Some people are really good at titles. They can come up with really memorable titles that perfectly connect with their novel/play/poem. These people are also probably visited by helpful elves and ride to work on their pet unicorns.
I am not one of these people.
Either I come up with a title and no accompanying story, or I finish a story and stress about the title for a while. But titles are worth some stress. A good title can capture a reader’s attention right away, while a bad title can make an otherwise compelling book forgettable. Sometimes I’ll remember the plot well but totally forget the title and not remember that I’ve read/seen it until someone describes it more.
To see the difference that a good title can make, check out these alternate titles for famous movies. While I love the sound of The Rebel Nun, it has a very different feel than The Sound of Music.
Are you good at coming up with titles? What are some of your favorites?
“Either I come up with a title and no accompanying story, or I finish a story and stress about the title for a while.”
Truly agree with that. I think most of us having the same stress too! 😛
theothertuesday
We should all start trading potential titles and see if that works any better.
I agree, titles are really hard. Maybe it’s just me, but other people’s titles seem so much more catchy and memorable than whatever I can come up with. I go through so many titles as I work on one piece of text. 😛
~ Lauryn
I think even the memorable titles are probably the result of a lot of time/effort/stress.
I actually find blog post titles quite difficult. They are always the last thing I write.
Same here!! I have everything else ready and then stare at the title bar for ten minutes.