Destroyer

I've only just started using chapter titles for Genesis. Karmenren worked perfectly well without them.

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"It's always fun until someone gets hurt, and then it's just hilarious"
Ricochet - Faith No More

"Walk softly, and carry a big gun."
Force Commnander - Dawn of War

FMK

I use numbers and titles. Numbers because I like to know how many chapters I have without doing a head count, and titles because, as I've heard countless times, plenty of people like to have some idea of what's going on in the chapter. I don't give it away, but I give away just enough. For example, in an old story I wrote about a year ago, there was one chapter where I introduced a new character named Enira. She had been mentioned many times before, so my handful of readers knew she was an important character. They'd just never actually seen her before. So, I named the chapter "Enira." That gave them some idea of what would happen without revealing the big surprise that Enira was a huge wolf, not a woman.

lilacstarflower

I write chapter titles during the planning stage because i find it more useful. I can get the gist of a chapter from the title without giving away what happens. Since I'm writing a teen book i want to keep them in if i ever manage to get published.

However, as an adult who loves to read i find them really distracting when i find them in thrillers and such - in 'grown-up' books i would rather they kept it simple and just numbered the chapters

Sekaya

I've always liked having chapter titles, but for some stories I've never used them. It really depends on what the subject is on, your audience, and what feels right at the time.

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Ken

I think Alex has it right. I like chapter titles that pique my interest without giving away the punch. Then when you've finished the chapter, you say to yourself, "A-ha! Clever."

I enjoyed coming up with titles for the chapters in my novel. And like another poster commented, it's a great way to ensure that a given chapter holds together thematically.

Btw, I'm new here and just posted on the "Introduce Yourself" thread.

Glad to be here and look foward to being part of the discussions!

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"Doubt is an uncomfortable condition. But certainty is absurd." --Voltaire

*Angel

only thing about most chapter titles is that their usually hinting at something in the chapter, and usually (at least for me) i spend the chapter waiting or looking for what it was hinting at out of curiosity, ignoring most else