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Post by vrabinec on Jun 24, 2015 22:37:38 GMT -5
I think I've asked this before. It seems easier for a reader to remember where he/she is, if you do. But it's a pain to do. Are there any drawbacks?
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Post by Pru Freda on Jun 25, 2015 1:23:31 GMT -5
Coming up with chapter titles is the main drawback for me. Frankly, I'm not sure they help in the situation you describe, Fred. I never remember them in the books I read, and rely on my Kindle to take me to the last page read, then I flick back a page to remind myself of where I am. Or I set a bookmark (if I remember to do so!) if I want to move about within the book.
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Post by lindymoone on Jun 25, 2015 1:28:18 GMT -5
Do you mean chapter titles?
BTW, I'm glad I proofread the above, because it started out as "Do you mean chapter titties?"
What a Freudian slurp.
(Can't stop... Need help.)
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Post by Alan Petersen on Jun 25, 2015 1:32:40 GMT -5
If you mean chapter titles, I do. I use something from within the chapter as the title. Something that jumps out at me and makes me think, oh, that would make a cool title.
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Post by ameliasmith on Jun 25, 2015 5:02:40 GMT -5
Sometimes I number, sometimes I use titles. I also dislike coming up with the titles, and they're often pretty lame, but they give me a good quick reminder of what's happening in that chapter.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 6:11:52 GMT -5
It's hard enough coming up with books titles. Not sure I want to try coming up with 20+ chapter titles too. I'd rather write another couple of chapters.
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Post by vrabinec on Jun 25, 2015 6:13:25 GMT -5
Oops. Yes, title would be the proper word. Sigh. I'm hopeless.
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Post by scdaffron on Jun 25, 2015 8:18:44 GMT -5
Yes, because I don't like the way it looks on the Kindle to just have "Chapter 1," "Chapter 2," and so forth. I make up the names after I'm through editing in the layout phase because I write in scenes, not chapters. I combine several scenes into each chapter, so I end up with between 12 and 15 chapters in the book. That way I don't have to come up with as many titles and I don't end up with 50 chapters or something  |
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Post by vrabinec on Jun 25, 2015 8:37:22 GMT -5
Yes, because I don't like the way it looks on the Kindle to just have "Chapter 1," "Chapter 2," and so forth. I make up the names after I'm through editing in the layout phase because I write in scenes, not chapters. I combine several scenes into each chapter, so I end up with between 12 and 15 chapters in the book. That way I don't have to come up with as many titles and I don't end up with 50 chapters or something I have over 50 chapters, but it hasn't been all that difficult to title them. If I introduce a new main character, the chapter get's labeled by the character's name. If it is set someplace unique, it gets labeled by the name of the place. I think it will make it easier for the reader to go back and forth in case there's something he/she wants to double check. I dunno. I guess the tablet or Kindle or whatever keeps track of how far the reader has gone, right? So it isn't necessary for that. Maybe the reader will skip over something and want to come back? I'm fishing. |
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Post by Rinelle Grey on Jun 25, 2015 8:38:21 GMT -5
My first series I didn't name chapters, just used numbers, then I thought I'd go with titles for the second one. Really wish I hadn't, as it's a pain to come up with them! I don't think they add anything useable to the book, to be honest, so I won't be doing it in future (except for the last book in that series).
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Post by Daniel on Jun 25, 2015 10:05:31 GMT -5
Yes, because I don't like the way it looks on the Kindle to just have "Chapter 1," "Chapter 2," and so forth. I make up the names after I'm through editing in the layout phase because I write in scenes, not chapters. I combine several scenes into each chapter, so I end up with between 12 and 15 chapters in the book. That way I don't have to come up with as many titles and I don't end up with 50 chapters or something I have over 50 chapters, but it hasn't been all that difficult to title them. If I introduce a new main character, the chapter get's labeled by the character's name. If it is set someplace unique, it gets labeled by the name of the place. I think it will make it easier for the reader to go back and forth in case there's something he/she wants to double check. I dunno. I guess the tablet or Kindle or whatever keeps track of how far the reader has gone, right? So it isn't necessary for that. Maybe the reader will skip over something and want to come back? I'm fishing. I love chapter titles, as a reader and a writer. On my own books, I put a chapter graphic, the chapter number, and the title at the start of each chapter. Like this: [chapter graphic]
Chapter 1
In the Beginning
I title every scene at the time I write it, so it's easy for me to go back to any scene in my Scrivener project to check on something or to revise the scene. I don't break the story up into chapters until I've finished the book. When I establish the chapters, I usually choose one of my scene titles as the chapter title, although sometimes I'll make up a new title that better fits the scenes as a collection. In my first book, I did not do a TOC, so I did not title the chapters. Later, I was forced to add a TOC by one of the vendors (Apple?), and then I hated how it was just a list of chapter numbers, which is completely useless to a reader. Now I always title the chapters and always include a TOC. (FWIW, I've since learned that Apple got persnickity because a logical TOC is a requirement of the EPUB specification.) As for titling chapters, here's my theory: give each chapter a title that doesn't mean anything to readers until after they have read the chapter. That way your TOC isn't a bunch of spoilers. For extra credit, make the title something that will make them laugh after they've read the chapter and "get" what the title really means. I avoid using character names in titles unless the character name is the title, the way you have done. That helps avoid spoilers. As for the Kindle keeping track of how far the reader has gone, that can get messy. The "last page read" marker is only reliably updated if you keep your Kindle connected. If you turn off your wireless to save juice, your Kindle won't accurately preserve that pointer. Also, scrolling forward through the book advances the pointer even if you aren't reading. To make matters worse, some writers are putting their TOC at the back of the book (in spite of the Amazon guidelines that say not to do that) because they want more content in the preview. The first time a reader clicks through to that TOC, it messes up the "last page read" pointer. (All of this is why Amazon's new KU page count rule--which appears to be based on the LPR pointer--is stupid.) |
