Fellow writers: How the heck do you choose titles?
This is quite possibly one of the greatest struggles to writers: choosing a title. You'd think that writing a chapter or story would be the hard part, and to an extent it is, but somehow I almost always draw a blank at the title. Sometimes, I get lucky and a title just comes to me instantly. Usually though, I'm left staring at the top of the page after finishing trying to figure out what to call it. This doesn't just include the overall story, but even the title of individual chapters. Last year when submitting a short story for a contest, I had no clue what the heck to title it and ended up going with something like "Hawksbills and Ospreys" because the deadline was right there.
I know this is a common problem for writers. As someone who's active in the fan fiction sphere, the most common trick I see (and that I've used myself) is to pull a title from song lyrics or poems.
What about you? What are your tricks for trying to get inspiration for titles, and what sorts of "guidelines" do you follow to try to make them stand out?
I feel like in the short stories I write, the title always comes from a weird moment in the story that kinda sounds artistic. Something that will just speak to me standing alone. So I think for me I have to write the story to get the title for it. Like if I were to title this post, I would name it "speak to me standing alone." Just weird moments.
Btw I'm a very casual writer of short stories and poetry, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
I'll start this discussion with a trick I use for chapter titles in one of my stories. I open each chapter with a made-up "quote" (more like a stream-of-consciousness rambling in some cases) that's semi-relevant to the chapter's events/themes, and pull the chapter title from there with a general rule of sticking to three words. I've gotten some really fun ones out of it like "Dangerous Mischief Makers", "Craving Cotton Candy" and "Brick-Induced Ripples". Of all my stories, that's the easiest one for me to come up with chapter titles.
So if you have block, maybe try writing a rambling quote or parody of inspirational quotes, and see if you can pick out any key words from it.
I almost always start with the title. I write more screenplays than I do novels, but the title has always been there right at the initial concept phase.
That said, my writing process often has lengthy concept phases and I don't sit down to actually write it out until I have stewed on it for much longer than most writers. After that period the story just pours out, quite often in one intense and lengthy session.
Everyone is different, but perhaps you'd benefit from writing from your title instead of trying to assign a title after the fact. I find it gives me more boundaries to stay within. For example, I have a screenplay called Verisimilitude (my favorite word in the English language). Everything about the story is a verisimilitude. Character names and places are verisimiltudes. It helps knowing where you are going with a work when you place those bounds on it right from the get go.
I've done that a couple times. I have a couple of titles on the backburner that I want to use, just need a story that fits them. Unfortunately, I'm definitely a "story concept and writing first" type of writer. I'm a storyteller first and foremost, so titles are more of an afterthought for me.
Also, I looked up verisimilitude and have to say, that is a great word AND a great title. It's definitely the kind that will get people to look twice since it's not a common word. I think that for screenplays, titles might be even more important since movies are usually sold to audiences through visuals rather than the script. So a good title seems like it could be key to getting studios to look at a screenplay in the first place.
Thanks for the kind words. As to your conundrum, I cannot offer up anything more useful. Perhaps try searching for sayings or quotes in relation to your central theme? In the end, I don't feel there will be a one size fits all approach to naming completed nameless works. Each piece is going to require its own solution. Best of luck on your writing journey, and if you're willing to share anything I'd love to read it.
Can I ask what you mean by that?
A verisimilitude is something that represents the truth. War photography is a verisimilitude of war. In my story the characters live a digital life that is a verisimilitude of real life and their names all have meanings that reflect that truism.
Ah, gotcha. That's a new definition of that word for me.
I'm actually kind of a hack where I like using song lyrics. So if I'm writing a script and there's a song in it that's very important, I'll take a lyric from that song and use the title. Or just the title of the song itself. An example: A love story about jazz musicians titled "These Foolish Things".
If that's just not gonna work, I like one word titles that deliver a mood. An example: a thriller set in a cold distant location: Desolate.
I also had one where it took place in Hollywood, it was an action-comedy in the vein of The Nice Guys, and was MeToo coded. I titled that Crazy Days and Nights after the gossip website.
If a story were to be published with a song lyric title, would that run in to copyright issues? I’m not entirely sure how that works
I guess it may vary case by case but generally, you can't copyright a single line in a song. If a story were trying to use a whole stanza as a title, then maybe you'd run into problems.
Just a random out of pocket example from recent news, a story won a contest at LitMag titled "Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" which is obviously pulling its name from the country song..
That’s so helpful, thanks!
I haven’t done heavy research, but I remember reading that you can’t copyright titles due to how many similar titles can possibly exist.
Good to know, thanks!
Great question! It’s something I struggle with too, so I’ll be following with interest.
Mine usually come to be after finishing the story (after much thought - it’s certainly not an instant thing!) and are often pulled from the story itself. I’ve also used song lyrics as suggested elsewhere, but I’m not sure how this works if you want to publish it.
In newspapers the titles and the articles are usually written by different people, because headline writing is a separate skill. I often feel the same way about title writing - it’s a different skill set and doesn’t always come naturally just because you’re a good storyteller!
This one speaks to me. I'm about halfway through writing a trilogy, and coming up with titles for the books has been one of the hardest parts for me. In the end, I decided to name each book after a type of song or piece of music, as in the stories I use a lot of musical references to build the scenes. It's worked for the first two books, but I've found myself still searching for the right type of music to capture the feeling of the third (The Ballad of X, The Aria of Y, The ??? Of Z).
Still, even though I'm this far through the process, I look back at book one and have reservations about the name. I have a feeling it will always bother me one way or another though, and I've learned to leave it be so that I can get on with actually writing the other stories.
I don’t lol. Usually, I toss together random words until I have something that sounds cool. The title doesn’t matter that much, as long as it grabs a potential readers attention it does it’s job.
I haven't finished a novel, but did a few flash fiction bits and short stories. I just write down whatever titles I can think of and sort them by coolnees. I try to find something that captures the essence of the story. I think of the title, along with the cover art, less as art and more as a sales pitch; this is the top of the marketing funnel, the stuff a potential reader use 2 seconds to skim over, during which time he either moves on or decide to give it a closer look, maybe even read the blurb, which may, potentially, lead him to actually read it.
I just want to say, you hit the nail on the head about why titles matter so much. Titles are basically the first step to getting readers' attention even before seeing a cover, whether it's on websites that are text-based or the spine on a bookshelf.
Pick a random 2 words on a random page
Honestly for me the title usually comes last, or once the story itself takes enough shape that I feel comfortable giving it one. Until there's enough meat to hang a name on it, it's a nothingburger to me. A title can come from any number of places; a random song, an event, perhaps a play on an existing term or saying. I like titles to be short and to the point. Brevity is the soul of wit, after all.
If it was a comedy story I’d call that “Going for Goldfish”.
Titles are a problem for me as well, so you're not alone. Most of the time, my titles come from within the story, something integral to the plot. It can be a central theme, or an object.
My last novel was the toughest for this, and I'm still not happy with the title. Since it is unpublished, I have plenty of time to revise it. I know the mood I want to convey, but it is also the third and concluding novel in a series, and finding a way to tie it to the others and set the mood isn't simple.
Oh man, anything from a relevant reference to something in the chapter, to a random song lyric/title, to an obscure movie reference easter egg'ed, to something I found amusing while writing/editing it. So yeah, what ever. lol
One of my first rules was that I wouldn't explain the chapter titles, which drives a couple of my beta readers up the wall. lol
You can always throw some words in a hat and do "A noun of nouns and nouns"
This honestly sounds like a fun writing prompt idea. Draw random words and figure out how to make a story that fits it!