Personally, I find chapter titles distracting and a nuisance when I'm reading. So often I find that title and content differ from my expectations, which introduces a modicum of dissatisfaction.
As a writer I don't need a chapter title to keep me focused on the goal of the chapter and the plot/narrative duties it has to fulfill. Also, I would consider the time spent trying to come up with catchy chapter titles as time taken away from writing story.
As with everything else, this is a personal preference.
Phil.
Posted by Natej11 (Member # 8547) on :
I usually try to keep my chapter titles one word and relevant to the chapter.
The authors who do the tidbits of exposition at the beginning of each chapter, like some quote or fragment of a found ancient text, can be pretty cool. But even that can be distracting, especially as it's so over used these days. Anything that interrupts the flow of the story can potentially take a reader out of it.
Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :
Sounds good.
Dave Farland had one Daily Kick on chapter titles a while back. Even though he had more then three reasons I think there was agreement with K.M.