NYC Midnight : Creative Writing & Screenwriting Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > GENERAL DISCUSSION > Creative Writing Corner
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Formulating a great title - Where do you start?
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Formulating a great title - Where do you start?

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  123 5>
Author
Message
ChristiLB View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 12 Apr 2019
Location: NY
Status: Offline
Points: 2314
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChristiLB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Formulating a great title - Where do you start?
    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 Big smile

Christine


Edited by ChristiLB - 15 Jul 2019 at 2:58pm
MF 100 Word '22 R1 G44 Good Boy
SCW '22 RD1 G29 Inseparable
Back to Top
Random View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 17 Nov 2017
Location: C. of Letters
Status: Offline
Points: 5401
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Random Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 12:33pm
Elude would be to escape or evade, allude would suggest or call attention to...

Like how I did that without answering the question?

Big smile
This sig intentionally blank
Back to Top
TrishArrowsmith View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Regular
NYC Midnight Regular
Avatar

Joined: 11 Jul 2019
Location: AZ
Status: Offline
Points: 470
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (2) Thanks(2)   Quote TrishArrowsmith Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 12:38pm
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.
Back to Top
sidle_by View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Addict
NYC Midnight Addict
Avatar

Joined: 10 Jul 2018
Location: Scotland
Status: Offline
Points: 1392
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (3) Thanks(3)   Quote sidle_by Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 12:39pm
If i had my way, everything I wrote would be named like a Fall Out Boy song LOL

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!!
FF23 Rd1 - Special Frame Diner
Back to Top
Sephira View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Groupie
NYC Midnight Groupie
Avatar

Joined: 20 Jan 2019
Location: NC
Status: Offline
Points: 246
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sephira Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 12:40pm
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
FF19C2: For the Greater Good
FF19C1 Semper Fi
SS19R1 The Past Is Her Future
Back to Top
chrissie0707 View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 07 Feb 2018
Location: Indianapolis
Status: Offline
Points: 4005
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chrissie0707 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 12:56pm
Originally posted by sidle_by sidle_by wrote:

If i had my way, everything I wrote would be named like a Fall Out Boy song LOL

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!!

And now I will have Dance Dance stuck in my head for the rest of the day Tongue
Back to Top
manifestlynot View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 02 Jan 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 4480
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote manifestlynot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 1:03pm
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.
Rhyming R1: Lionheart (Hist fic)
Back to Top
GallifreyGirl View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 30 Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Status: Offline
Points: 1653
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote GallifreyGirl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 1:24pm
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.
FFC20 R1 Born of the Sea
Back to Top
Vernacula View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 21 Jan 2016
Location: West Coast
Status: Offline
Points: 3729
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vernacula Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 1:33pm
Originally posted by sidle_by sidle_by wrote:

If i had my way, everything I wrote would be named like a Fall Out Boy song LOL



Ooh, I'm going to write a story now just so I can title it: The Opposite of Amnesia.

Wink
Back to Top
Vernacula View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 21 Jan 2016
Location: West Coast
Status: Offline
Points: 3729
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vernacula Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2019 at 1:34pm
Originally posted by GallifreyGirl GallifreyGirl wrote:

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.


All of this. Clap
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  123 5>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.05
Copyright ©2001-2022 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.234 seconds.