with zero as a computer would number them) and a name. I’ve noticed a few occasions where paired episodes have linking names (as in Two is Company for one episode, and Three is a Crowd for the other, although I can’t remember what the combination was). I would think the theory is similar…  ;–)

[MrM]

Musical Outline or a phrase in the chapter that sums up its theme. Often these are interchangeable.

 

I based The Seashell on a concept album by Brothertiger and so some of the titles are song names with the song included in the story itself because they are intermixed conceptually.

 

I also put location names as a title if my story is jet-setting around the world. Each location is key to what the story is about so it becomes part of the chapter title.

 

For Brandon Smiling, I use @Comicality's model since the story is reflective of his Billy Chase story.

Edited October 12, 2018 by MrM

[Thorn Wilde]

I seem to recall an anime or something where each episode was titled after a classical music expression. Like, Andante, Allegro, Prelude.

[MrM]

1 minute ago, Thorn Wilde said:

I seem to recall an anime or something where each episode was titled after a classical music expression. Like, Andante, Allegro, Prelude.

 

I actually named a whole short story (which also became the Chapter Title) after Adagio as the story's theme is an emotional echo of Berber's Adagio for Strings.

[Solivagant]

I am not a writer, but if I were and I could not find a name for a chapter, I would think about the sensation that that chapter is making me feel and I would name it after it. What about naming it after a phrase that a character said during the chapter, or an important place depicted in it? Maybe naming it after a character who stood out in the chapter? I hope that this helps.