Chapter titles: 118 chapter title ideas and how to write them

Chapter titles are the names a book gives its chapters, instead of a bare number or beside it. They are optional: plenty of novels, Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby among them, use numbers alone. When a book does use titles, most come from a short list of types: a line from the chapter, a place or time, a character's name, an object, a theme word, a question or an ironic understatement. Below are 118 ideas, grouped by type.

Treat the ideas as patterns rather than titles to copy. Each one comes with a note on the kind of chapter it fits. Pick the type that suits your book, then go back to your own pages for the words.

Do you need chapter titles?

No. A number is a perfectly good heading, and in a lot of adult fiction it is the only one. Jane Austen numbered the chapters of Pride and Prejudice (1813) and gave them nothing else, and F. Scott Fitzgerald did the same with the nine chapters of The Great Gatsby (1925). George Eliot split the difference in Middlemarch (1871–72): its eight books have titles, from “Miss Brooke” to “Sunset and Sunrise”, while each numbered chapter opens with an epigraph instead.

Titles earn their place when they do a job the number can't. These are the situations where they usually do, and where they usually don't:

Whichever you choose, use it for every chapter. A book that titles some chapters and only numbers the rest looks unfinished, unless the change marks something, such as a new part or a new narrator. If your chapters are headed with the viewpoint character's name, as in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, that name is doing a title's work; the guide to point of view covers how to run several viewpoints cleanly. In a manuscript, keep the chapter number and set the title after it as part of the same heading, styled as a heading rather than typed in bold. The manuscript formatting guide has the settings.

Each choice makes the reader a different promise. Here is one scene under three headings:

None of the three is wrong. The object title suits a book that wants readers hunting for clues, the line title a book built on voices, and the number a narrator who stays out of the way. Choose the promise your book can keep in every chapter, not only this one.

Titled chapters in classic books

Every type on this page has a long history. These public-domain books show the range, from Fielding's jokes about his own book to Milne's “In Which…” and Frances Hodgson Burnett's chapters named after a line someone says.

Two things stand out. First, a book picks a mode and mostly stays in it: David Copperfield opens with a run of short sentences about “I” (“I Am Born”, “I Observe”, “I Have a Change”), and Milne never drops “In Which”. Second, many of the most memorable titles carry information the chapter will complicate. Readers meet “Recalled to Life”, the title of the first book of A Tale of Two Cities (1859), as the strange reply a bank's man of business sends back to London from the night mail coach. By the end of that book it means a man brought out after eighteen years in the Bastille.

Fielding's narrator talks to the reader throughout the novel, and the titles are where he does it most cheekily. They work because they are precise about something trivial: the length, the paper, the fact that the chapter is short. A modern comic narrator can borrow the move, but only if the voice of the chapter matches the voice of its title.

Each title is a line the reader will hear inside the chapter, so the chapter becomes a short wait for it. “I Am Colin” announces a character before his scene begins: the reader knows a Colin is coming before Mary meets him. Modern novels use the same device: the first chapter of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) is “The Boy Who Lived”, a phrase that turns into the hero's epithet.

Titles from a line

A phrase someone says or writes in the chapter, chosen because it means more by the last page than it did on the first.

1. Leave the Porch Light On: a mother's instruction before the storm, and the reason the house is found.
2. Bring a Coat: a grandmother's nagging, until it is what gets someone through the night.
3. We'll Fix It in the Spring: a farmer's promise in a chapter where nothing gets fixed.
4. You Always Do This: the first line of a fight, which tells the reader it isn't the first fight.
5. Keep the Receipt: a cashier's throwaway line; by the end of the chapter the receipt is an alibi.
6. Mind the Third Step: a house rule somebody forgets at the worst possible moment.
7. It Was Already Broken: a child's defense, and also the state of the marriage.
8. Ask Me Tomorrow: a surgeon's answer in a hospital waiting room.
9. Everything Is Fine Here: a postcard home from an expedition that is going badly.
10. One More Hand: a card game that should have ended an hour ago.
11. Close the Gate Behind You: a farm rule, in the chapter where someone leaves for good.
12. Nobody Heard the Boat: a witness statement in a lake-house mystery, true and suspicious at once.
13. Try the Other Door: a locksmith's advice that becomes the chapter's plan.
14. Not the Good Plates: a host's whispered rule that tells you how welcome the guests are.

