Feature: What Do I Title This Effing Story?!

[chomiji]

The plot's worked out, you have the ending at last, your characters' voices are coming through clearly, and you feel quite positive about your latest piece of fanfiction/original fiction. There's only one problem.

You have not the slightest idea of what to call your work.

Comments

[lawless523]

Oh, how I hate coming up with titles if one hasn't already come to me. But I find that I can't write if I don't have a title because the document needs a name before I can save it. Using a name like "untitled vampire story" or "Sanzo/Hakkai" doesn't work for me; it's not inspiring enough.

[chomiji]

I've sometimes limped through the writing process with a temporary name like "shiners" (the temp name of my most recent Abhorsen/Old Kingdom fic). And once or twice, even "585-sk." But I hate doing it. It makes me feel like I don't have a real "center" to my story.

[amai_kaminari]

OMG, I LOVE YOU! <3 <3 <3

I *HATE* coming up with titles.

Thank you for writing this!

[chomiji]

Awww, thanks. I hope it turns out to be useful for you!

[daegaer]

I kind of want to write something with the title This Effing Story now :-)

[chomiji]

Hee, yeah! It could be a meta-ish thing where the characters are somewhat aware of their status as characters in a story, no?

[daegaer]

Ha ha, yes, that would be hilarious! Nagi, for example, would be so annoyed at the plot holes in WK! And OMG, imagine Sanzo's reaction at finding he's not really bad-tempered, he's just drawn that way :-)

OK, now I'm also imagining Sanzo as Jessica Rabbit. This cannot be a good thing.

[chomiji]

Glad to be of service!

[campylobacter]

As someone who reads a lot a fanfic and is prone to forget if I've read a certain story before, unique, memorable story titles that aptly describe the story help A LOT when I'm later thinking of stories to nominate for fan awards.

"avoiding simple titles made up of very common words"
Agreed. The number of X-Files stories titled "Trust" is embarrassing.

Song lyrics/quotations as titles is ONE OF MY PET PEEVES. Not creative enough to come up with your own title? Plagiarize someone else!

READER: The title of your story is lovely & more poetic than the story.
AUTHOR: LOL It's a line from "My Immortal" by Evanescence.
READER: :/

PS: Thanks for the link to Scalzi's hilarious April Fool's Day joke.

[chomiji]

Yes, Floyd made that point with regard to novels: he said it helped people to recommend the book if the title was short-ish but memorable.

That's an interesting viewpoint with regard to titles taken from other sources, such as literature or songs. How do you feel about other forms of writing in which the authors have done the same: for example: Tom Stoppard's famous play "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead," which takes its title from a line in "Hamlet"? Or in another medium, this drawing by artist Paul Kidby (shown here on a T shirt) of Nanny Ogg's cat, paired with a quotation from "Macbeth"?

Or, in a similar scenario, how about an Age of Sail movie (something along the lines of "Master and Commander") in which the background music references a few bars of "Rule Britannia" or an old sea-song like "Leaving Liverpool" at an opportune moment?

My point is that when such referential material is chosen thoughtfully, it brings along a host of associations that can enhance the reader's or viewer's perception of the story. Although not

[daegaer]

I'd agree that titles that quote other works can bring a host of resonances to the reader (if they know the work quoted - which is one reason that well-known works are usually the source. It's only part of the reason, I think,and another part is that stories, poems, plays, music are all in conversation with other, riffing off each other and reflecting each other back. For fanfic authors to use that method of titles is simply to be part of that conversation (which of course fanfic has always been part of). The words used are either so familiar at the time the work is written that no attribution is needed, or if possibly unfamiliar, are attributed, because part of the point is that readers/listeners know what's being referred to. It's not plagiarism, it's talking to the neighbours.