I always number and title my chapters or parts in a short story. Chapter 1 A Dark Secret Well, at least, that's what I always do.
there are certainly exceptions to the rule, like dostoevsky's 'brothers' and atwood's 'assassin' but it's still true that most books for adults do best without chapter titles...
Not necessarily. My favorite "adult" books actually use chapter titles to their advantage. Like said above, it mostly depends upon the genre and type of book it really is. Sometimes chapter titles add to the book, and sometimes they take away from the enjoyment of the book.
I think if you're using titles consciously, for a specific reason within the context of your story, then go for it. But usually I find them distracting if they seem to hold no purpose. Another route is, if your book is long enough, to divide it into sections and name those---basically extra-long chapters. I've found that in longer, more involved books this gives some guidance without the distracting chapter titles.
I prefer to use simple: Chapter 1 I just performed a random sampling from my bookshelf with respect to fiction. One novel had titles only with no indication of nubmers. One had titles and numbers, and eight novels had some version of Chapter One, Chapter 1, or even simply a bold number: 1 for the first chapter. Results from your shelf may vary. Terry
I don't really see why an adult book "shouldn't" have titles.... I mean, it depends on the story itself. I don't think it makes too much sense to decide against chapter titles for the mere reason that it's an adult book. What typically works and what works for you are two very different things. Am I supposed to use numbers as chapters just because it's what the majority of adult books have used? Me, personally, I go by the individual story.... if it's right for that specific story, if it fits well, then use them. It really doesn't matter, in my opinion, if it's an adult or young adult. What matters most is the story itself and what works for it and what doesn't.
hi. i was just wondering.in your opinion do chapters have to have names or can: Chapter 1; chapter 2; be ok as i am struggling for names. if so how do you sudgest you come up with the name
The vast majority of novels I have read over the years don't have anything more than the chapter number. Having said that, my first novel has the date on each chapter because the narrator is keeping a diary of events and it's relevant in that case. Otherwise, no...
the bottom line is that with only extremely rare exceptions, novels for the adult market don't have chapter titles... and even many [or most?] YA books don't, either... but 'tween' and children's chapter books often do...
Chapters - numbers or titles? Just wondering if people generally use numbers or does anyone still use the ?out dated? method of naming each chapter? I'm considering titling each chapter you see, mainly because I don't want to use the word 'prologue', but it's also set years before the main narrative so I've titled it after the event. Just wondering whether to carry this on or not. The rebellion Chapter 1 Chapter 2 The rebellion The prophecy The hunt as examples. Let's assume for the sake of argument that the prologue is warranted and is tidy and fulfills the necessary criteria for being needed (I don't want this to turn into a prologue debate), just want thoughts on titles versus numbers mainly.
I have just read Sprout which was printed in 2009 which uses titles and the God Box from 2007 which uses both. I should imagine the publishers will do their bit
I'd imagine it's just a preference (and maybe even a writing style) thing. If your writing style is blunt and to the point, you might use just numbers. On the other hand, if you are a very vivid writer, perhaps you would have a title that would give a little sneak peak of the chapter to come. Anyway, going off of the examples that you gave us, I think that this one makes the most sense.
I couldn't care less whether the chapters are titled, untitled, numbered, or whether the author even uses chapters (very good Scott Smith book I read did not use them as I recall). If the book is good, it's good and I'll read it. If it is bad, then the manner in which the author approaches chapters is the least of my concerns.
Ha, ha. Yeah, exactly. The chapter name or number would be the least of my concern as well. The only concern I'd have is how fast I could throw the stupid book out the window I think chapter names are good though. They fortell of what's to come and you can read between their letters. T
I can't believe no one's suggested the obvious best system: Chapter the First Chapter the Second, etc.
Granted, this is a year-plus later, but... Siddhartha and The Trial aren't read by many eight-year-olds, but they were the first two chapter-titled books I thought of. Vonnegut was fond of chapter titles, as well. Very frequently, adult novels that are comprised of vignettes will also use chapter titles to define the vignettes--Seamus Deane's Reading in the Dark and Alicia Partnoy's The Little School both employ this tactic. Genre-market adult fiction will very frequently use chapter titles, too. It all depends on what you want to achieve, to echo klittle's previous comment. Sometimes chapter titles can feel overly obvious, and obviously using the 'Chapter 1: In which the hero discovers that he has a twin brother'-style tactic should only be used very intentionally.
I am the only one who uses Roman Numerals instead of numbers? Is this a good idea? I doubt it matters much and if my publisher wants to change it won't be a problem. But since the topic is already here I thought I'd ask anyway.
I prefer Roman Numerals myself. The material i have written so far are usually broken into sections (Most stuff i have wrote has only had around 3-6 charters/sections in the whole thing) and i usually break them down into sub sections with a RN. Just my preference though.
if used for mainstream fiction, it would seem pretentious imo, though might not engender smirks if used for historical, or fantasy...
I welcome chapter titles without any extra text. Chapter 1, 2, 3, etc. is good for me because descriptive titles kinda spoil the story for me. Like, if there is a name of a chapter coming called 'Journey through mines' I'll be like 'noo! I was hoping they'd go through the forest' and read on rather disappointed in advance. But I'm cool with chapter titles that don't give anything away.
i don't think it is mandatory to provide every chapter with a title..but yes every chapter with a title sounds good.
