I write random things that loosely have to do with the chapter. I cycle between puns, dumb references and just plain summary word. Basically, whatever I can think of as I look over my story once.
How do you Name your Chapters
I usually name chapters last and how I do it depends on the novel.
One has chapters telling the overall theme or describes the major event occurring in the chapter.
Another novel is about phases of the face so I use words to describe the facial expression of the main character. Another, my favourite one at the moment, has chapters that switched between "God of blah blah blah" and "Beauty of blah". The one starting with "God of..." focuses on one of the main characters. "Beauty of..." represents the exploration of emotion, item, event or concept.
Then, the last few are numbered chapters. Just numbers with nice symbols like ~1~ or -1-.
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I'll say, if I find some interesting content in the chapter, that shall be the title.
Content; the man is using a ball to seal someone like a pokeball.
The Title; IS THAT A FREAKING POKEBALL?!!!!!!!
I usually pick some key words from my chapters and make something out of them. However, it tends to vary from novel to novel. I do come up with some pretty weird titles at times.
Chapter titles of my recent book -
• | Resisting Urges and Curious Concerns
• | Disturbing Past and Destiny's
• | A Profound Mystery and an Indecipherable Anonymity
•| A Lonely Moon and the Concerned Star
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Well if it's an arc then I number them.
Like Chen Banquet (1), Chen Banquet (2),... So on.
For individual chapters sometimes I base the name on any important dialogue that is the crux of that chap.
Or I write something that defines the overall summary. Sometimes I do find it difficult to give a name or I feel that there is nothing major happening in chp that I will get a name for it.
That time I don't think much and just give any random one relating to it not caring if it's interesting or not.
Just like how we cannot end all chps in a cliffhanger similarly we cannot give interesting names for all chps.
I just go with whatever pops up in my head at the time. Usually I try and take a key element of the chapter and create a short little phrase that paints a vivid image about what the chapter's about
For example, a chapter about a certain manipulative, snakelike individual and a draconic businesswoman would be called "Snakes and Dragons"
One that features a fight with a werewolf is called "Tooth and Claw"
Another one where the MC has an emotional breakdown is simply called "Panic Attack"
I just summarize what's happening.
"Chapter X : In which somebody does this and that"
so as not to open a new branch, in the continuation of the topic ... what do you call a new novel? According to the plot, the main idea?
As one familiar literary critic said, how many readers will read it depends on a good title.
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Gourmet_DAO I'm decidingly lame at this topic. I have good ideas for other people's novels, but when it comes to mine, it seems I don't have the necessary assertiveness and nerve to put the words CEO, Almighty and Wife together. Despite knowing I'd get more readers with such technique.
I believe we westerners are more used to vague and cryptic titles, such as "Twilight". I don't think a book named "The Shameless CEO Vampire's Wife is Pregnant Again" would make a best seller in West. But apparently it does in East. With this mindset, I'm totally lost here.
I take a few random words from somewhere in the chapter.
SrtaA Well then, I’m definitely lost for both the West and the East. We have a post-socialist world, this is not the world of the West, this isolated view of the Eastern world, but it is not a typical capitalist East either. At the same time, fathers and grandfathers saw the Western capitalist world as an enemy.
Our country perceived Western ideas, as well as Eastern ones, through the prism of ideological processing. Therefore, on the one hand, we are as if in a big world, the last 30 years ... but on the other hand, we have our own way.
Therefore, everything is strange, incomprehensible, unclear, a look at the world as if from a dressing room.
Therefore, I am not quite sure about the choice of theme for my novel:
Gourmet and time
A foodie moving in time
Gourmet and spices (but this is almost the theft of the idea of the Wolf and spices) although the idea is completely different
An ordinary foodie moving to other eras
Gourmet
Offtopic - as we were told at the university, when describing the first found cave paintings, you need to write a name - the first thing that comes to mind if you look at the cave drawing.
Maybe take this advice?
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Gourmet_DAO
I understand your point, but I'd say you guys tend to West regarding naming books, AFAIK.
Your new book...
Is it about a person who happens to be a gourmet, tasting things across the times? Sounds exciting,
Like,
"A Gourmet Across the Times"? This would deff be a Western title.
"A Tale of Cardamon and Nutmeg."
"The Spice God",
The Heavenly Spice Journey", so Eastern.
"Taste me, Pepper said", LOL
"The Immortal Foodie"...
I know you didn't ask for suggestions, it just popped on my mind :3 As I said I'm lame at this game.
SrtaA
The idea is interesting, but the implementation ... lacks experience, artistic images, my genre is a fictitious story.
Travel to the world of spices? Heavenly Dao spice?
DAO Gourmet or immortal gourmet!
You know, and each of your names could be a new novel! But it would be plagiarism on my part!
It seems the western version is closer to me :))
Respect! Very creative ideas!
@Gourmet_DAO when I saw your post, my brain began tingling with different titles. "Don't Run, Gourmet Chef Gu!"-FL type", "Indomitable Gourmet Chef Bai"-ML, "Legendary Gourmet Chef Fu Chen"-ML
I really don't like foodie much because of the pig image that pops up in my head
AriaKang My idea is not so much a gourmet, but a food lover who will simply study ancient recipes with their application for revival in the modern world. For the development of regional gastronomic tourism.
He is not so gourmet and not so rich that there are 2 or 3 stars in Michelin.
That was the idea. He is a chef, but in the local dining room, studies the recipes of Ayuroveda, the Persian culinary school, Sichuan cuisine, several old recipes from the 14th century and 7th century AD. So far, somehow.
A cook, not a Chinese, rather a Persian or Arab region in the Middle East or the Front may be Central Asia
Gourmet_DAO WOW
Gourmet_DAO please write, my mouth is already salivating 
AriaKang I’ll write, I think I will publish in April. But alas, I'm a technician, I write prose as a hobby. I get documentary fiction dry without emotion.
Actually a lot of information! Collected data on the reconstruction of the Silk Road, data from 450 books from the 16th to 19th centuries.
But I don’t have enough experience yet, to transform this entire amount of data into an adventure genre fascinating for the short story - adventures. But in any case, the text block will contain real recipes from the 7th century AD and 14th centuries and 19th centuries. Tips for healing Persian cooking.
I think that in March-April I can write chapters 20.
SrtaA there was a time where I named all my chapters starting with 'The' (recently returned back to this way) like The Origin, The School, The Principal, The Reality, The Powers etc. I tried to hold this standard but after about 20 chapters my well ran dry and afterwards I started to name the chapters about the events, dates and places like The Forest of Rundabar, One day till the school starts or Opening Ceremony and if I can't do that the last option I choose is to pick a sentence that is impact full in the chapter or sounds silly like (this was during my depressive phase) I am not broken so I can't be fixed (it's an actual sentence in the chapter, again sorry but I was depressed) and Soap operas? Are they still a thing!?
Anyway I hope it helps