Place and time titles

A title that answers where and when, so the first paragraph can get on with the scene.

15. The Night Ferry: two strangers share a bench on a six-hour crossing.
16. Room 214: a motel room the book will come back to.
17. Low Tide, 4:12 a.m.: an exact time for a heist, a rescue or a body on the sand.
18. The Kitchen on Alder Street: a family chapter that never leaves one room.
19. The Winter Road: a journey chapter in a fantasy or historical novel.
20. Departures: an airport, and everyone in the chapter leaving something behind.
21. The Last Week of August: a coming-of-age chapter as the summer runs out.
22. Mile Eighteen: the point in a marathon, or a road trip, where things give out.
23. Carrow's Field, 1916: a place and a year for a war chapter.
24. The Back Office: where the real business of the shop gets done.
25. Sunday, Late: one evening, told close to real time.
26. The Border at Night: a crossing in a thriller, every checkpoint a scene.
27. After Closing: a bar, a museum or a bookshop once the public has gone home.

Character name titles

Put a person in the title when the chapter belongs to them, or changes them.

28. Mrs. Okafor Hears Everything: a name and a verb, the pattern Anne of Green Gables uses.
29. Theo, Twice: one character met at two ages in the same chapter.
30. The Other Margaret: the day two characters with one name finally meet.
31. Dr. Halloran Regrets: a formal refusal that turns out to mean more.
32. Agnes, Age Nine: a name and an age for a childhood chapter in a long life story.
33. Enter Mr. Pellow: a stage entrance for a character who will matter later.
34. Everyone Loves Danny: an ironic title; the chapter shows why they shouldn't.
35. Grandmother's Version: a family story retold by the one person who was there.
36. The Man in the Gray Car: a character named by what the narrator sees, before anyone knows who he is.
37. Ruth Says No: three words, for the chapter where the pushover stops being one.
38. Sergeant Ibarra's Notebook: a name and an object, for a chapter told through notes.
39. Whatever Happened to Lou: the chapter that finally answers it.

Titles that name an object

Name the thing the chapter turns on. Readers will watch for it.

40. The Spare Key: someone else has been inside the house.
41. A Ledger in Blue Ink: the books were kept twice.
42. The Dog's Lead: found on the path, without the dog.
43. Seventeen Postcards: a bundle in a dead aunt's drawer, all from the same town.
44. The Wrong Coat: a mix-up at a coat check starts the plot.
45. Salt: one word for a kitchen chapter, a sea chapter or both.
46. The Button Tin: a sewing tin with one thing in it that isn't a button.
47. Photograph, Undated: a picture nobody in the family will explain.
48. The Green Dress: worn once, to the wrong party.
49. A Map with One Road Missing: the clue in a fantasy quest or a thriller.
50. The Cassette: a message recorded in 1989 and played in the present.
51. Rope: one word, for dread.

One-word theme titles

One word, ideally with two meanings, so the chapter decides which one it was.

52. Debts: money owed, and a favor called in.
53. Thaw: a frozen lake, and a cold marriage.
54. Inheritance: the will, and the temper that came with it.
55. Tenants: people who don't own where they live, in more than one sense.
56. Proof: evidence in a trial, or the first printed pages of a novel.
57. Ballast: what keeps a ship upright, and what keeps a person steady.
58. Mercy: the chapter where someone has power and has to choose.
59. Small Hours: between two and four in the morning, when the worst calls come.
60. Quarantine: a sickroom, or a family that has shut someone out.
61. Weather: small talk that isn't small.
62. Rumors: the chapter where the town decides what happened.
63. Wake: the gathering after a funeral, and the trail a boat leaves behind.

