The Writer's Guide to a Good Story

Don't Let Your Titles Make Me Want To Shoot You

Just as a note, that chapter title just made me realize just how violent I am. I'm always inciting murder or death.

Anyway, in my personal opinion, the best time to name your story is after you write it.

THE BEST TIME TO WEAR A STRIPED SWEATER, IS ALLL THE TIIIIIME.

Ugh, sorry. Got a little distracted there. Spongebob, anyone?

Anyway, where were we? Oh yes. So I understand on Wattpad that it's not really possible to name your story after you write it.

Which, by the way, is why it's a great idea to plan your story out ahead of time. But that's another topic entirely.

Your story titles should pop out at people. However, they should not be overused, and most probably should not give away a main plot point in your story.

For example:

-The Bad Boy's Girlfriend

-My Best Friend's Brother is The One For Me

-My Boyfriend is a Vampire

-I'm in Love With My Best Friend 

There's nothing wrong with making your title a little funny, or silly, but there's a fine line between silly and ridiculous.

There are a lot of good titles I've seen, on here and in real life. For example, the title "Lord of the Flies"

It makes you wonder. What kind of book is that? What's it about? Why would flies have a lord? 

Sometimes your title can also relate to overall themes in the story itself. 

One example I know of is 'A Crooked Kind of Perfect.'

It's about a girl named Zoe that wants to become a famous pianist. The main premise behind the story is that instead of a shiny, new piano for a birthday, Zoe gets an ugly, old organ. Okay, maybe I'm being mean. It wasn't that ugly, it was just old.

Zoe realizes that life is rarely perfect, and sometimes things don't work out exactly the way she wants them to, but it's still okay. Hence the title "A Crooked Kind of Perfect"

The words kind of jump out at you, don't they?  

It's certainly a better title than 'Zoe the future pianist.'

The title of my is book 'My name is Einstein'

Yeah, this probably seems like a silly title to you, but it's silly enough to catch the attention of a reader. That is, so long as the reader doesn't think that the book is a biography about Einstein. Not that I'm dissing those of you that like to read biographies.  

There are a lot of books with very long titles. Like "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You she's Sorry" or "Play the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument Until The Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit" (I am not kidding, that's an actual book). I wouldn't advise against writing long titles. A lot of people can pull it off. Just make sure it's not obscenely long and still actually relates to the story. 

Of course, titles don't always have to be silly, over the top, or even witty to catch someone's attention. For example, let's say the title of a story is "What Happened in The Morning"

It's neither silly, witty, nor over the top, but it certainly catches the attention. What did happen in the morning? Why is it worth mentioning? 

One more thing, obviously, is to make sure that you don't give somebody the wrong impression with the title you have. For example, having a title of a story be "The Hackers" with the actual book being about medieval dragons or something like that. You may draw the attention of people who are interested in computers and hacking, but completely miss the readers you were aiming for, who are interested in reading about dragons. 

But in the end, your title is your decision. It's your book, after all.