Writer's Café

first impressions 2.

Title.

Titles are hard to choose if we are honest. Like really hard because it's the first thing that the reader sees. A title is truly the first impression that works a long way to make it interesting enough to attract the readers.

There are a few things that need to be kept in mind while choosing a title.

1. Relevance - How relevant is the title to your story? Does it give away too much or is just perfectly matching? It's really hard to decide, isn't it?

2. Uniqueness - Is the title you are thinking of common? Did you copy it from others or used a song name? Cuz trust me, song names as titles are extremely common, especially with fanfics.

I can't tell you just exactly how many 'Your eyes tells' (which I preferred but changed to Brush Strokes), 'Spring days', 'Euphorias', I've seen till this day. These are only three examples but I'm sure you've seen more.

The point is, be more creative. Just because the song matches the vibe and story, it's not necessary for you to use it. I could've used 'Seesaw' as the title for my Yoongi FF but I didn't, even though that song is half the inspiration. After going through my own trial and error method, I realised how using a song name as title makes the opposite impact than what you expect. Using a song title won't work everytime.

It's always first come, first serve thingy. If someone was to show me a book named 'Silk Sheets' which isn't by 'You-Know-Who'(I'm not using their username bcuz I'm not sure if that is appropriate), especially a BTS FF, I wouldn't even bother reading the blurb if I'm being honest. No offense to anyone but using a popular book's title, though relevant, isn't going to do the trick either.

The best way to avoid making your title too common or simple, you could always search the books with the same title on Wattpad. You'll see a very, very long list of books. Of course it's almost impossible to come up with a truly ingenuous title, but there are still ways to avoid making it too common.

1. Use a dictionary - Search up different words with same meaning and think just which is the perfect for your book.

2. Short and simple - Not every long ass title is going to work the same way 'To all the boys I've loved before' did. If you use, suppose, 'Our love was meant to be in the stars', will you personally read it?
The trick is to keep it maximum four words. Don't try going for bigger titles. No one would remember it and small, upto the point titles are most likely to attract attention.

3. Pronouns - 'His hostage', 'Her saviour', 'His light', 'Her knight', 'His lover'.
Why? Just tell me why those pronouns are necessary? I don't understand the point. I read this book while reviewing and the title was 'Jolie' and I really liked the title. Imagine if the title was 'His Jolie' instead of 'Jolie', it wouldn't be the same. In conclusion, avoid adding pronouns.

Cover.

If anyone says, choosing a title is the hardest part, I'd like to say, no, it's not. Covers are the hardest thing to make ever. Like, I have mad respect for anyone who can make edits and all that aesthetic stuff because I sure as hell can't despite practicing quite a lot. But fear not. I have tips for that too ;)

I won't lie here. My first ever cover attempt was for 'Bodyguard'. Before that, I had never ever even tried editing a photo. I literally made that cover with the tools in my gallery. So, I think I've come pretty far in terms of making simple edits.

My most trusted app for making edits or line dividers is Canva. It is a very good, easy to use app for a beginner and someone like me who has no sense to understand or create complicated art. I truly appreciate all those who are so talented with editing, especially the picture blending and manip ones.