Writing – chapter headings

I’ve mentioned elsewhere in my blog that I’m addicted to chapter titles. I suspect there’s no cure for it.

I have no problem with books that don’t have them – either a number ( - 1 - ) or the written word (Chapter One) are fine; they do the job.

Chapter breaks serve to provide a breathing space for the reader, perhaps, or signal a change in scene or direction, or move on from a cliff-hanging end-of-chapter scene. Simple breaks (flagged with asterisks or a couple of blank lines or some other symbol) do the same. Invariably and ideally, the suspense or tension at the end of a break won’t be as dramatic as that at the end of a chapter. In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter, so long as your story draws the reader to read to the next section.

Chapter headings can be convoluted, explaining what is going to happen in that chapter; this harks back to the late 1800s. I’m not keen on those, as a reader I like to discover what happens as the story unfolds.

Some chapter headings are like bookmarks, so if you want to refer back to an event, a key-word or phrase might guide the reader there. 

I tend to opt for the latter. However, I also like to play word-games when I can, without straining to be too contrived.  The heading still has to be relevant to the content, of course. Take for example the two latest books published, Catalyst and Catacomb; for the former, half of the chapter headings refer to ‘cat’ in some way:

CATALYST

1 – Cat among the pigeons

2 – Cat and mouse
3 – Bradbury & Hood
4 – Cat’s tail
5 – Cat’s fish
6 – Catch up
7 – Worrying a bone
8 – ‘Cat got your tongue?’
9 – Cat on the roof
10 – ‘Let slip the dogs…’
11 – Cat and the lion
12 – Catananche
13 – ‘… tear each other apart…’
14 – Malefice
15 – Extinguished
16 – Becoming a habit
17 – In the news
18 – Bear this worthily
 
As for Catacomb, again half relate to a cat:
 
CATACOMB
 
Prologue – Dogs of Law
1 – Cat on a hot wet roof
2 – Marmalade cat
3 – Caterpillar
4 – Cat’s mint tea
5 – Russian blue cat
6 – Paraphrasing Mark Twain
7 – ‘Dirt of the world’
8 – Catsuit
9 – ‘Avenging cat’
10 – Fuller’s earth
11 – Whiff of kif
12 – Catacomb
13 – ‘Call me Cat…’
14 – Hand of Fatima
15 – Travesty of Jackson Pollock
16 – Hugs and nightmares
17 – Last sunset
18 – ‘No last words?’
19 – End it once and for all
20 – Nine lives
 
I’m sure if I tried very hard, I could have increased that percentage, but then it would have really appeared to be contrived!
 
Next month, if you so wish, you can compare the chapter headings in Cataclysm…!
 
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