Why Aren't Smaller Chapters Named?

[Cli-Fi]

Generally I don't see five page chapters or smaller named. Is there a reason for this? I'm pretty good at coming up with catchy little titles for my chapters. I've also noticed that since I've begun to read a lot more, not many Authors actually name their chapters. Is this strictly a YA/Contemporary thing?

 

[j d worthington]

By no means; it dates back a very long time indeed, and can be seen in a great deal of classical literature. It depends on the author's preference and the original venue in which a work appeared (e.g., pulps and other serialized forms often used these as an additional method of catching a reader's eye, somewhat analogous to "cliff-hanger" endings). It largely depends on what one is trying to do with the work, and whether or not such titles add to the overall effect one is attempting to achieve....

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Do you mean that, in a book where chapters are named, there are smaller ones that aren't? I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. I would say that either a book has all its chapters named or all its chapters unnamed, and it doesn't seem to me that it's the bastion of any genre or age group in particular.

Certainly, if you like naming chapters and are good at it, you should do so. I wouldn't expect it to be a deal-breaker, for a publisher.

 

[Dave]

I've never seen any book with some chapters titled and others only numbered. Like the dirty horse said it is either/or. And it isn't an adult/YA thing but an author's preference.

Aside: In Jasper Fforde's books he has no Chapter 13s. He does, however, always put a Chapter 13 in the contents with some odd random title.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I think it also comes down to preference. I don't name chapters, I find it distracting. But I wonder if those who write in an episodic fashion - I'm very linear in my approach - are more inclined to?

 

[LittleStar]

Do you mean, where all chapters are small then they aren't named? Or a mix if both? I'm with the others, I've never seen a mix. I remeber Rothfuss named every chapter, even the ones that were less than a page long.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I'm a compulsive chapter namer.

Not only that but I have quotations from literature at the beginning of each chapter too. It's not for pretentious reasons (although I would say that, wouldn't I?) but because I enjoy doing it and I've always liked that format when I read books too. I know they might irritate some people but if the novel ever gets itself as far as a publisher they're easily chopped.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

It largely depends on what one is trying to do with the work

It helps on eBooks if you have somehow lost the current reading place and to look up stuff as the text beside number on the TOC really helps.

I'd put them in (and even extra chapter breaks) when a WIP to help with revision etc. They can be taken out later.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Jasper Fforde's books he has no Chapter 13s. He does, however, always put a Chapter 13 in the contents with some odd random title

I missed that and I have six of them. I must look now

 

[Brian G Turner]

Generally I don't see five page chapters or smaller named. Is there a reason for this? I'm pretty good at coming up with catchy little titles for my chapters. I've also noticed that since I've begun to read a lot more, not many Authors actually name their chapters. Is this strictly a YA/Contemporary thing?

I have some very short chapters, but I name them all. At the end of the day, it's personal preference - some writers prefer just chapter numbers, some like titles, and some like a little preface of some kind as well.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

Perhaps only chapters with a large number of pages are named to point out the most significant or obvious thing that happens in that chapter. If there are only 4 or 5 pages in a chapter it is probable that only one significant things happens. If a chapter is 20 pages there is a good chance that more than one thing of importance happens. The name is a way to set up the reader for what is about to happen without making them feel like they don't need to bother with reading it. It as also, as many have said already, a matter of preference. For My current WIP I name the chapters, but for the one I have on the back burner, I don't think I will. I will be going for a different feel and naming the chapters doesn't seem to fit.

 

[ratsy]

I have never named a chapter, and it seems rare in the books I read.

I do specifically recall @Teresa Edgerton doing Chapter numbers and a name under them, which worked really well in Goblin Moon

So it can work either way, but like everyone above me said, I don't think it has anything to do with length, just preference.

 

[Cli-Fi]

I have never named a chapter, and it seems rare in the books I read.

I do specifically recall @Teresa Edgerton doing Chapter numbers and a name under them, which worked really well in Goblin Moon

So it can work either way, but like everyone above me said, I don't think it has anything to do with length, just preference.

JK Rowling did it for Harry Potter. Tolkien for LOTR. Those are about the only two examples I can think of.

 

[Cli-Fi]

Perhaps only chapters with a large number of pages are named to point out the most significant or obvious thing that happens in that chapter. If there are only 4 or 5 pages in a chapter it is probable that only one significant things happens. If a chapter is 20 pages there is a good chance that more than one thing of importance happens. The name is a way to set up the reader for what is about to happen without making them feel like they don't need to bother with reading it. It as also, as many have said already, a matter of preference. For My current WIP I name the chapters, but for the one I have on the back burner, I don't think I will. I will be going for a different feel and naming the chapters doesn't seem to fit.

That may just be the answer.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I name my chapters whilst I'm writing because otherwise I can never keep the numbers straight.

 

[Cli-Fi]

Do you mean that, in a book where chapters are named, there are smaller ones that aren't? I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. I would say that either a book has all its chapters named or all its chapters unnamed, and it doesn't seem to me that it's the bastion of any genre or age group in particular.

Certainly, if you like naming chapters and are good at it, you should do so. I wouldn't expect it to be a deal-breaker, for a publisher.

No. No. That's not what I meant and/or said. I didn't even mention larger chapters. I just noticed that books with smaller chapters say an average of five pages per chapter, don't generally have names.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Most books don't have chapters named at all. It's not about short versus long chapters, it's simply not the norm. For me I always use numbers. Finding names that hint at what happens in a chapter but don't give the game away is a major brain strain. And some of my books have had over a hundred chapters.

But I do think if you wrote a book with lots of smaller chapters, that means more names to come up with - an extra incentive not to do it.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[thaddeus6th]

I like naming chapters. It seems a little odd to me to spend so much time finding the right words for the whole book (including the title) and then just numbering the chapters [doesn't bother me, as a reader, though]. Plus, it's a good opportunity to mislead the reader or have a little joke that only becomes apparent later.

 

[Cli-Fi]

I like naming chapters. It seems a little odd to me to spend so much time finding the right words for the whole book (including the title) and then just numbering the chapters [doesn't bother me, as a reader, though]. Plus, it's a good opportunity to mislead the reader or have a little joke that only becomes apparent later.

Yeah that's kinda what I've been doing the titles of my chapters in my new WIP are almost like humorous taglines.

 

[Denise Tanaka]

In my first few passes at rough draft, I don't put chapter breaks at all. I put the little scene-stopper mark and keep going.