Chapter names are cool if done right

What’s the tone of the book? What’s the tone of the chapter? Does it add to the experience for the reader?

Those are the questions I feel you should be asking yourself.

If you’re just into it because you think chapter titles are bitchin, go for it. It isn’t necessary, however, but I dig them if done right.

I don’t like it when the chapter title reveals too much. I want to that to happen as I read.

If each chapter follows a different character or a new character is met, consider just using their name. Or the name of a new location. Or a single word that describes what’s going on, such as Run. Hide. Fly.

If the book is humorous, for sure make the titles funny. Your hero finds out that he’s finally getting a date with that girl, and it ends in disaster? Damnation. Or the sarcastic version: Winning.

For a horror: Darkness, The Short Kiss Goodbye, Dissolved.

You see how the tone matters?

If it is a chore to do them and they don’t come naturally, don’t force it. You probably don’t need them.

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