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30 Chapter Title Ideas

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Loni Townsend

I waited until this morning to write my blog post. Then I found our wireless router had died, and my laptop didn’t have a connection. *sigh* That’ll teach me for procrastinating.

My friends came up with a fun little writing challenge last night. Open your entire music library, hit shuffle, and then play on random. The first 30 songs will be your chapter titles.

Here’s my list:

1. Dum Diddy – Black Eyed Peas
2. This Is How A Heart Breaks – Rob Thomas
3. Violence – Blink 182
4. Don’t Wait – Dashboard Confessional
5. Invisible – Modest Mouse
6. Sexy And I Know It – LMFAO
7. Missed The Boat – Modest Mouse
8. It’s My Life – Bon Jovi
9. Oh Love – Green Day
10. Payphone (Solo Version) – Maroon 5
11. Race Car Ya-Yas – Cake
12. Wheels – Cake
13. I Will Survive – Cake (at this point, I think my software is biased)
14. Two Princes – Spin Doctors
15. I’ve Been Around – The Mowgli’s
16. Hair – Lady GaGa
17. Kick Some Ass – Stroke 9
18. Daddy’s Eyes – The Killers
19. The Monster – Eminem
20. Inside Out – Eve 6
21. Te Dejo Madrid – Shakira
22. Home – Phillip Phillips
23. Otis Redding – Everclear
24. Swagger – Flogging Molly
25. Times Like These – Foo Fighters
26. Interlude (Milo) – Modest Mouse
27. Eyes Like Yours – Shakira
28. Who Let You Go? – The Killers
29. Hooked On A Feeling – Blue Suede
30. Down For The Count – Bowling For Soup

From the looks of it, my next book is going to be about surviving a nasty break up and ending in a romance.

Not sure why Windows Media Player favors certain bands over others. It had close to 1000 songs to choose from. Ah well.

If you were to do this challenge, what would your first chapter title be?

18 thoughts on “30 Chapter Title Ideas”

  1. Alex J. Cavanaugh says:
    August 20, 2014 at 11:08 AM

    You listen to an interesting variety!
    Since I listen to metal and prog rock, my chapters would scare people…

    Reply
  2. Melissa Maygrove says:
    August 20, 2014 at 11:57 AM

    How fun!
    Now, put that up against a Save The Cat-style beat sheet and see if it matches up to the plot points. hahaha

    Reply
  3. Mary Pax says:
    August 20, 2014 at 12:19 PM

    What a fun idea. I’m having trouble naming a story at the moment. But I can’t think about it… too much editing to do first. Have a great Wednesday!

    Reply
  4. Southpaw says:
    August 20, 2014 at 12:32 PM

    How fun — not the dead router — the shuffle. I’m in the dark ages still and don’t have that ability. 🙁

    Reply
  5. Cherie Reich says:
    August 20, 2014 at 12:59 PM

    What a neat idea! I rarely ever name chapters, though. Good ol’ 1, 2, and 3, etc. works too. LOL!

    Reply
  6. Heather McCubbin says:
    August 20, 2014 at 1:34 PM

    My iPod is ALL THE WAY downstairs, so I opened Pandora Radio and let a few play:
    “Let Her Go” by Passenger.
    “Jumper” by Third Eye Blind.
    “Paint it Black” The Rolling Stones
    “Pompeii” by Bastille

    This is a very cool idea…when I’m not so lazy I’ll bring up my iPod and see what chapter titles await me!

    Reply
  7. Christine Rains says:
    August 20, 2014 at 6:48 PM

    That was so much fun! I’d do it too… if I had a music library. (Am I the only person that doesn’t?!)

    Reply
    1. Averie says:
      April 12, 2021 at 2:27 PM

      No you are not the only one…. 😅

      Reply
  8. Aldrea Alien says:
    August 20, 2014 at 7:53 PM

    Well, your player may’ve had an obsession with ‘Cake’, mine preferred Linkin Park. Actually, there are songs on here by people I don’t even know… Must be from the compilation CDs I have.

    And your list … it has a few songs I want…

    Reply
  9. Jim says:
    August 20, 2014 at 11:05 PM

    So I did this twice, once when Dani and I read about it, but I only had my phone. Still it came through for me:
    1. The Ship’s Going Down

    Then I let my new laptop spend the night cataloging my music (around 10,000 songs). Not as good, but:
    1. Something in the Air – Thundercap Newman

    The new mix seems to tilt toward Yes and Genesis.

    Reply
  10. Elizabeth Seckman says:
    August 21, 2014 at 12:12 AM

    Oooh. I am totally doing that this week…I have been on such a bloggy dry spell, I needed a prod to fire ye olde brain cells.

    Reply
  11. Kirsten says:
    August 21, 2014 at 7:15 AM

    I’ve already used a couple songs as chapter titles in one of my WIPs. 🙂
    Among them: ‘All Together Now’ (Beatles) and ‘The Moon in Water’ (Underworld)
    I like your playlist! And I think there’s something in the randomizer function that might favor more popular bands over more obscure ones. But I’m just guessing.

    Reply
  12. Stephanie Faris says:
    August 21, 2014 at 10:24 AM

    I have a hard enough time titling books, so I’ve never titled my chapters. I wondered if an editor would make me do that at some point but so far, I’ve gotten away with just “Chapter One!”

    Reply
  13. Kristin Smith says:
    August 21, 2014 at 1:51 PM

    That is so cool!! Love that idea! I’ll have to try it and let you know how it turns out. I have a feeling mine might be a heartbreak/romance situation as well. 🙂

    Reply
  14. M.J. Fifield says:
    August 22, 2014 at 7:45 PM

    I don’t title my chapters, just number them, but this sounds like a lot of fun. I’m doing it…just as soon as I find my iPod.

    Reply
  15. Dani says:
    August 26, 2014 at 2:59 PM

    So you don’t actually have to leave the songs as the chapter titles. It’s more to give you a prompt for each chapter. For instance my second chapter is “My Own Worst Enemy” by Lit. In that chapter I have my character doing something stupid that comes back to bite her. I also looked up the lyrics to each song to get a better feel and see if something there poked my brain into action. That was really helpful for songs like “Where Strides the Behemoth” by Mastodon.

    Reply
  16. Lou says:
    February 18, 2017 at 6:30 AM

    Great idea, but wouldn’t this method violate copyright laws unless they were really old songs?

    Reply
    1. Loni Townsend says:
      February 27, 2017 at 8:13 AM

      Actually no. According to copyright law, titles are not protected. They might get trademarked, though, so that is something to check for.

      Reply

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Welcome to my blog. I post here on Wednesdays most of the time, but you can find me on social media any day of the week. My topics include my stories and writing, life at the Town's End, creating and tinkering with graphics, things I learn and think might be helpful to others, and the occasional amateur photo. Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you around.

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