Titles

[splinteredstar]

How do you figure them out? It's not something that comes naturally to me. Like, most of my stories, if I have to explain them to others, are referred to by "that thing with (____)" or "character x's story". I generally don't use them inside of my head - I know which is which, after all.

All of this means that I have a whole bunch of major ideas, only one of which has a title. (And that one was from three drafts ago and doesn't reflect the current story at all.)

So. Titles. Do they matter? What makes a good one? How do you pick them?

Comments

[agilebrit]

I have the worst time with titles and don't usually title something until I'm done with it. I will usually grab a relevant quote from somewhere and try to distill it down.

So, my title for the thing I code-named "Hell's Process Server" became "Dash Thy Foot," from the 91st Psalm. My title for the cyborg werewolf story became "Too Much for the Whistle," from an essay by Ben Franklin. My mean streets story became "All Our Yesterdays" (and now I'm not sure of the source on that one) because my protag gets to exorcise some very personal demons from his past in that one. Clockwork Necromancer became "Servile Spirits to Invent" from Doctor Faustus. Etc.

But just the hunt for relevant quotes can take ages. I really try to find one that speaks to me and the story.

[serria]

I like those titles! Just saying. :D I like quote titles, if they aren't too long. Of course, the only thing is, people will assume your story has some deep connection or meaning to the title's source - which maybe it does. That's a good strategy for finding titles.

[splinteredstar]

If they recognize the quote, which they might not. Might be a fun reference for someone who gets it as long as it's not meaningless for someone who doesn't.

[lunabee34]

Oh thank goodness I'm not the only person who does this. LOL

When I have to title something, I go to google and search for quotes related to the theme of the story.

[splinteredstar]

Hm. Relevant quotes is an interesting idea. Makes it all intertextual. Might try that some time.