Write Away

Titles suck. :P Back when I wrote fanfiction, I'd think of the title right when I was uploading the fanfic. I actually liked a lot of my Death Note titles, though looking back, some were pretty cheesy or a little random. My original stories are pretty much never titled - the file name is simply a one or two word scene description, or character name.

I like titles that have meaning but are more subtle. It really depends on the work in question, though, because it has to suit the story's style.

In the fantasy genre, I think there are a bunch of words that should just be banned from titles, because they are overused and sound cliche. Sword, magic, scroll, most royalty titles, dark, darkness, light, any element (fire, water, etc), song, dragon, shadow, etc. Okay, so that's not a 100% rule, and any of those words could probably work in the right title, but still. Then again, on the other hand, should a fantasy book have a pretentious non-genre title? "And the guillotine laughs again", "I know why the caged bird sings", etc. That would be a little strange, too.

Bah! Titles!