On Friday I posted a blog about chapter numbering, with the promise that I would later bring you chapter naming. Well never fear, my SpiderReaders, I am here to deliver on said promise! Today's post is all about what kinds of chapter naming conventions you might use to your advantage.
1. Before the Name
Before you even name the chapter itself, ask yourself--is it even a chapter? Or is it, perhaps, a Stave?
For those of you who don't recognize the reference right off the bat, one of the most famous classical English writers was a man by the name of Charles Dickens, and one of his most famous stories is a little number by the name of A Christmas Carol.
A Christmas Carol is divided into Staves instead of chapters, because a Stave is the song equivalent of a stanza (which is the poem equivalent of a paragraph) and Charles Dickens was a clever little shit back in the day.
I ONE HUNDRED PERCENT approve of any efforts you may have to improve upon this model; do you want to have staves? Verses? A chorus? Is your story modeled after a Greek Tragedy? Why not have a fucking Stasima, Strophe and Anti-Strophe and all! Does poetry feature heavily in your work? Divide it into stanzas! Does theatre feature heavily in your novel? Divide it into Acts and Scenes!
Or, if that seems too gimicky or just doesn't fit with your story? Stick with chapters. No one will fault you; chapters are the default for a reason.
2. POV/Place Shifts
One simple way to name chapters is as a way to announce POV shifts. Neal Shusterman does this in his series Unwind by naming each chapter after whichever character's head we're in. It's simple, it doesn't require much energy, and it automatically lets you know whose hands are on the wheel, so you're not fumbling around in the dark or left with POV whiplash. As a writer, it can also help keep you from sliding into omniscient third person if you're trying to write in limited third.
If you tend more toward omniscient third and dealing with a large cast, you can do this with groups, too--in my WIP Captive Stars, I use the name of the packs that the characters belong to, which narrows the focus of the chapter and keeps POV switch whiplash to a minimum.
Or, if your POV is more stable (or less), you could name each chapter using the area in which it takes place (useful for travel stories) or the time/date. Or you can combine the methods.
Again; short, simple, straight-forward.
3. Suit The Mood
In a light-hearted book, or for light-hearted chapters, sometimes a play on words is in order; in one of my WIPs, I introduced the protagonist, Ben Desdon, in a chapter called "Ben There, Desdon That," because I'm a fucking loser and Ben is the kind of loveable dork-ass that would not only make that pun, but giggle uncontrollably all the while.
Because I'm an unforgivable swarm of linguistic humor, I take advantage of every opportunity I can to make the chapter titles into jokes; I have lots of fun with it.
But I'm just as eager to turn a poetic phrase when the chapter is more serious; "Of Mortal Concerns," for instance, is a great title name for a chapter concerning death, or if your books is about immortals, the literal concerns of mortals as compared to those of the Gods. This technique is great for foreshadowing events to come without being heavy-handed, too.
Basically, using witty one-liners or quick poetic quips as your chapter heading can help set the mood and get the audience into the mindset you want them in.
4. Hyper-Descriptive
And sometimes, much like a textbook chapter heading, you just want a chapter title that'll tell it how it is; Mark Twain was fond of this one, and used it in Tom Sawyer. It lets the audience know what we're in for, and has the secondary use of letting kids who didn't read the assignment save the tiniest bit of face because at least they can check the chapter heading for a clue!
This type of chapter heading has pretty much completely gone out of style, but it's an option if you wanted to revive it. I think it could be of particular use in a first-person narrative, where the protagonist can be assumed to be the one writing the chapter names, or if the narrator is established to be heavily descriptive or overly technical in their writing.
What's your favorite method for naming chapters? Are you particularly attached to any one method, or does it depend on the project? Are there any other methods you like the use?
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