Quote:
Originally Posted by VydorScope
If you do not have chapter titles, why would you put a TOC in the print edition? I would say even with titles, its pretty rare I come across a TOC in a print fiction novel.
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If I had not used chapter titles I would not have included the TOC at the front, but I do, so I did. A TOC at the front of print fiction is obviously not mandatory. I would not have said it was rare, but maybe it looks that way because only some fraction of novels have chapter titles, and of those only some fraction decide to use a TOC.
A TOC at the front is ultimately a matter of taste. Assuming I don't get complaints about how my first book was done I imagine I will do the same for the next books in the series ... but may or may not choose to do it on any future project.
I did like your quote from Orson Scott Card - especially the thought about keeping early chapters shorter. I wonder if some of this may be not so much about where you cut those early chapters, but about keeping the start down to small doses - so that it feels like it moves faster.