Titles

[Sablesword]

I often have a hard time coming up with good titles for my stories. It helps, sort of, that I don't find story titles to be as necessary as character names - I can write a story with "title to be determined" but I have to know the characters names in order to continue writing. (Some writers can and commonly do introduce a character and give him a placeholder name, or a name to be named later, when writing a story. I can't)

So: What makes for a good title for a story? What makes a bad one?

 

[Duke Diablo]

To me, a good name of the story describes, in shortest possible, who or what is it about. It has to be about something at least mentioned in the story (for example, 'Two Roses' would be a very bad name for a story involving a guy and a girl and not a single rose...).

Also, the point of the title is to be catchy and interesting, to attract audience.

But really, to me, finding a title is not tough. I just go with a single motif and take it out of the story.

 

[Bashiku]

Titles should be least of your concern if your story is good. Although people like to judge book by the cover I think that you can name the story 'Just another one' and you would get good reviews if your style is comfortable enough for this site.

I usually name my tales in epic manner, making some interesting description. I like title i used 'Dawn of Darkness' because night is darkest before the dawn and it speaks of evil before time of good comes. It is strange metaphor, but I like it. Ahhh... this bring me back to old nostalgic days.

 

[Jaynin]

I generally come up with something vaguely thematic as it pertains to the story itself. Sometimes it's just a blatant description of what the story is about - "Pop Quiz" is the title of a story where Felin gets tickled while trying to answer questions at a pub quiz, and "Jelex's Big Mouth" simply begins with the premise that the elf talks her way into loads of trouble.

Occasionally I'll do a bit more thematic titles - "_____ of the Naga Queen" is probably a good example, and that wasn't the intention when I started, but it just sort of happened. Unless something really catches my attention, I generally go with the first title that I feel fits the story.

 

[Cbarton]

For me, the title just comes as the story unfolds. Very, very rarely I have the title created before I start. Something I type in hits me upside the head like a 2X4 and says "THERE"S YOUR TITLE, IDIOT!!!!"

Or something along those lines... lol

 

[Journia]

The title must be connected to the story in some way. In fact, you can have a place holder title. Like in my story, The Giggle Collector, its original title was, Coochie Coochie, but by about the fourth chapter, it evolved into, The Giggle Collector.

Also, it helps that the title has something to do with the dominant characters or the main characters. As in my story which I'll be updating soon, Restevac. The story involves a woman who is of a class of people in Haiti who are extremely poor. So poor they must be practical slaves. The term used to describe them is Restevac. Just a label, but very useful to tantalize the reader.