Titles: A Necessary Evil or Why Can't They All Just be Called "Untitled," Anyway?

[argosy]

So I posted my Rodney/Teyla fic yesterday called This Is The Song That Goes Like This. Poor, poor little non-otp fic--no comments. That's okay, because it was a repost from sticksandsnark--so everyone who wanted to read it presumably read it over there already. Still-- poor, poor little orphan non-otp fic. It looks so sad and lonely. *pets it

Comments

[sgamadison]

Oh titles are a weird thing with me. I really prefer one or two word titles for my stories. Most of the time, a story is a barely formed conglomerate of random ideas until the title slams into my head and then--boom! The story unfolds. So I am almost superstitious about them. If there is a word play that I like (for example, I really got a kick out of calling the story where Rodney thinks he's dying of cancer "Alternative Medicine")then that is just icing on the cake.

Because my titles are so short, they are often duplicates of other titles already used or sound so close to someone else's stories that readers often get confused. I've heard the complaint that people should be more original in naming their stories and there should be less duplication. I can't help it. There's some sort of thing between me and titles and I'm not going to fight it or try to change it. I just hope it keeps on coming!

My bugaboo title is for a fic that never made it off the ground, floundered in its construction from the foundation up because it didn't know what it wanted to be when it grew up and hence was not salvageable. Every time I have a story I think might go that route, I think, "oh god, not another "Calvary".

[lavvyan]

I've heard the complaint that people should be more original in naming their stories and there should be less duplication.

And that pretty much sums up everything I find distasteful about entitlement. Because, yeah, anything else? Maybe tell me I shouldn't use certain words like, say, "Broken" in my titles because they're too popular? *rolls eyes*

[sgamadison]

I agree...I shouldn't call a story "Blindsided" because it's used too often? Despite the fact the title fits on so many different levels? Oh, c'mon.

On the other hand, I may have gone overboard on the "Second" series. I'm starting to get cutesy in order to fit the word 'second' into the title. Maybe that also means the series is reaching a natural end. ;-)

[lavvyan]

I once got an email from another author asking me not-quite-politely to change the title of a story because they had posted something with the same title just a few weeks earlier. They started citing the historical implications of said title and ended with "just a heads up" and I was all, "Dude. If you want me to change the title so our stories don't get confused, just tell me so and don't get all passive-aggressive about it."

[sgamadison]

*snort*

Now they didn't feel threatened by any chance, did they? :-)

[argosy]

I like "Alternative Medicine." :) I don't think titles need to be long or terribly original, but it's nice when they are memorable--so you can find them later, if nothing else. (And thus titles really can't stand on their own because a huge part of what makes them memorable is their relation to the story.) "Alternative Medicine," for example really evokes the story for me.

If a story is telling you it wants to be called something, by all means listen, and who cares what anyone else thinks. I am jealous. :)