Questions as chapter titles

A question in the title hands the reader the chapter's job, as Lewis Carroll does with “Who Stole the Tarts?”. Nobody in particular asks it: the book does, and the chapter answers it. Mysteries lean on them.

64. Who Locked the Chapel?: the locked-room question for a village mystery.
65. Did Anyone See the Car?: a canvass of witnesses, door by door.
66. What Did the Neighbors Know?: a street of twitching curtains.
67. Where Was Paul on Tuesday?: an alibi chapter.
68. Is It Still Raining?: a quiet question in a sickroom.
69. Whose Turn Is It?: a game night that becomes an argument about who does everything.
70. Can You Keep a Secret?: the chapter where somebody can't.
71. Why Did the Bells Stop?: a mystery in a fantasy or historical town.
72. Who Invited Him?: a party with one unwanted guest.
73. How Far to Ellery?: a road chapter to a town that keeps getting farther away.
74. Are We There Yet?: a family road trip, told from the back seat.

Lines of dialogue as titles

Quote a character in the title, as The Secret Garden does, and the reader hears the voice before the scene begins. Unlike the line titles at the top of this list, these keep their quotation marks, so the reader knows someone will say it and waits for the moment.

75. “Don't Wait Up”: the last thing someone says before vanishing for three days.
76. “I Can Explain”: the chapter where they can't.
77. “Is This Seat Taken?”: two leads meet on a train.
78. “You Have His Eyes”: a stranger at a funeral says it to the wrong child.
79. “We Need to Talk About the Boat”: a comic family chapter about money.
80. “Nobody Gets Hurt”: the robbery plan, said aloud.
81. “Call Me When You Land”: a mother's line before a flight that is delayed, then diverted.
82. “Not in Front of the Children”: a family argument the children hear anyway.
83. “I Thought You Were Dead”: a reunion in a thriller or a family saga.
84. “Say It Again, Slower”: a phone call with bad news, or a confession.
85. “It's Only a Scratch”: it isn't.

Ironic and understated titles

Fielding's move: a title that promises less than the chapter delivers. It suits comic novels and narrators with opinions.

86. A Quiet Weekend in the Country: everything has gone wrong by Saturday lunch.
87. Nothing Much Happens: the chapter where everything changes.
88. A Small Misunderstanding: it ends a twenty-year friendship.
89. The Easy Part: the hardest chapter in the book.
90. Light Refreshments: the reception, and the disaster at it.
91. Routine Maintenance: a science fiction chapter in which the airlock fails.
92. A Short Chapter, Mostly About Soup: a nod to Fielding, for a kitchen comedy.
93. Good News: bad news, delivered politely.
94. Everyone Was Very Understanding: nobody was.
95. Minor Repairs: the roof, and the marriage.
96. A Brief Delay: the train stops for six hours, and the whole chapter happens in one carriage.

“In which” summary titles

The form of Winnie-the-Pooh and Vanity Fair: a short summary with a wink. Where an ironic title hides what happens, an “in which” title tells you, and the fun is in how. Best for comic, cozy and children's books, where knowing what happens is part of the pleasure.

97. In Which the Cat Is Blamed: for something the cat didn't do.
98. In Which Grandpa Buys a Boat: without telling anyone.
99. In Which Nobody Mentions the Wedding: a dinner where it is all anyone thinks about.
100. In Which the Detective Takes the Wrong Train: and meets the witness she was looking for.
101. In Which We Lose the Map, and Then the Car: a road comedy in two disasters.
102. In Which the Dragon Is Unexpectedly Polite: cozy fantasy.
103. In Which Two Letters Cross in the Post: a misunderstanding in a historical romance.
104. In Which Our Hero Is Mistaken for a Plumber: farce, with tools.
105. In Which the Party Ends Early: and the reason nobody will discuss.
106. In Which Somebody Finally Says It: the confession every reader saw coming.

Patterns for a whole book

Titles that work as a set. Choose the pattern before you title a single chapter, because it will shape all of them.

