A title can make or break your story.
Let’s look at some examples of good titles, talk about what makes them tick, then practice coming up with our own together!
During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we talk about titles.
- Titles are quite often seen as an afterthought by many writers, something that they’ll come up with eventually
- But honestly, titles are a super important part of any story
- A good title can be the difference between someone ever giving your story a chance and reading it in the first place
- So what makes a good title? Let’s DISCUSS!
There are (at least) three elements to a good title:
- Attention-Grabbing: Gets reader’s interest in the first place
- Informative: Tells the reader what kind of story/genre it is
- Memorable: Reader remembers to read/search for it later
And there are (at least) four different types of titles:
#1. Summary Title
Typically a 2 to 7 word summary of the story, using a main character name, a setting name, something from the plot, etc.
Examples:
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Fight Club
- Project Hail Mary
- The Hunger Games
- The One and Only Ivan
- The Phantom Tollbooth
- Tuesdays with Morrie
- A Child Called It
These titles are informative, but that’s about it. Some of them are a little attention-grabbing/memorable, but not all of them, and some are confusing/easily forgettable. These can work well for some books, but most will likely want something else.
#2. Symbolic Titles
Typically a phrase that sums up a theme of the story, either from something small inside the story, or metaphorical for the story:
“Inside the Story” Symbolic Examples:
(Something a character said, a small plot point, etc.)
- A Clockwork Orange
- A Game of Thrones
- The Fault in Our Stars
- The Hate U Give
- The Name of the Wind
- To Kill a Mockingbird
“Metaphorical” Symbolic Examples:
(Nor specifically said in the story but representative of its whole)
- Fifty Shades of Grey
- Almost Perfect
- Dark Places
- Flowers in the Attic
- Gone Girl
- One of Us Is Lying
- Sharp Objects
- The Average American Male
These titles are usually attention-grabbing and informative, since they give a sense of what the story is about. The downside is that since they might not be about the story, they can be harder to remember/search for later.
#3. One-Word Titles
These can either be “summary” one-word titles, “symbolic” one word titles, or in some cases both at once!
“Summary” One-Word Examples:
- Carrie
- Eighty-Six
- Elantris
- Pachinko
- Scythe
“Symbolic” One-Word Examples
- Dry
- Fangirl
- Twilight
- Wool
- You
“Both” One-Word Examples:
- Divergent
- Holes
- Unwind
These titles are attention-grabbing and memorable (they’re only one word!) but it’s nearly impossible to get any information about the story. Imagine trying to figure out what “Holes” or “You” is about just from the title alone.
#4. Gimmick Titles
These can be anything from taboo titles, to taking idioms and twisting them, to super-long titles, etc.
Examples:
- I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell (“taboo”)
- Assholes Finish First (“taboo + phrase”)
- The Sex Lives of Cannibals (“DOUBLE taboo”)
- The War of Art (“phrase”)
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (“long”)
- Is It Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? (“long”)
- John Dies at the End (“spoiler”)
- ttyl (“internet slang”)
These titles can potentially hit all three: they can be attention-grabbing, informative, and memorable, but they’re risky. If you find the right balance then you’ve hit the jackpot, but if you come across as pretentious or trying too hard, then it could backfire.
After that, chat and I came up with some alternative titles for stories:
Summary Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Symbolic Title: Platform 9 ¾, The Boy Who Lived
One-Word Title: Hogwarts
Gimmick Title: That Time I Got Invited To A School of Magic, From Tragic to Magic
Then this one:
Symbolic Title: Fifty Shades of Grey, Biting My Lip
Summary Title: Grey House
One-Word Title: Love-Bound
Gimmick Title: Mr. Grey Will See You Now
Then we came up with titles for images suggested by chat, imagining them as book covers:
Summary Title: Tales of the Nightborne Sun
Symbolic Title: The Cat and the Fiddle, To Gather the Stars, Light of My Life
One-Word Title: Starsong
Gimmick Title: ★
Summary Title: Long Live! The Queen and King of Venicia, Tales of a Venetian Taxi Driver
Symbolic Title: The Gondola Ride to Die For
One-Word Title: Comatose
Gimmick Title: Oh Boy: Have I Got A Story for You, They’re Not Dead, I’m The One In The Back, Smooth Sailing to Euthanasia
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Unsplash