Chapters

Hey, guys! Ya miss me?

I know you did.

I am a person who's very hard not to miss.

(*whispers*IamsosorrythistooksolongIamsososorryIamahorribleperson*whispers*)

Anyway, I bet you can tell what this chapter is going to be about by looking at the title.

*streamers fly toward the title*

Percabeth!

Ha ha, no.

This chapter is basically going to cover two areas—naming the chapters, and the quantity of the chapters in your story.

This will be a short chapter.

Brace yourselves.

NAMING!

So, naming chapters is not exactly the same thing as titling stories. With story titles you just need to reel the readers in—once you get to the chapter titles they're already reading the story, so you don't need to spend so much time thinking about it.

Now, it is not 100% necessary to title your chapters… unless you are doing a series of oneshots.

FanFiction by default names your chapters 'chapter one', 'chapter two', 'chapter three', and so forth, but if you're doing a series of oneshots PLEASE name each oneshot a different thing so that we can FIND and DISTINGUISH each mini-story.

But other than a series of oneshots, you don't need to name oneshot stories with chapter names anyway. I mean, why would you? It's only one chapter.

Wait….

*quickly goes and checks a FanFiction oneshot*

Aha! Oneshots don't even have the option of naming the sole chapter!

Okay, then. At least now I don't have to discuss that.

WAIT! I am a liar. I need to speak briefly about twoshots and threeshots and all those other lovely… shots.

If you have so little chapters in your story that it can be considered a –shot, then you don't have to name those chapters either. (But you could, if you really wanted to.)

Now back to the multi-chapters.

If you are doing a multi-chap story, you don't need to name chapters. You have a choice.

Here, I guess, it's okay to be a little silly with naming if you want to… IF it corresponds to the genre. (Like, you won't name the chapter titles of the sad life of Nico 'Rainbows and Unicorns' without a really, really good reason. Like, he's on drugs or something and he sees rainbows and unicorns in his hallucinations.)

Example…

First chapter of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, 'I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher'. This works because the book is a funny book, so you can have a funny title.

-o-O-o-

But how should I name my chapters? Help me, Bookworm!

A few styles of naming chapters off the top of my head…

POVs/Names: If you have alternating POVs in the story (like in HoO), you could make your chapter titles simply the person who is narrating. (But the story better be in the third perspective, then. More on this in a future chapter.)

Similar Titles: Remember those book series that all had similar book titles? (a.k.a. Lorien Legacies?) You can do that with chapter titles too. (I did this in LatWS—all had chapter titles that were something and something. This'll be super-cool if the STORY title was like this as well, and the chapters followed the pattern.)

Whatever the Chapter is About: Most common; basically what happens in the chapter. Oho! Someone dies? Chapter title: Last Words (NOTE: DO NOT REVEAL WHAT HAPPENS IN THE CHAPTER IN THE TITLE. WE HAVE DISCUSED THIS BEFORE.) (Smaller Note: Here is where you have to look at the grade of silliness your title vs. chapter content is.)

Quote: Remember what I said that you could use a quote for the story title and/or summary? You can do that with chapter titles as well… but then the quote has to be just one or two words.

Chapter one, chapter two, chapter tree—I mean, three…: Self-explanatory.

Setting/Time: If the story moves around a lot and is super action-y, then you can Secret Agent it and use the location and time. Or you can do just the setting, or just the time.

-o-O-o-

Oh, but Bookworm, what if my story doesn't correspond well with a certain type of chapter title because of its level of silliness?!

*ahem ahem*

BRING FORTH THE SACRED TEXT OF GENRES!

Now, before I go chivalry on you with all the varieties of this website, I shall grant thee with a pinch of knowledge that will release your mind to ease: naming thy chapters is done the same way as naming thy story itself.

(Old-timey talk. I love it.)

This basically means that for every genre there's a type of naming stories that should be used. (Recommended-wise. I'm not forcing you guys to actually do this.)

Angst/hurt/comfort/tragedy/etc.:
'Whatever the chapter is about', okay, as long as the chapter is sad and depressing like the story too
Similar titles… well, okay.
If the POVs are alternating, then do POVs.
Quotes would be okay

Adventure/action/mystery/fantasy/etc.:
If humorous: whatever's in the chapter (think PJatO)
If serious: then normal counting (chapter one, chapter two, chapter three…)
For either: setting/time

Romance/drama/family/friendship/etc.:
Okay, so these are more lively and upbeat genres. I would say anything would be okay, as long as the titles are upbeat and lively as well.

Parody:
Whatever happens in the chapter with silly titles—that's my best recommendation.

(I know I didn't hit all the genres, but that's okay, because you've got a good idea now.)

The bottom line is, whatever the genre is, the chapter title should be at the same level of silliness.

…Wow. I feel like I just wrote all that out just to summarize it in one sentence.

-o-O-o-

PS: Just because they're chapter titles and not story titles doesn't mean you can just do whatever. If you really can't think of anything, go for plain old 'chapter one', 'chapter two', chapter three', and so on. (Unless it's a series of oneshots. Then just go simple and try 'whatever the chapter is about'.)

QUANTITY!

It doesn't matter how many chapters you have. You can have two or twenty or fifteen ba-jillion.

There.

That was mind-blowingly horrific.

But make the naming CONSISTENT. If you have the title for one chapter a POV, the next a quote, the next something completely different… that is not considered consistent. If you do POVs, then ALL the chapters are POVs. Quotes? Oh, good. ALL the chapter titles are quotes.

(I basically had this entire 'quantity' section just to say that. So REMEMBER IT.)

Now, since I've only written three pages and a half on Microsoft and I feel highly discouraged with the way this chapter came out, we shall do EXCERSIZES!

This is how it works—I give you the title and summary of a story. Then, in your mind, you figure out how YOU would lay out the chapter titles, completely disregarding the list I made above.

Simple?

Good. Because I have no other idea how to explain it.

Runaway
Six times. Six times did Leo Valdez run away, be it from foster homes or orphanages. These are the tales of the road from our favourite runaway.

Over the Rainbow
Somewhere over the rainbow… someone lives a happier life. Somewhere over the rainbow… a child is laughing for the first time. Somewhere over the rainbow… someone's dreams are about to come true, while over on this side someone's are only getting darker. Poems of dreams of over the rainbow.

The Darkest of All Blackmails
High School Senior Annabeth Chase has moved from California to New York in an attempt to leave her old self behind. But she is quickly put in danger when a certain green-eyed classmate gets a hold of her secret. Will she be able to lie her way out of this? Or will the truth of Annabeth's past be revealed? AU

RECAP

It is not necessary to title your chapters unless you are doing a series of oneshots, and in which case it IS mandatory.

Whatever the genre is, the chapter title should be at the same level of silliness. The silliness scale has to balance out.

And, remember, keep writing!

-B. 1756