Forum: Author Hangout

On an almost unrelated topic (thread drift while the thread is new), there are some authors that kinda/sorta describe what the chapter is about. Like "Chapter 27, Off to University." Or "Chapter 69, Mutual Oral Sex." Why do they decide to do that and how do they think of the descriptions? Is it foreshadowing or just giving away the plot of the chapter?

I use chapter names to make it easier to remember where you are in the story, the numbers are real easy to mix up. I select the name to give an idea of what the main aspect of the chapter is. That also helps me to focus on what should be in the chapter. It also means there are no issues when I use a sub-chapter as well.

I use Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. so I can't help.

One of the benefits of being an author is getting to make those decisions, I don't want to take any of their super-powers away with reviewer kryptonite, but are there explanations mere readers can learn to improve the awe we feel in the presence of greatness?

Richard,
back in the early days of SOL, posted chapters exceeding a certain length were chopped into appropriately sized sub-chapters, i.e. 15A and 15B. Those divisions were akin to what we have now when a chapter is divided into pages. I don't know if those old postings were ever changed to fit the new format, so that may be a reason for some of the A's and B's in old stories.
I used chapter titles in most of my stories. They were meant to set a theme for the chapter and serve to help readers find a chapter they may want to re-read.
In one case, Pelle the Collier, I used elaborate titles pre-telling the events in the chapter. This was to mimic the style of early novels - before 1800 - where it was customary to give such previews.
So far, nobody complained, but then again, there were preciously few super-villains among my readers.

I gave up naming my chapters "Chapter XX". I think it was Switch who suggested it was redundant, as everyone already knows it's a chapter, and just using the chapter number leaves more room for the chapter title. I also use leading zeros just so the chapter indexes (in the Table of Contents) line up, so my first chapter will be "01: Introductions".

As for the chapter titles, I'll admit, I like to get clever, sometimes poking fun at the direction the story takes. I try not to include story spoilers, but I've been accused of that in the past. Instead, I prefer making a clever pun which is only apparently once the chapter is nearly finished. It's more of an art than science, and I'm not sure how successful I am. However, on my website I have story index pages and the chapter titles help there, where they wouldn't reading the story a chapter at a time.

As far as partial chapter numbers (Chapter 23.35a), I'm against those. Readers want to see a completed story, not a work in progress. If a chapter multiples into two, then add the full damn chapter. I did that once, where the entire chapter incorporated one even, and I named it "Chapter Name (Part I)" and "(Part II)". That seems much more straight forward than trying to fit them into a pre-existing story outline.

I'll admit, though, I read a book recently (I forget which) where the chapter header consisted only of a number and a small graphic in the upper left corner of the page. It was so simple and elegant (and would save substantial space in a longer story) that I fell in love with it. I may have to try it myself at some point.

I seem to switch back and forth. There have been times where I write a story and it gets nothing but "Chapter One", "Chapter Two"... Other times, I'll put a chapter title on it.

With me, it's a matter of inspiration. If I have an idea for a chapter title, I'll put it on the page when I'm writing. If I do it for the first chapter, I'll TRY and title all of the chapters. If I don't get that inspiration, I'll just go with Chapter One.

Why do they decide to do that and how do they think of the descriptions?

I already answered the main thrust of this earlier, but forgot to include an important point of using chapter names. Each chapter and sub-chapter is supposed to have a specific theme, when the theme changes it's a new chapter or sub-chapter. When planning the chapter I set out the theme for it, and then assign a name that states or implies an important aspect of that theme. However, between when I start the chapter and when I finish the chapter the actual name will frequently change because I fine tune how I want to define the theme for that chapter / sub-chapter.

A good example is the book I'm currently working on has a chapter titled: High-school Life with two sub-chapters titled Homecoming Dance and School Life Overall. Thus the chapter theme is defined and I have two sub-chapters defining specific aspects within that theme that requires a lot of expansion.

The names helps me to keep focussed on the theme of that chapter or sub-chapter.