Chapters or No Chapters?

When you read a novel, do you prefer chapters with titles, chapters with numbers, or no chapters at all?

edited 31st Dec '10 3:59:29 PM by Carbonpillow

Chapters without titles.

I like titles. Nothing is more dry when reading to hit a chapter and it goes "Chapter 13" and nothing more.

Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit were an excellent example of titles per chapter.

I like chapter titles, but it's not exactly a deal breaker if they just use numbers. I don't know that I've ever read a novel with no chapters at all. Excising the pacing and organization that chapters provide sounds a little awkward to both read and write.

I definitely prefer reading a book with chapters, but I rarely notice if they have titles or not. If I do, I like them better without however, but mostly because titles can easily come off as cheesy unless the author is very skiled.

Chaptered over no chapters almost every time. It breaks things up into nice segments that make it convenient for reading, since you might have to put it down at some point and that provides a nice break. It also seems less tiring that way.

I don't really pay much attention to chapter titles, and am rather meh about it unless they're particularly good.

I like chapters, if for orientation for finding good bits again.

Titles are always a nice bonus.

Chapters with titles.

I associate chapter titles with children's and young adult novels— there just seems to be a cheesiness to it. So in kids' books, fine, in more serious stories, not so fine.

I feel opposite, but you're welcome to your opinion.

Of course, I'm a titling junkie and an epigraph whore so I'm biased. Which brings up another related question; epigraphs or no epigraphs? Currently I've got one for every chapter (as well as a title) in my book.

I don't see a reason why to not put chapters in a novel.

I think that chapters are a must, but chapter titles are optional. When pulled off well, chapter titles make the reader want to keep on reading. When done poorly, they sound rather forced and unnecessary.

But whatever you do, don't title some chapters while not titling others (or vice versa). coughMyImmortalcough

Usually it is best to include chapters in a story, while sometimes titles can be appropriate. JRR Tolkien's works are a good example of titled chapters. George RR Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire, on the other hand, just names the chapters according to who the viewpoint character is. Other novels just number the chapters and call it a day. Mort has no chapters whatsoever.

Whether you have chapters with titles, chapters without titles, or no chapters depends on your preference as a writer. I personally like chapters with titles, because they give a storytelling aspect to the story and help the reader remember where they were reading. Also I like chapters that just feature the viewpoint character's name in a multiple viewpoint story, because it tells me who is narrating so I know what I am going to be reading without spoiling the content. At times I like numbered chapters, because I can just dive right into the story.

Be careful if you do not use chapters, because if it is a long enough story the reader might lose their place.

edited 31st Dec '10 12:38:44 PM by EldritchBlueRose

@Epigraphs: I am also a junkie for them. I was actually saving up dozens of quotes to use as chapter epigraphs, although I think I may restrain myself from actually doing it.

I might decide to insert epigraphs sometime in the future. Provided I can find/make up enough witty, meaningful, bizarre, or ironic things to quote either as fictional in-universe quotes or actual quotes.

I already title every chapter, sometimes with seemingly Word Salad Titles that offer no clue what to expect or how to understand it. For example, what could I possibly mean by the chapter title "Cosmic Fairytale"? Do I mean that as an admission that this series really is an old school Fairy Tale In Space? Or do I mean the chapter at hand has the epicness of fairytales of old? Or did I just make a title that sounds that way and has no real context or meaning and you should roll with it? I know the answer, could you figure it out?

Then again sometimes my chapter titles are meaningful and descriptive of what to expect.

edited 31st Dec '10 5:15:21 PM by MajorTom

I always prefer chapters to no chapters. They're useful, and help you decide when to make a break.

Titles are usually a plus, unless they are cheesy and lame. But generally, chapters with titles are better than chapters without.

I dunno, I used the first two chapter titles as a way to hint at some future (i.e. very very much further into the book) information, and from there on I needed to title the rest so I just went with descriptive.

Personally I don't notice chapters, at least not consciously. I suspect this is because I typically read books in 1-2 sittings.

i support chapters simply because they are more practical. who hasnt said some time "ok, just the end of this chapter and i go to sleep"

but titles is a everything or nothing clause. it either helps, like in Harry Potter or Tolkien or.. doenst, but i cant think on a particular example of that right now.

I prefer to have chapters because it makes it easier to reference certain passages during geek-outs. I am indifferent to whether they have chapters or not, because if the book is really that interesting, I skip the titles, anyway. Also, I hate having to come up with titles when I write, so I usually don't invent any for chapters.

edited 4th Jan '11 1:34:15 AM by Koveras

All my writing so far has been on the internet, so when posting it's either a one-shot or the story has to be divided into chapters. I usually title chapters on fic archives because it seems like a wasted opportunity not to.

In books, I don't usually notice if the chapters have names or numbers. Heck, sometimes I'm halfway into a book before I notice there's no chapters, just scene double space breaks. Even if they are labeled, I've forgotten what the chapter name is by the time I've read two pages in.

edited 4th Jan '11 12:14:51 AM by MildGuy

I use chapters to break the story down into smaller parts of the overall whole and as a tool to make it easier to edit and reference. I keep the story in separate Word docs by chapter, whereas before the whole thing was a single file; that file got to over 600Kb, so it was harder to find specific things.

As for epigraphs, that's a tricky thing, I think. Bible quotes can come off as pretentious if chosen poorly. I think an epigraph should encapsulate the theme or mood of the chapter it prefaces; starting a downer chapter with a happy epigraph makes for Mood Dissonance.

Chapters to no chapters, definitely. It helps me keep track when I don't have a bookmark.

I do prefer clever, witty chapter titles to simple numbering, but simple numbering to cliched or unimaginative chapter titles.

Epigraphs can be good, if more likely to be done poorly than chapter titles. I find it best to be an either/or thing, though. Either chapter titles or epigraphs, but not both. That's a little much. Maybe if it's only the occassional epigraph in a story with chapter titles, it might work, but I still feel like if you're going to bother to do epigraphs, you should do them with every chapter. And of course, you can't title some chapters, but not all of them, unless it's part of a joke.

Epigraphs can easily come out bad though, because what the writer thinks is dramatic or deep, sometimes the reader thinks is pretentious or cliched. And if the story takes place somewhere outside of our reality (eg. a lot of fantasy), it really shouldn't be a direct quote from real life. Old proverbs and the like can work, but having a real quote, attributed to a real person that doesn't exist in the story's world comes off as a little jarring to me.

You're allowed to use song quotes for epigraphs occassionally. You are not allowed to use them on on every chapter. That borders on Song Fic. And that's terrible.

edited 6th Jan '11 8:00:54 PM by Stranger

Also, I like Chapter Titles. In one book (a book in The Chronicles Of Vladimir Tod, which I don't understand why it doesn't have a page, I think), the protagonist's best friend suggests to send a Mac Gruffin to an antagonist by using Fed-Ex. The next chapter's title? 'Maybe Fed-Ex Was a Better Idea'.

Honestly I don't read epigraphs when they appear with each chapter, and not even most of the time when they're at the front of the book. Unless they're fake-quotes/info from within the story's reality (Otherland is a good example).