Does anyone include a Table of Contents?

[Prawn]

I have taken to using the outline function of MS Word to organize my novels, and one thing it can do is generate a table of contents for the book. I am an author who names every chapter, but I am not sure how useful it would be to generate a table of contents. What do you all think? If you are a chapter-namer, do you make a table of contents?

[James D. Macdonald]

There was a time when novels had tables-of-contents. It isn't in fashion right now. But ... if it helps your book, why not?

Give it a try. See how you like it.

[OverTheHills&FarAway]

Because of this thread I started fooling around with that function--pretty nifty, I must say. I can see already how it's gonna help me keep everything organized. So far my novel has been a bitch to organize!

:) Hopefully this means problem solved.

[Stijn Hommes]

Unless the chapter names would give too much away for someone who'd read the names before they started the story, I don't see any reason not to give it a go. In my opinion it's one of those things authors obsess over when they're really not important. If the publisher doesn't like it, they can ask you to take it out. It's not a dealbreaker.

[ClaudiaGray]

I don't think it would personally help me much, but if it works for you, in terms of organization and style, why not?

[BlackViolet13]

Prawn, I name my chapters too, and whether or not they're used in the final product doesn't matter--they help ME tremendously :) As far as organizing goes, I use MS Office OneNote in lieu of a table of contents. I am a non-linear writer (and also a very, very right-brained writer), so while I write an intensive plot spreadsheet in the beginning, I tend to write the scenes as they come to me--which is never in the order in which they occur ;) My WIPs were a MESS before I got OneNote, and now I'm actually getting more done because I don't have to mull over the placement of a scene because it's a lot easier to move things. I also don't have to waste time "looking" for something, or trying to move things around in one big Word document. When I need to make a change, all I have to do is click and drag anymore. Something else that's great about OneNote is that I can also create sections and tabs for outlining, characterization, setting, and whatever else I think of. It's wonderful!

When you're ready to put your novel in Word, you can use the command to export your notebook to Word, format it in Word for submission, and voila! You're done :D

This may not be what you meant as far as organization, but I definitely wanted to throw that out there for anyone who is looking for that type of thing while reading this post. It comes with MS Office 2007 Home & Student Edition, or you can get it as a stand alone program. I use it for taking notes in my university studies, as well as things I do with my family. If you have a SmartPhone you can install OneNote Mobile at no extra charge, and you can type notes from your phone and then sync them to your notebook next time you use your PC. It may not work for everybody, but as you can see ;) I'm very happy with it.

[Eldritch]

I'm a chapter-namer too. Those titles make it a lot easier to find what I'm looking for when I need to go back and make changes.

[Mumut]

I'd ask your publisher whether a table of contents is required for their fiction books.

[Prawn]

If I had a publisher, I would be asking them.

One note sounds interesting. The outline function of MS word does some of what you mentioned. In outline view, you can click on a scene or a chapter and move it around. The outline is useful to give me a view of the book as a whole, although I don't need word for this. My first novel had chapter titles but no table of contents. My second novel had a table of contents. Some of my betas ignored it and some commented favorably on it. As a reader, I look over the TOC before I begin the book, but then I never look at it again.

[kzmiller]

I recently received a novel that included a table of contents. Maybe I'm just not used to them, but I found it annoying. It physically got in the way of me reading the story. I had to page down past two pages of ToC to start the story. I don't know if editors are accustomed to them (if they are, they probably wouldn't have the same reaction that I did) but personally, I'd hesitate to include on in a submission. Now for personal reference--that's a whole 'nother ball game. I could see that as being very useful.

I just put in my chapters in an Excel file so that I know how long each chapter is, where it starts and ends, and such. A table of contents might be a nice additional tool, and I'll have to play with that feature sometime.

[megan_d]

You had to turn two whole pages? The horror!

[bluntforcetrauma]

I list my chapters. With over 50 of 'em it helps to identify each one by name.