then she gets you on her wavelength
Talk to me about your story titles. Do you favor short and explanatory? Long and obscure? Something in between? It depends on the story?
Where do your titles come from? The story itself - a line or a recurring image or motif? Poetry? Lyrics? (yes, yes, I know there are people who find this approach uncreative and/or jarring. I say if it worked for Hemingway and Faulkner, it can work for me.)
Do you start out with a title or does it show up somewhere along the way as you're writing, or do you do the frantic title scramble just before you post? If the latter, where do you look/how do you brainstorm? Or do you just sit on the story until the right title appears?
Do you keep a list of potential titles? Do you ever get inspired simply by having a title you want to write a story for?
Have you ever used a title and then later on come up with a story it would have worked for better? Do you regret using it? Or do you just soldier on and find something new? Do you re-use it and hope no one notices? If so, do you re-title the old story?
Or how about using a not quite right title and posting and then later finding the perfect one? Do you change it? Does it matter how long the story's been posted/finished?
How much effort do you put into discovering whether a title has been used in your fandom before? How much do you care? Would you avoid it if the story were a well-known "classic" but go for it if it seemed little-read or remembered?
As a reader, how much does the story title matter to you? Do you ever look at a story and go, "Yes! That is the perfect title!" or "Huh. I like the story but the title makes no sense to me"? Do you remember the titles of stories, or is it usually, "That one where A and B got together, with the flying monkeys?"
Do you ever wish people would stop using "Hallelujah" or "Somewhere I Have Never Travelled" or "The Waste Land" or "The Hollow Men" (or some other poem or song) as their source for titles?
Do you ever wish you could just call your stories "Untitled #27" and be done with the whole process?
Inquiring minds want to know!
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/205588.html.
people have commented there.
Where do your titles come from? The story itself - a line or a recurring image or motif? Poetry? Lyrics? (yes, yes, I know there are people who find this approach uncreative and/or jarring. I say if it worked for Hemingway and Faulkner, it can work for me.)
Do you start out with a title or does it show up somewhere along the way as you're writing, or do you do the frantic title scramble just before you post? If the latter, where do you look/how do you brainstorm? Or do you just sit on the story until the right title appears?
Do you keep a list of potential titles? Do you ever get inspired simply by having a title you want to write a story for?
Have you ever used a title and then later on come up with a story it would have worked for better? Do you regret using it? Or do you just soldier on and find something new? Do you re-use it and hope no one notices? If so, do you re-title the old story?
Or how about using a not quite right title and posting and then later finding the perfect one? Do you change it? Does it matter how long the story's been posted/finished?
How much effort do you put into discovering whether a title has been used in your fandom before? How much do you care? Would you avoid it if the story were a well-known "classic" but go for it if it seemed little-read or remembered?
As a reader, how much does the story title matter to you? Do you ever look at a story and go, "Yes! That is the perfect title!" or "Huh. I like the story but the title makes no sense to me"? Do you remember the titles of stories, or is it usually, "That one where A and B got together, with the flying monkeys?"
Do you ever wish people would stop using "Hallelujah" or "Somewhere I Have Never Travelled" or "The Waste Land" or "The Hollow Men" (or some other poem or song) as their source for titles?
Do you ever wish you could just call your stories "Untitled #27" and be done with the whole process?
Inquiring minds want to know!
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/205588.html.
people have commented there.