The right title for a SFF story

I either find the right title as I'm writing the story--sometimes it comes from the actual prose--or sometimes I don't have a title until one of my betas gives it to me.

Honestly, I don't fuss that much about them. As long as I can remember it, I'm happy.

Sometimes, I can start with the title. However, I have two big mms that keep changing titles on me, so I've accepted that those are provisional tags.
The right title will come.

I usually start a project with a 'working title' in mind. I sometimes try to find something better, later, but the working title generally sticks.

I am very judgemental of titles, though. If the title's too long, or if there's a subtitle, I usually fold my arms and roll my arms and tut loudly.

I think a lot of us struggle with titles. My short story 'Snow Cat' is going to be published under that title, which was the working title, product of a second's thought. I'm not sure it is the *right* title, but the story shrugs off any others. There is snow, and there is a cat, but.... Meh.

Maybe you could find a line that speaks to you and use part of that for the title. Apparently readers like The X of X type title more than others, though.

Titles come to me at different times and in different ways. Sometimes, I start with only a title as inspiration, and sometimes I finish three or more drafts before finding one, even a working one.

Looking back at my previous tales, it seems I don't have a particular way of doing it. My current two main WIPs have entirely opposite origins for their titles.

For one, the title is the central theme of the whole story, the concept that the story is meant to explore. I came up with that title as part of the process of devising the premise - in many respects, the title is the premise.

For the other, the title is actually just a working title that I'm feeling less and less attached to as I get further into it, and will almost certainly be dropped for another phrase which has recently appeared. It's a moment I have sometimes while writing - there I am, working on a story that I've been referring to (in my own mind, at least) as "that one with the guy who has the <Thing> and is trying to go to the <Place>", and I write a particular line or phrase, and the moment I see the words on the page I think "that right there simply has to be the title" because it's just so perfect.

In the past, I've also had stories where I finish without ever having a title. What happens then is that I read them through, start to finish, just once. This will probably be the first time I've ever read it all the way without stopping to rewrite a line, or page, or chapter, so it's the first time I'll have had the full feel of the thing hit me properly, and it's when I check that it feels the way I wanted it to. That moment where I sit back after reading the last few words and let the full effect of the story wash over me is the moment where a title will usually come to me, if I don't have one already (and in one case, I had one already but I thought of a better one).

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it depends on the story, but in general I tend not to worry if I'm having title troubles because something will present itself in time.

Sometimes I have a great title from the beginning, but if I don't I will probably finish the book and still be struggling to find one. Occasionally I've found something later that I thought worked well, but usually it's a difficult part of the process.

I think titles have to work on two sides: the person who is considering reading your book, and the person who has finished the book. Obviously a title needs to be interesting and it shouldn't misrepresent the genre. But you also want readers to look back at the title and reflect that it was well-chosen. There are too many novels about a magic sword entitled The Magic Sword.

Oh, man, I feel your pain. I can never think of a good title. I don't know how authors do it. I recently just finished 'Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom'. Perfect title for that book, and it's original because it sounds fantastical when it's actually pure SF.

I'm still struggling with the title of the work I'm currently revising, so for now I'm just using a placeholder. Maybe I'll check out one of those random name generators and see if anything strikes a bell.

I usually pick a very straight forward title as working title, something that I can just use as the file name. I'm not very clever with titles, so usually, if there's a magical candlestick in it or a witch that lives near a pond, it'll probably be named 'The Mysterious Candlestick' of 'The Frog Witch'. Something that isn't too generic, but that still says what the story is about but without giving too much away.

Then after the story's finished and reworked till I'm mostly satisfied, I look at the title again to see if it still fits the bill. Sometimes the story has morphed into something quite different. But nine times out of ten, I end up keeping the working title. Maybe it's not the perfect title I end up using, but it will be a title that fits and won't confuse readers what it is about.

My current WiP file is under its old title, though I've since replaced it with another one which I believe I will stick to.

I get really attached to my titles, and it usually does relay the central idea of the story. My previous MS was called "The White Curse" and indeed, it was about a curse that made things white (simplifying. a lot.) The one before that was called Compulsion, and there was a lot of compelling going on there.

Usually when I get the title right, things go well for the story. At least, things go well enough so that I actually complete it, and think back of it fondly. When I get the title wrong, it usually means I didn't understand the story enough to write it in the first place. For example, a WiP I trunked earlier this year was titled 'Unconscionable', but steadily I realised the main character wasn't doing anything unconscionable, and the title was completely wrong for the story... and various other things happened and the MS was trunked.

I usually start with a working title that keeps me on track with a plot line or character, but might not fit as a real title. Often an anachronism that doesn't fit epic fantasy, or a pun, or sometimes even a song lyric.

Real titles are tough for me without a nearly finished product.

My WIP is called: "The Sixth Proof"

Dunno wether it'll stay...

I have lots of files in my Documents folder that are untitled. Sometimes I get story ideas independently of titles. When that happens, I work out the idea and do some writing, confident that the title will come to me when it comes. Usually it works pretty well. I try to come up with titles that are either short and pithy, or catchy and memorable. Sometimes you can accomplish all that with a word or two, and that's cool. I think in the end you just have to be patient and know that the right title will come to you eventually. Or, if it doesn't, run the story by people you trust. You might be amazed what sorts of interesting or brilliant thoughts your betas come up with.

Sorry for the necro.

Happy to find this topic. I'm absolutely struggling to find a title for the series my partner and I are working on and it's driving me nuts because I have to do the cover now.

The only ones we can come up with are silly.

