Using Your Table of Contents for Structure and Pacing in Your Novel
A post first draft check-in point
Setting the table
A table of contents isn’t just about organizing your chapters; it’s also a valuable tool for shaping your novel’s content. Here’s how to use it to its fullest potential.
A table of contents is an odd little thing: usually forgotten in the heat of creating a first draft, but so useful to focus, shape, and pace later drafts. At some point during the second draft — possibly a “blocked” day, when a manuscript’s progression stalls — it’s useful to set up your novel’s table, to work through chapter titles and lengths and gain the sense of through-line that comes with this knowledge. Here’s an example of a working table of contents from a novel I’ve written.
Titling chapters
First things first. Name the chapters in your draft. When it comes to titling chapters, the idea is to come up with something. This is a working table of contents (TOC), which means there’s plenty of room for you to play. Some titles may come easily, and some will be a struggle. Think in terms of focus…
