Comments on: Titles and Headings

By: Steve Stirling

Steve Stirling — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:11:48 +0000

Titles just sorta come to me, usually. I find them easy.

By: Jason Powell

Jason Powell — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:01:33 +0000

I always have liked unusual headings. I know when I was younger and reading a lot of genre fiction and a lot of comic books, the books that did something unusual with the chapter headings really stood out in my mind. The chapter titles of “V for Vendetta” are probably the ultimate example — dozens of chapters, each one starting with the letter “V.”

I recall Peter David doing some weird stuff in some of his Star Trek: Next Generation novels. In “Q-Squared,” he did a story that cut between three different parallel realities, so every time he switched, the heading would be “Track A,” “Track B,” “Track C”. And then the final section of the book — in which people started jumping from one parallel timeline to another — was titled “Derailment.” I think Peter David also did something unusual when he wrote his Borg book (also called “Vendetta,” strangely enough).

And when Chris Claremont titled his chapters of the “Inferno” crossover in the X-Men comic, each one was titled Shakespearean style: “Inferno, Part the First,” “Part the Second,” etc. That made me sit up and take notice, definitely. It gave the whole story a sense of grandeur. (”Inferno: Part the First,” incidentally, has a scene in which four scientists named Dr. Milan, Dr. Martin, Dr. Shiner and Dr. Snodgrass become trapped in a demonic elevator. Where DID Claremont come up with those names, I wonder … ?)

So, I like ‘em, I guess is what I’m saying. Hey, could the first part of your book be called “Prelude” or “Overture”? (Thinking about it now, Peter David’s “Vendetta” might’ve used musical terms like this. Been a long time since I read it, but — pardon the pun — the idea is striking a chord in my memory.)

By: Melinda

Melinda — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:26:49 +0000

Thanks, Jason, Prelude is a great suggestion. I could then use fugue for the other chapters where it all the people introduced in the prelude cross and weave among each other.

By: S.C. Butler

S.C. Butler — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:18:42 +0000

My editor came up with the title for the first book, Reiffen’s Choice. It was left for me to hit myself in the forehead and say, “Well, duh.” My title, The Stoneways, got shifted to the title for the entire series.

But I’ve found I’m getting better at it. My pick, Queen Ferris, worked for the second book. I think the reason I’m getting better is because I decided to name my chapters. With 50+ under my belt, titles come a lot more easily now.

The decision to name the chapters was made because I remember, when I was a kid, how much I loved reading the chapter titles before I started a book, and how much I’d look forward to reading a chapter that sounded really cool. One more way to try and pull a prospective reader in.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 03:16:08 +0000

Okay, so how do you title a chapter? Do you pull out what the chapter is about, or the emotion the events will arouse in the character you’re featuring? That was actually something I considered for book 2. Instead I’m fiddling around with this musical theme, and I’m not real sure it’s working Thanks to Jason the opening section is going to be called Prelude. Richard’s first person sections are presently called ritornellos, but I haven’t figured out what to call the third person chapters that are from the POV of the other three view point characters. Variation? Fugue?

The good news is that I’m not spending too much time on this. Mostly I’m just rewriting.

By: S.C. Butler

S.C. Butler — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:00:26 +0000

I title the chapters mostly based on what the chapter is about. There’s still a lot of room for variation. Titles can be misleading, to the point, bad jokes, whatever. I think what I look for most of all is to try and say something that might hook a reader picking up the book in a store and thumbing through the pages.

By: Gabriele Campbell

Gabriele Campbell — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:37:32 +0000

I have enough problems to come up with decent titles for my books. The Flying Spaghetti Monsters beware me to start titling my chapters.

What I do sometimes give is an orientation:

Chapter 1
(Moguntiacum, August 82 AD)