Consult as many people as possible. Get their ideas. Son of (blank)... That sounds intriguing. Just have to find the right word.

Here are some more words for wrath.

Anger, rage, fury, outrage, spleen, vexation, (high) dudgeon, crossness, displeasure, annoyance, irritation; ire, choler.

Son of Ire? No. Ha. Son of Irritation? Sounds like itching powder. Son of Annoyance... okay, this is cracking me up. Sorry. Sorry. Son of Vexation sounds cool. Son of Fury! Son of Anger! Son of Outrage! Son of High Dudgeon! Heheh, that sounds too upright. What about...

SON OF SPLEEN?!

Oh goodness dearie me. That's... missing something. Or has too much of something.

maxmordon said:

Then I thought of The Obsolete Man, but is too overt and there's a Twilight Zone episode named like that.

Click to expand...

The obsolete man is a great name, I wouldn't worry if there is a twilight zone episode of that name because at the end of the day your publishers are going to make the final call.

Titles are fun, while at the same time can cause headaches.

The title for my short story collection, Edge of Hyperspace, didn't come until my third draft of the introduction. My first novel didn't find the title until 2/3 of the way through the first draft. My second and third novels had titles before I'd written a word. My planned fourth novel is title-less and may remain so unless something good comes to mind.

In my short story collection, some of the ten have had their titles since I wrote them. Some I renamed for the collection. The two I wrote for the collection both had titles first and the title helped shape the story.

As for sources of titles, I was always a fan of the Original Star Trek and how one of the characters always had the episode title in their dialog. "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" was a daringly long title, but it was right there in the dialog. But there are plenty of other sources. Shakespeare quotes, song titles, song lyrics, plot descriptions, character names or titles, key plot points, and the list goes on and on. I would never want to my title to be confused with another book or movies, but I'd never worry about a TV episode title or song title, there are too many and most aren't that unique. You just don't want to be accused of copying something iconic.

Sometimes it can be just a simple descriptive word. One piece of advice I found is to keep any names used in the title simple. Don't call your MC Xithbrethkaris and title it Xithbrethkaris's Quest. If he's a prince, call it The Prince's Quest, if he's a farmer, call it The Farmer's Quest. Unpronounceable names make it hard to ask for in a book store or search for online.

The purpose of the title is to be a unique descriptor of your work, to catch the buyer's eye on the shelf. It needs to say something relating to your work and "buy me" in the store.

I hit on the title for the trunk novel that popped its lid while reading a HG Wells story. It practically screamed at me.

Eh. I don't even want to be this attached to it, jic it gets changed.

Don't hate me. I almost never have trouble with titles. I think I've started two stories in my entire time writing that did not have a title (and I'm not sure one of them counts). I get entire ideas from the titles I think up.

Sometimes, though, I have titles with no ideas attached to them, which can be kinda annoying.

What's the core idea of your story? Or the core theme? What is it that makes the story what it is? There's so many questions you can ask yourself to get to the right title. It doesn't have to be clever so long as it captures the most important element of your work. Its essence, I suppose you could say.

For me, the hardest thing I find is stepping back and looking at the title without seeing the book behind it. What would someone think if they read it?

For instance (not picking on Buffy the Squirrel slayer or Mr Max as I think your titles are great), if someone read 'x' what would they think the book is about. Examples;

Snow cat: A book about those nifty scadoo motor cycles that have treads at the rear and can travel over snow.
Snow cat: A book about trials and tribulations of the almost extinct snow cats of upper Tibet.
The Obsolete Man: A world where Man is replaced by robots.
The Obsolete Man: A book about how women no longer need men due to invitro-fertilization.
The Obsolete Man: A man from the victorian era who time travels to the present world and find that his concepts and morals are now obsolete.

Now, see what happens if you add one word to the title, well, you get a different book;
Snow cat jinx: The inheritance of a snow cat paw brings a curse on all who touch it.
The Obsolete Man ressurected: Robots bring a human out of hybernation to solve a creative problem.

So, what I do is I give the title to a group of friends who know nothing about the book and ask them to come up with a description of what the book is about. It can help in getting a different perspective.

About half of my stories come from a word or phrase that I like as a title. Then, the story fleshes itself out from that title or some theme that made me imagine it.

Seems to me that a common opinion is the title is something one really doesn't need to think of until having their story well-along, or even finished. That is a valid opinion but it doesn't often work for me.

This is basically a break down of my recent works. I know this might not interest people but it is interesting to me to see my self in the mirror (kinda)...

-One of my complete novels was started around its title, 75,000 words inspired by a title. And the largest surprise is based completely around the title (But that surprise came waaaaay after the title was chosen).

Recently Finished Shorts:
Terrorform - name came first, and I fleshed it around what that title could possibly mean
Bone Thresher - Idea of contagious radiation came first, immediately followed by the name, and then the actual writing of the story
Derelict - Full story outline came first, name second, prose third
Darwin's Children - Name came first, then story idea and prose
Traveler in the Dark - Did about half the story before deciding on this name over the original

The majority of stories I am in progress on follow this pattern too. It's actually pretty interesting to realize how important a title is, at least to my inspiration and creative spark.

Writers rarely have final say on what a book title is. Publishers have big ol marketing departments that will more than likely change anything that you have now. Therefore, don't worry too much about it. Give it a working title that means something to you and then write. Let the suits who get paid to think up things like that do it later on.

The title of my novel is the first thing I come up with before writing it. I wasn't aware that most titles end up getting changed, though. I've grown so used to my title that it'd feel weird giving it up.