How do you guys pick the titles for your Writing or for the chapters (if they have titles)? It takes me so long to come up with one that I'm satisfied with. Any ideas?
Titles
- Thread starter unfabulousxox
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For me, they just came to me. Either it's a phrase in the actual ms. or a theme or both. It doesn't have to be complicated. For example, I just submitted a short story entitled "Mother." It's as simple and "boring" as it can be, but it's also a PERFECT title for the story.
I usually take the theme of the story and tweak it a bit for the title. Other times, I do as the person above stated. I take it directely from the MS. Lately, I've been coming up with the title first, then finding a way to work it into dialogue.
I have the damndest time with titles. With a very few and far far between exceptions, each one has been a struggle, and I've never ultimately been happy with what I came up with.
I've used location, theme, occupation, single nouns that I like, names, whatever seems suitable. My latest publication has a title that not only describes the theme, but is also the name of an object in the story.
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I suck at titles. :] Usually, I pull a word or phrase from the work or from something that inspired it, and that works out fine in the end, but until I end up inevitably deciding on that, I pull my hair out for days trying to come up with something else.
Someone on another thread suggested figuring out the central theme of the story (eg, love), and then looking up that word in a thesaurus for synonyms that might work for a title. I thought that was brilliant!
Kristen
Someone on another thread suggested figuring out the central theme of the story (eg, love), and then looking up that word in a thesaurus for synonyms that might work for a title. I thought that was brilliant!
Kristen
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I usually have a working title from the onset. Very rarely do I face real trouble with titles, but I do search themes, key phrases, or ideas and use them. Mostly that works for me.
I also hate writing titles, but it has to be done. Usually, I take the underlying theme behind the story and pick out a phrase that I wrote in the story that sums it up most accurately.
Failing that, I usually just go for a boring descriptive title that tells the reader exactly what the story is about in a "no thrills" kind of way. I have been advised against this - titles are supposed to be eyecatching, but I can't always manage this.
Failing that, I usually just go for a boring descriptive title that tells the reader exactly what the story is about in a "no thrills" kind of way. I have been advised against this - titles are supposed to be eyecatching, but I can't always manage this.
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Title
I always start with a title. I don't write word one until I find a title I like, and the title then influences the story I write.
I must have a knack for picking good titles. Only once has a publisher changed a title on me, be in short story or novel, and that once proved to be a disaster.
I always start with a title. I don't write word one until I find a title I like, and the title then influences the story I write.
I must have a knack for picking good titles. Only once has a publisher changed a title on me, be in short story or novel, and that once proved to be a disaster.
Sometimes (usually,) the title arrives with the idea. Sometimes, the title arrives well before the idea, whichcase I write it down and let it sit until a story comes along that fits it.
Sometimes, the title shows up and gives me the idea for the story. Sometimes, the other way around. Sometimes, it's a phrase I heard someone use that I like a lot. Sometimes, it's a song-title.
Sometimes, like Maestro's story, it's just a simple boring title. Nothing at all wrong with those.
Sometimes, the title shows up and gives me the idea for the story. Sometimes, the other way around. Sometimes, it's a phrase I heard someone use that I like a lot. Sometimes, it's a song-title.
Sometimes, like Maestro's story, it's just a simple boring title. Nothing at all wrong with those.
I sometimes have a backlog of titles, too, which I scribble on a piece of paper and hang on my wall. Usually, in fact, I have a sheet of paper on my wall and when a title comes to me without a home, I put it on there.
Then, when I have an itch to write a short story, I look at my titles. The title, combined with the itch, tend to produce a story.
It doesn't hurt to put your favorite song titles on the list, as long as they're catchy. (With titles like Elvenpath, Ghost Love Score (I used that one) , I Know Why the Nightengale Sings, you could do worse than look at the band Nightwish's CDs.) I find that those turn into stories which then require new titles.
Then, when I have an itch to write a short story, I look at my titles. The title, combined with the itch, tend to produce a story.
It doesn't hurt to put your favorite song titles on the list, as long as they're catchy. (With titles like Elvenpath, Ghost Love Score (I used that one) , I Know Why the Nightengale Sings, you could do worse than look at the band Nightwish's CDs.) I find that those turn into stories which then require new titles.
I usually get some ideas and write them down in wordpad and title them "working title" till I come up with a good one.
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bingo. the best titles, for me, are found in the book in a snippet of dialogue.maestrowork said:
That said, there's always really wonderful titles that come from outside the manuscript (but still refer to it) such as "'Repent Harlequin!' Said The Ticktock Man" which is one of my favorite titles(/stories) ever.
titles
I go with the reverse. I always start with a title, but at some point the title will be worked into the novel.
whistlelock said:
I go with the reverse. I always start with a title, but at some point the title will be worked into the novel.
There's a thread in another forum about what power would you like if you were a superhero . . . mine would be the power to come up with the perfect title.
About one third of the stories I've written have crappy titles, one third have okay titles, and one third have no title at all - not even a hint of one. It's a rare occassion indeed when I can come up with the perfect title. I even have a problem coming up with titles for poems!
About one third of the stories I've written have crappy titles, one third have okay titles, and one third have no title at all - not even a hint of one. It's a rare occassion indeed when I can come up with the perfect title. I even have a problem coming up with titles for poems!
Maybe?
One tip I share a lot because people say it's been helpful is to make a list of at least twenty possible titles written down all at the same time. You can't move until the list has a minimum of twenty titles. Try to link the title to the theme or dialogue and force yourself to work from that.
Strangely it is always, for everyone, about title twenty that's the good one.
One tip I share a lot because people say it's been helpful is to make a list of at least twenty possible titles written down all at the same time. You can't move until the list has a minimum of twenty titles. Try to link the title to the theme or dialogue and force yourself to work from that.
Strangely it is always, for everyone, about title twenty that's the good one.
Might titles are usually a central object in the story and usually lousy...
But, of course if it is really bad they will change before publishing so I don't let it bother me.
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But, of course if it is really bad they will change before publishing so I don't let it bother me.
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