In the 10+ years, I have been writing poetry, creating and finding the right title, for me, has been very hard. Often, I am forced, to wait, until the very end, before attempting to come up, with the right title. Will admit, I have many poems that are left, bearing the title of untitled, when I post them, to my poetry blog. So, how do I come up, with a proper title, when I am writing a serial story/novel, and want to post the various chapters, here? Would love any possible solution or answer, you may have.
Creating the right title for your story
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Comments
Titles are
Like a sexy dress, suggesting the wonders that lie beneath without revealing them. Too bland and the eye looks away, too revealing and there is no surprise.
Yes I know this is not helpful but I do not think there is a formula for creating one any more than creating the story it introduces
I title all my captions which means I have written over 5000 and every one is a challenge. Often the title comes first but in most cases the title comes after - like looking in the closet for the perfect dress. You know it when you see it.
Word play is frequently used, being the literary equivalent of an enticing perfume. Titles often create their own stories. Many are famous in their own right. To Kill A Mockingbird and The Scarlet Letter come to mind. Descriptive yet mysterious.
Commentator
Visit my Caption Blog: Dawn's Girly Site
Visit my Amazon Page: D R Jehs
Interesting analogy
Love your comparison of a sexy dress, to a good title, Commentator. My writing style is, intuitively based, which means, for me, it has to feel right before I can accept it. Almost feel like, I should write it all out before posting it here, for others to share. Sigh.
creating a title
for me, its usually comes down to the feeling I'm trying to evoke in the reader. Sometimes, though because i often consider my poetry as songs, they'll have a chorus, making the title kinda easy. You could just use the first word of the poem, though, if nothing else comes to mind.
using the first word of the poem
has left me with a lot of poems called THE
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
But such an expressive word
that people always seem to find a new use for it. Why any other words seem hardly necessary. It's difficult to go through life without using it so popular is has become. Subtle nuances abound with every use and one can hardly envision a world without it. Even a paragraph like this somehow is diminished without it.
Commentator
Visit my Caption Blog: Dawn's Girly Site
Visit my Amazon Page: D R Jehs
Huh?
About 80 percent of the time, I come up with a title before I write a single word of a story, poem or song. And maybe 20% of the time, I end up modifying or changing the title.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Psychology?
I don't know why, but it seems to help to have a "working title". It's definitely different from (say) a movie's working title, where one needs to communicate and keep track of scenes and such. But for some reason, it helps. Yeah, sometimes the title changes when it's finally published.
For the most part, my titles have been pretty bland: "A Visit to Bikini Beach", "Bikini Beach: A Boy's Visit". Probably the BB phrase is more effective in attracting or repelling readers, than the genericness of the title. Another (probably) bland title, without the BB phrase and its weight is, "The Family Council".
-- Daphne Xu
Personally
I just write, and eventually the title comes. I also bounce ideas off of others, particularly Leila. She's awesome, especially late in the evening. We've come up with some pretty neat stuff. Alcohol helps, as does medication. Also, it helps to write down EVERYTHING, no matter how silly or unusual. Sometimes my greatest inspirations come when we're just shooting the breeze, like the line from Alicia Steele I used -- "I'm a sky the Sun has forever abandoned..." As soon as I uttered THAT, Leila was all over it.
Dorothy Colleen and Commentator also have profound gifts in titling. Perhaps they could help you.
(Let's see now -- who else can I give a shout out to?) Definitely Sephrena. Check out her writer resources links at the bottom of the home page. And lastly, Au Prev. Totally awesome author, and a mind overflowing with ideas ripe for the picking.
If all else fails, Erin can help. She's given me pointers quite a few times.
*Kisses Always*
Haylee V
try not to think
Too deeply about a title. Often the silliest words can make the best titles. I get mine from random thoughts usually but they even so often shape the direction of the writing.
A couple I've randomly come up with, Baked Beans, Master Guide, Windmill.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
I just KNEW
I had left someone FABULOUS out of my list of admired authors. Please forgive my oversight, luv.
Haylee
*Kisses Always*
Haylee V