I was wondering how people choose their title. I find mine are really weak or I just generally can't think of one and this is one of the things that bugs me most about my writing :/ any help will be very much appreciated :)
I was wondering how people choose their title. I find mine are really weak or I just generally can't think of one and this is one of the things that bugs me most about my writing :/ any help will be very much appreciated :)
Oh, the title. I have just spent two weeks trying to work one out for a short story I started for Glitterwolf magazine. Seldom has one story ever given me so much grief working out what to call it.
In the past, I have tended to know the rough outline of the story, so I give it a working title which can change at any moment I choose (usually after having thought of a better one in the shower a few days later). Following this habit, I tend to call a story anything I can think of at the time until I come up with something better. Sometimes I just call it "The One With The Dragon Where The Prince Hatches Its Egg" or something similar. Eventually a good idea comes along to replace it.
Alternatively, I'll just label them "Unnamed 1", "Unnamed 2", etc, until I can think of any title at all.
In the case of the Glitterwolf story, it was called "Unnamed" until last week, when I gave it a working title of "The Case Of The Blood Amulet" once I had started my first edit. Now that it's into its second edit, I am musing about calling it "Murder In The Farthing". That will probably also change prior to publication.
If I really get stuck, sometimes I will write a list of provisional titles, even those which I don't initially like, and leave it alone for a week or so. Then I'll come back to it and strike out all but four. Then I'll leave it again and come back a week later and see which one has won my mini-competition.
I usually find my title from the story.
I usually find my title from the story.