Formulating a great title - Where do you start? |
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ChristiLB
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 12 Apr 2019 Location: NY Status: Offline Points: 2314 |
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Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 12:29pm |
I had such great luck with my last question in the screenwriting group about formulating ideas that I thought I'd seek this great group's help once more with suggestions on creating a great title.
I submitted my story but the title was the last thing I worked on and by that time I was tired, stressed and DONE - So I picked a title with relevance but not something I was overly happy with and certainly not as clever as some of the ones I've seen shared in the title/synopsis thread for this go-around. So, when does everyone come up with their titles? How do you decide what elements of your story you want to allude to with the title? Any and all suggestions, tips and personal anecdotes are all welcome and very much appreciated. I'm learning so much from this writing community and always love getting feedback from everyone. Thanks. I hope you're all recovering nicely from the writing weekend whirlwind Christine
Edited by ChristiLB - 15 Jul 2019 at 2:58pm |
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Random
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 17 Nov 2017 Location: C. of Letters Status: Offline Points: 5401 |
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Elude would be to escape or evade, allude would suggest or call attention to... Like how I did that without answering the question? |
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TrishArrowsmith
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 11 Jul 2019 Location: AZ Status: Offline Points: 470 |
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I pull titles from various places. For this FFC, I chose the title "Night of the Cobra". The story takes place at night and the cobra was a detail that made my story come together.For a novel I'm working on, I titled it "Distorted Perception" because the MC's perception of what is happening around her is distorted because she can't see what others (those on the outside) can see. You can be very direct with titles and simply state "this is what will happen", "this is what the story is about" or you can take liberties with it and make your readers figure out how the title works with the piece of writing.
If you find one or two words that you like and want to include in the title, just start making notes, change the rest of the wording, change the placement of the words you like. But most of all, have fun with it. Find something you think would be fun to tell others.
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sidle_by
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 10 Jul 2018 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 1392 |
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If i had my way, everything I wrote would be named like a Fall Out Boy song
but mostly i end up with a working title that amuses me somehow and it either changes when i think of something better (/a beta reader gives me something better), or i randomly pick a theme in the story and see what i can come up with to suit it... mostly, i end up submitting something and only realise the perfect title after it's too late!!
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FF23 Rd1 - Special Frame Diner
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Sephira
NYC Midnight Groupie Joined: 20 Jan 2019 Location: NC Status: Offline Points: 246 |
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For me, it's kind of random. Sometimes I'll have a title in mind, even before I start writing, especially if I was able to write a synopsis first and there's phrase that really jumps out at me. Other times, it's as I'm writing or researching, something (and idea, word, phrase, etc...) will catch my attention. And when all else fails, if I get to the end and don't have a clue, I go back and try to think about what the piece is about, or what inspired it, or what feeling/emotion I'm trying to convey and go with something related to that. If none of that works, there's always simply pulling a line from somewhere in the story.
For the story I did for this one, I was hesitant to go with Semper Fi, but at the same time, I felt that the "always faithful" meaning (not only when you are in the military, but even once you're out) really spoke to the heart of my story. Even though I've never been in the military, I've known a number of marines over the years and it's just where my brain went when I got the prompts. Edited by Sephira - 15 Jul 2019 at 12:41pm |
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chrissie0707
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 07 Feb 2018 Location: Indianapolis Status: Offline Points: 4005 |
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And now I will have Dance Dance stuck in my head for the rest of the day
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manifestlynot
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 02 Jan 2018 Status: Offline Points: 4480 |
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This is a great question. I don’t think I’ve ever really had an awesome title but sometimes a decent one comes to me during the writing process and sometimes I have to squeeze it out of my brain, with varying degrees of success.
Only one time the title came to me before the story, during my research (“Spinback” about a club DJ) and I got an HM, so take that for what it’s worth, lol.
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Rhyming R1: Lionheart (Hist fic)
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GallifreyGirl
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 30 Jan 2016 Location: Phoenix, AZ Status: Offline Points: 1653 |
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I go two ways:
1. slap a title on at 11:54, usually one of the prompts (Long Term Parking, Adventures in Dogwalking) or something that is prominent in the story but is boring/staid and/or has no intrinsic value/hook outside of until someone has actually read the story (Nets, Easy Peasy, Clay Date) 2. follow the poetic theory that the title is an extra line that should, under no circumstances, be wasted, otherwise Bragi will descend from Asgard to mock your pitiful little writer dreams and spend probably too much time on the title (the girl in the ghost dress lies, gretl at hansel's deathbed, fairy tail ending, aquacultural appropriation) Which method I use depends entirely on where I am in the process at 11:54. For Aquacultural, I finished in a single day and spent all of Day 2 on just the title. So I guess I'm saying there's no rhyme or reason. But I recommend going for simple at first, if you struggle with the title, to avoid overcomplicating the issue.
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FFC20 R1 Born of the Sea
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Vernacula
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 21 Jan 2016 Location: West Coast Status: Offline Points: 3729 |
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Ooh, I'm going to write a story now just so I can title it: The Opposite of Amnesia. |
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Vernacula
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 21 Jan 2016 Location: West Coast Status: Offline Points: 3729 |
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All of this.
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