Titles

[Mellie]

Usually I come up with a title first, then the story. In some rare instances, I come up with the story first. And then I can't seem to think of a decent title. Any suggestions as to how I should approach this?

[Chibi-sitter]

Sorry, can't help.
BUT!
I have the same problem with all my story ideas, I can't think of titles.

Please help Mellie & me

[Calla Lily]

Hmm, what I find helpful is to create a list of all possible sayings, quotes, titles, catchy phrases that I would like to include in a fic someday. You might want to try that, Mellie and Chibi, it helps. Just make sure that you know where you can find the list again. (I've lost mine many times!)

But how to approach one? Why not use one of the lines from your own story, or perhaps describe something that might happen later on in the fic? And sometimes, they just comes right out of the blue.

Looking in a thesaurus or a dictionary certainly helps, and reading other peoples works (fanfiction or published works) is almost always a plus for me. Don't be afraid to throw in a wacky or odd title that for the moment, doesn't seem "right" or relevant for the story. Trying putting odd combinations together, use something utterly ridiculous, step out.

I hope that helps a bit,

~Calla.

[Wingnut]

If there is a song in the fic and/or reference to one you could name the fic after the song title. Or name it by the subject/content of the song.

[Beer-monster]

I think its best to try you do something short, say 3 words and try to put the meaning of your story (the moral or message as it were) in those 3 words...cryptically if possible.

Also don't put anything technical...I'm sure my title of superposition has turned a few people off

[Chibi-sitter]

Hey thanks Calla, Wingnut & Beer
That helped

[miyuki_no_nemutai]

Argh, the art of finding titles for any piece of writing. I used to write a list of potential titles for a fic, but then I joined my school's yearbook staff and I learned something entirely new. Well, new to me.

Copywriters, at least in my school's yearbook, take their titles directly from their copy. In a sense, the method's effective because the title creates a relationship with the copy, the essay, the story, or whatever it is that you need a title for. Not just any word from the copy, though; they have to be creative about the process so it grabs the reader's attention. Sometimes, when I work on my pages (I work on the digital/computer part of creating our yearbook) and the copywriter did not pick a title for their copy, I take an attention-grabbing sentence and pick it apart.

As for myself, I found that when I pick titles first, the title defines my story. It limited my creativity and frustrated me to no ends. I have trashed many stories because of this.

I hope this angle helps you in any way.

[Mellie]

thanks so much for all your input, it helped me work through my title problem!

[Beer-monster]

So what did you decide to call your fic?

[Mellie]

Confronting Weakness. It is a story about Wufei and Meilan.