This week, I picked up a book from a dusty plastic crate stored away in the laundry room of my basement. Many boxed items remain stacked up from my former house sold in 2020. (NOTE: To hear more about the house selling saga, you’d have to read earlier Goodreads blogs circa 2019). BUT, back to the present. I’m always searching for books that capture my interest. I add them to my reading list that keeps growing and becoming less attainable with each new entry. For me. It’s like stocking up canned fruits and vegetables hoping I consume them before facing their expiration date.
The book I discovered, “Lad: A Dog,” was written in 1919 by Albert Payson Terhune, an American novelist, and published by E. P. Hutton. “Lad: A Dog” was first a compilation of twelve short stories and published in magazines. Both the original short stories and the subsequent novel were based on the life of Terhune’s Collie, Lad. The version I stumbled across was republished in 1947 and illustrated by Ralph Ray. Oh, what a find. I love older books in good condition, especially hardcover ones! I opened to the index page, and it was like opening a Whitman’s Sampler of assorted candies! Why? Titled chapters! Yes, creative headings beckon me to read the words and stories underneath them! I realize “Lad: A Dog” was primed for titles since it was composed of short stories initially. Chapters are little stories with their own peculiar beginning, middle, and end that keep me interested in finding out what happens next. Of course, they don’t all have to close with cliffhangers, but there must be some intriguing event that keeps me wanting to read the next chapter.“Lad: A Dog” included such enticing chapter names like “A Miracle or Two,” “Quiet!” and “Lost!” which beckons me to read the book!
When I wrote my first novel, “Unearthing Christmas,” I had great fun creating chapter titles! They kept me focused on writing, especially on days when I dragged myself to the computer keyboard or forced a pen in my hand. “Unearthing Christmas” is split between 1955 and 2015. I referenced some old television shows with chapter titles like “Father Knows Best” and played with expressions with ones like “Bunker Heels” and “Ho, Ho Silver!” Some titles are straightforward, like my favorite “The Aftermath,” which holds the story’s pinnacle event. In all, there are twenty-five chapters, which is another aspect of my writing. Numbers are important to me, symbolically, and any book about Christmas needed twenty-five chapters!
Most likely, my favorite thing about chapter names is easy reference! I remember sequences of a story’s event by chapter titles. I can go straight to a passage instead of an endless search for a thought-provoking statement or sequence that stirred my imagination.
As a reader, I’ve altered my book genre preferences. I read romances, especially Gothic, as a teenager. Now romance novels hold little interest for me. Interestingly, my favorite book, “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens, has no chapter titles, yet the story continues to haunt me! Nothing compares, visually, to Miss Havisham, the broken-hearted, jilted bride in her tattered gown and wedding cake with mice running through it! No chapter names, but WOW, such an image!
My novel series, “The Miriam Chronicles,” will encompass five books with chapter names. One thing I’ve done in the live-and-learn realm is to write down title ideas IMMEDIATELY as they come to me. I used to think I’d remember the spark of a great title a few hours or a day later. Not so! Great ideas can evaporate as quickly as they are conjured up!
If you’re inclined to write chapter titles, consider these pointers:
- Summarize the chapter main event, similar to “The Aftermath” in my novel “Unearthing Christmas.”
- Introduce a new character, or one that shares the limelight, even if briefly. In my second novel, “The Years In Between” I named a chapter “Barb Wired,” a play on barbed wire. The character ends up a spook for the CIA, but I won’t reveal anything further!
- Make it fun! My favorite chapter in “The Years In Between” is entitled “Roamin’ Holiday” about the protagonist, Lori, and her grandmother taking a tour of Europe before Lori starts college. The year is 1959, andthe college bound teen visits the sites experienced by Audrey Hepburn’s character in the movie “Roman Holiday”.
However you structure your book, chapter titles are merely an option. The only requirement is compelling characters, memorable prose, and striking moments that stop readers in their tracks to ponder the story! Happy writing!