insert title here
Feb. 4th, 2014 10:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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write_awayI had a friend - no, not even a hypothetical, conversation-starter friend, a real one! - who chose titles before she had even started writing her story. I think for her, the title acted as a guide for her rough ideas, and she never wrote anything if the title wasn't already decided.
For myself, I am horrible with titles. They are very much an afterthought for me. At the same time, I'm really picky about them. Of course I want the title to reflect the work, but in a subtle way (without being overbearing). In fact, none of the three novels I've been working on have a title yet, even though they've been in the works for a long time. My fanfics pretty much always got their titles right before I hit the "submit" button, and my original short stories might've had a working title at best.
When do you choose titles? How do you choose them? Does anyone have any professional experience with submitting work, and getting any feedback or suggestions about titles?
For myself, I am horrible with titles. They are very much an afterthought for me. At the same time, I'm really picky about them. Of course I want the title to reflect the work, but in a subtle way (without being overbearing). In fact, none of the three novels I've been working on have a title yet, even though they've been in the works for a long time. My fanfics pretty much always got their titles right before I hit the "submit" button, and my original short stories might've had a working title at best.
When do you choose titles? How do you choose them? Does anyone have any professional experience with submitting work, and getting any feedback or suggestions about titles?
no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 05:31 pm (UTC)My future ideas I tend to save as whatever sticks out to me the most. For one of those that's "Medieval political fantasy." Another one is "Lorelei," the main character. There's no way I can even begin to consider titles for stories I haven't started writing yet.
For my current project, I just refer to it as "Ghosts." I came up with a tentative/working title during the rough draft that I actually really like, but I don't feel like I can safely say that it's the best option until I've finished more editing. I didn't even realize one of the most significant themes of the story until I reached the very last page of the rough draft.
I do prefer to create titles based on theme more than anything else.