107. A countdown: “Seven Days Out”, “Six Days Out”, “Five Days Out”, for thrillers, weddings and launches.
108. One verb, many subjects: “Nora Leaves”, “Sam Leaves”, “Nobody Leaves”, the Anne of Green Gables trick.
109. The weather report: “Fog”, “Hail”, “Clear by Evening”, for a book whose moods follow a season.
110. Rooms of a house: “The Hall”, “The Attic”, “The Cellar”, for a family saga or a ghost story.
111. Times of day: “First Light”, “Noon”, “Last Bus”, for a novel set in a single day.
112. Months: “March” through to “February”, for a year in a life or a school.
113. Stops on a line: the stations of one commuter train, for a novel about the people on it.
114. Recipes: “Bread”, “Stock”, “Something Burnt”, for a kitchen novel or a food memoir.
115. Chess: “Opening”, “Middle Game”, “Endgame”, for a long contest between two characters.
116. The ship's log: “Day 12, 51° North”, for a voyage or an expedition.
117. One event, day by day: a siege, a storm or a search, after the three-day chase that ends Moby-Dick.
118. Documents: “Statement of Mrs. Hale”, “Second Interview”, “Letter, Unsent”, for a mystery told through records, after The Hound of the Baskervilles' “First Report of Dr. Watson”.

A pattern works like a motif: once the reader sees it, they read every new title against the last one. That is why breaking it once, late, can land so hard. If every chapter is a room of the house and the last one is “Outside”, nobody needs it explained.

Which type suits your genre

How to write chapter titles

1. Draft first, title later

   Working titles help while you plan: the chapter outline template gives every chapter a three- or four-word label so you can tell them apart. Final titles come from the finished chapter. A title written before the draft describes the chapter you meant to write.

2. Choose one type for the whole book

   Decide whether your titles will be lines, places, names, questions or a pattern, and keep to it. Use the genre table above as a starting point, then check it against your narrator: a solemn first-person voice and a run of jokey titles will fight each other.

3. Reread the chapter for its line

   Look for a phrase, an object or a place that means one thing when the reader meets it and something else by the end, the way “Recalled to Life” does. The best candidates usually sit near the chapter's turn, the moment something changes. If you are not sure where that is, the guide to chapter structure covers how a chapter is built around one.

4. Point at the chapter, not at its outcome

   Name the object, the place or the line rather than the result. “The Spare Key” makes a reader curious; “Ellen Finds Out” tells them what they are about to learn. The exception is the “in which” summary, where knowing what happens is the joke. Test each title by asking what a reader could guess from it before reading the chapter.

5. Read the titles as a contents page

   List every title in order and read it straight through. Vary the lengths, cut repeated words, and check that the list hints at the shape of the book. Give the last chapter a title that sounds like an ending: Dickens and Stevenson both closed a novel with “And Last”. Then send the list to a beta reader with one question: which three titles make you want to read the chapter, and which three could belong to any book?

   If the novel is a Strokes project, you can also ask the Strokes Assistant to review it and tell you which titles repeat a word, break the pattern you chose or give away a chapter's turn.

6. Check how the titles will be printed

   Chapter titles appear in the table of contents, part of the front matter, and printed books often repeat them in the running heads at the top of each page. A fourteen-word title may need a shorter version for the running head, so decide early whether long titles are part of the joke.

Mistakes that weaken chapter titles

• Spoilers. A title that names the chapter's turn, such as “The Death of Uncle Ray”, can drain the chapter before it starts.
• Labels that fit any book. “Beginnings”, “Revelations” and “Aftermath” could head a chapter in a thousand novels. A title should only fit yours.
• Naming the feeling. “Heartbreak” and “Betrayal” tell the reader what to feel, the title-sized version of telling instead of showing.
• A pun on every page. One pun in a contents page is charming. Thirty is a tic.
• Mixed systems. Questions for a few chapters, places for others and plain numbers for the rest, with no reason behind the switch.
• Echoing the first line. A title that repeats the opening sentence word for word makes the reader read it twice. Take the line from deeper in the chapter.