So I've been thinking about titles. SPN fandom has some truly godawful titles floating around. Sometimes I skim the newsletter, and I'm like, "WTF? No, seriously, WTF?" But I am certain - 100% even - that somewhere out there, someone else is reading the newsletter and going, "Awesome!" at those titles, and looking at mine and going, "Seriously? No
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I always admire you writers, with your apt, eloquent titles
Thank you! I have really good sources. *g*
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There are also any number of titles I would tell people to just... not use because they're *so* overused
While I know that such lists tend to cause angst, I want to make a list. You mentioned "Hallelujah" and I'd add anything from Cummings's poem that begins "somewhere i have never travelled". (I'm guilty of this! I titled a long dS fic "Gladly Beyond". *g*)
I think a title needs to work in concert with the story, to comment on it or tell you what it's about in some way.
Yes, oh, my, yes. As a reader *and* writer, I also need a title that's memorable. Not necessarily memoriz-able, as your "...into the desert, as thirsty as you are" title makes clear, but memorable. Recognizable later, I mean. Lately I've been choosing fairly ( ... )
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I'd add anything from Cummings's poem that begins "somewhere i have never travelled". (I'm guilty of this! I titled a long dS fic "Gladly Beyond". *
Bwah! I actually had a line in there about that, with that exact reference. And also about "A Handful of Dust" and "Through a Glass Darkly" and there was another one I've just blanked on. Though I've used my fair share of groaners and obvious titles, too.
I also need a title that's memorable. Not necessarily memoriz-able, as your "...into the desert, as thirsty as you are" title makes clear, but memorable. Recognizable later, I mean.
*nod nod*
I want to be able to look at it and go, "Yeah, I read that, and I remember it."
Lately I've been choosing fairly plainspoken, *bare* ( ... )
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Apocalyptic imagery is not a priori appropriate, people! And even when it is, overuse can blunt its power! If Stephen King has already done it, consider not doing that!!
Sigh.
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Though I am guilty of using lines from "The Hollow Men" more than once. *hides*
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"A penny for the old guy" (despite nto being original to Eliot) -- OK
"Gesture without motion" -- OK
"Remember us -- if at all" -- OK
"Not with a bang but a whimper" -- busted down to cliche kindergarten
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Do you ever hit upon a title and just know that that's it, that's the title this story is meant to have? I've got a story in-progress right now called "Down And Upping", which is my favourite of all the titles I've ever come up with. It's a story about mental ups and downs, yes - but in the course of the story, the main character kills a swan, and it's all about down-feathers and swan-upping...
In conclusion, me = geek. :)
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I just have a really hard time picking something from a story to be a title. It just doesn't work for me.
Do you ever hit upon a title and just know that that's it, that's the title this story is meant to have?
Quite frequently, actually. *g*
the main character kills a swan, and it's all about down-feathers and swan-upping...
Is it a wereswan?
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Sometimes I think that *lots* of reading should be required before a person is allowed to post/publish/whatever. That way, they know what's been done to death.
But then, the writer might be shamed into hiding something truly good.
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Sometimes I think that *lots* of reading should be required before a person is allowed to post/publish/whatever. That way, they know what's been done to death.
Well, I think good writers are voracious readers. And while I don't think people need to not post the thousandth iteration of "let's get you out of those wet clothes" - I mean, I've written those stories, and I'm always pretty okay with the idea that some tropes are just going to be used a lot - I do wish they'd think before slapping "A Secret Chord" or "A Handful of Dust" onto a story. Which doesn't mean I haven't thought about some of those overused titles myself, but I generally end up using something else instead.
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Which doesn't mean I haven't thought about some of those overused titles myself, but I generally end up using something else instead.
They are, after all, famous quotes for good reason: they strike a chord and people resonate. It's just a little hard to bring your precious baby to the public and have a lot of them groan "oh god, not that again".
Of course, some people can pull it off.
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Exactly.
But a little googling might not be amiss there if you're thinking you maybe had a great idea nobody ever had before.
Of course, some people can pull it off.
Maybe. I know a few really good writers who use these kinds of titles and it still makes me groan most of the time. I also know a few good writers whose titles are generic and uninteresting to me. I think it's possible that this is a matter of taste at bottom.
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