Guide to Writing

Writing Tip 22: Titles

Chapter written by AliciaM21

The easiest way of coming up with titles is to sum the book up in a few words or less. Ask yourself this: What is the main point of the story? That will help you answer your issue.

For example: The main focus of the story is how Rebecca found herself being abducted and in a spaceship. The aliens experiment on her, trying to make her a hybrid; a new alien to rule another planet called Pandora.

Some potential titles: Hybrid; The Experiment; Ruler of Pandora; Pandora's Queen.

You're also able to think about the summary – take or think of some of the key words in the summary and put a few of them together.

For example: Nikki enters her senior year of high school and tries to play it cool. But once she runs into David, her old best friend that moved away long ago, things begin to change—her "coolness" hangs by a thread. David is a completely different guy she once knew. He's the definition of a fun nerd.

Some potential titles: Running into David; The Fun Nerd; Hanging by a Thread; The Friend I Once Knew (could also change it to The Friend Nikki Once Knew or The Friend She Once Knew); He Moved Back.

Coming up with titles can be the easiest thing if you allow your creativity and imagination run wild. But if you're not looking in the right places, it can be quite frustrating.

A common mistake people make is when titles are overly long. In general, titles should be no longer than one sentence. This is because the aim of the title is to sum up the story - anything else should be in the blurb or summary. Even then, it's good practice to keep titles under seven words.

The longest titles in teen and YA fiction tend to be those of series, and that is typically the reason for the length. For example, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire may seem long, but half of the reason for the length of the title is the series name. Shorter titles are far more memorable, which keeps them in mind for readers. If you can come up with an awesome title that uses as few words as possible, this is definitely a plus.

Another useful thing to avoid is repetition. Many writers make the mistake of using words in their titles that are overused. This prevents them from being unique, and definitely makes them harder to find, especially with the millions of stories on Wattpad. For example, the bad boy stereotype is used often in stories - and also in titles. This means that if your title also includes these words, it can take forever to find it, especially when even more stories are tagged with this. With that in mind, how can you stand out from the crowd?

Titles such as The Hunger Games and Anna and the French Kiss stand out because they're unique. This especially helps with advertising - word of mouth is a powerful tool these days, especially on the internet, and a title that's memorable can therefore help more than you would expect.

We hope this has helped you with coming up with some awesome titles!

What others have had to say

drwhogivesadamn "As for my tip, allow your titles to speak for you as an author as well. Titles will generate recall for readers and it will be closely associated with you. Make sure you'd be proud to have your name under it. Oh, and weirdly spelled or worded titles (like The Sefilix of Sionnie -- yes, I made that up) only work if they fit with the story. In any other case, they confuse the hell out of your readers. Some are even put off by it."

Jacob M. Appel"Titling may seem stressful, but the process should actually be enjoyable. After all, any writer who has completed a story or novel realizes that a title serves one more purpose that primarily benefits the author: Typing a solid title onto your manuscript is a way of patting yourself on the back and taking pride in a job well done."

Ammelia11 "Titles are incredibly important to a story. My favourite ones ore the ones that suddenly have hidden meaning when you finish the book.

The biggest issue with titles on Wattpad are that people tend to use really long titles that give away the whole plot, or ones with cliché stereotypes in the title that don't stand out - the "bad boy" and the "alpha" being the most common. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone looking for a book in the clubs, only to find it impossible because nearly every story has the exact same title. Make yours stand out, and you'll be remembered far more."

John Floyd "An enjoyable short story or novel might never get read by the public (or, more to the point, by an editor or agent) if the title doesn't do its job. In the publishing world, a good title is like a good opening paragraph: it should be interesting. It should attract the reader's attention. At the very least, it should be appropriate to the rest of the piece."

Have fun coming up with some great titles!