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Post by Becca Mills on Jun 25, 2015 10:11:09 GMT -5
Nope, but not for a good reason. It just seems like too much work.  |
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Post by vrabinec on Jun 25, 2015 10:14:59 GMT -5
I have over 50 chapters, but it hasn't been all that difficult to title them. If I introduce a new main character, the chapter get's labeled by the character's name. If it is set someplace unique, it gets labeled by the name of the place. I think it will make it easier for the reader to go back and forth in case there's something he/she wants to double check. I dunno. I guess the tablet or Kindle or whatever keeps track of how far the reader has gone, right? So it isn't necessary for that. Maybe the reader will skip over something and want to come back? I'm fishing. I love chapter titles, as a reader and a writer. On my own books, I put a chapter graphic, the chapter number, and the title at the start of each chapter. Like this: [chapter graphic]
Chapter 1
In the Beginning
I title every scene at the time I write it, so it's easy for me to go back to any scene in my Scrivener project to check on something or to revise the scene. I don't break the story up into chapters until I've finished the book. When I establish the chapters, I usually choose one of my scene titles as the chapter title, although sometimes I'll make up a new title that better fits the scenes as a collection. In my first book, I did not do a TOC, so I did not title the chapters. Later, I was forced to add a TOC by one of the vendors (Apple?), and then I hated how it was just a list of chapter numbers, which is completely useless to a reader. Now I always title the chapters and always include a TOC. (FWIW, I've since learned that Apple got persnickity because a logical TOC is a requirement of the EPUB specification.) As for titling chapters, here's my theory: give each chapter a title that doesn't mean anything to readers until after they have read the chapter. That way your TOC isn't a bunch of spoilers. For extra credit, make the title something that will make them laugh after they've read the chapter and "get" what the title really means. I avoid using character names in titles unless the character name is the title, the way you have done. That helps avoid spoilers. As for the Kindle keeping track of how far the reader has gone, that can get messy. The "last page read" marker is only reliably updated if you keep your Kindle connected. If you turn off your wireless to save juice, your Kindle won't accurately preserve that pointer. Also, scrolling forward through the book advances the pointer even if you aren't reading. To make matters worse, some writers are putting their TOC at the back of the book (in spite of the Amazon guidelines that say not to do that) because they want more content in the preview. The first time a reader clicks through to that TOC, it messes up the "last page read" pointer. (All of this is why Amazon's new KU page count rule--which appears to be based on the LPR pointer--is stupid.) What's a "chapter graphic"? |
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Post by whdean on Jun 25, 2015 11:18:39 GMT -5
I love titled chapters; gives the book a more epic feel. I suspect it's fallen out of fashion because chapters are shorter nowadays, so there are a lot more of them. A thriller might have 80+ chapters. Not easy to come up with that many titles.
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Post by lindymoone on Jun 25, 2015 11:28:10 GMT -5
Oops. Yes, title would be the proper word. Sigh. I'm hopeless. LOL, Fred! I'm formatting and illustrating chapter headings and covers for a friend's satirical novels. Some of the books do have chapter titles, and for humorous books like these I definitely LOVE them -- but it's important that the titles don't give away too much about the story, don't you think? Here's one of the chapter headings for the first book.  |
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Post by Daniel on Jun 25, 2015 11:55:53 GMT -5
What's a "chapter graphic"? Here's an example from First Moon (screen shot from Kindle for PC)...  I generally use the same graphic/glyph/image at the start of every chapter, although I used separate ones for Finite Fantasy (which is a collection) just for fun. Some writers get fancy with them. I specifically remember the James Potter series had nice illustrations at the opening of each chapter. Attachments:
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Post by lindymoone on Jun 25, 2015 12:05:42 GMT -5
James Potter? Do you mean the Harry Potter books? -- the American ones are beautifully illustrated.
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Post by Daniel on Jun 25, 2015 13:14:55 GMT -5
James Potter? Do you mean the Harry Potter books? -- the American ones are beautifully illustrated. No, I meant the James Potter series by G. Norman Lippert. It's basically Harry Potter fan-fiction, set in the future with Harry's son James as the protagonist. The illustrations aren't quite as good as Rowling's, but I liked them. |
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Post by lindymoone on Jun 25, 2015 13:32:44 GMT -5
James Potter? Do you mean the Harry Potter books? -- the American ones are beautifully illustrated. No, I meant the James Potter series by G. Norman Lippert. It's basically Harry Potter fan-fiction, set in the future with Harry's son James as the protagonist. The illustrations aren't quite as good as Rowling's, but I liked them. OOO, checking it out right now! Cool. Love them. |
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Post by Daniel on Jun 25, 2015 15:32:39 GMT -5
No, I meant the James Potter series by G. Norman Lippert. It's basically Harry Potter fan-fiction, set in the future with Harry's son James as the protagonist. The illustrations aren't quite as good as Rowling's, but I liked them. OOO, checking it out right now! Cool. Love them. I read and enjoyed them (the first two in particular). They're free--as per his agreement with Rowling--so there's not much to risk but some reading time. |
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