Deciding on a story title

[hastalavista]

Yo!
Sorry for the Yo! Up there but you know, I find it so hard to choose a good greeting( I've only used dear sirs which was when writing emails)
Anyway, I've been thinking that my story title 'Ray: The Ultimate Mage' wasn't compelling enough.
So I was wondering how do you come with compelling titles usually?
And is it normal to change the title casually? I mean, the readers won't get upset or lose the story?

 

[Sabruness]

i honestly have trouble coming up with decent titles without a hell of a lot of head scratching, pondering and tons of discarded ideas

 

[Nahrenne]

Yo!
Sorry for the Yo! Up there but you know, I find it so hard to choose a good greeting( I've only used dear sirs which was when writing emails)
Anyway, I've been thinking that my story title 'Ray: The Ultimate Mage' wasn't compelling enough.
So I was wondering how do you come with compelling titles usually?
And is it normal to change the title casually? I mean, the readers won't get upset or lose the story?

*looks at the title for her own story*
'-'
I don't think I'm a good choice to be asking that.
>w>
<w<

X

 

[Draculus-del-Viafat]

Hi there!
I must admit that your title sound pretty cool to me, honestly.
As to how I choose the titles for my works, I usually tend to concentrate on philosophical issues of a writing and then make a title that would represent those issues. For example, Masquerade of Souls means that in the story a reader will find many characters, places and events that are not what they appear to be, that many people in the story will deceive each other by lying and disgusing their true intentions, that they will act a lot instead of being honest, because that's what we call hiding behind a mask. Masquerade os Souls is where peple hide their true souls behind masks.
Or, for another instance, a fan fiction I was writing some years ago dedicated to an RPG characters' children. It was called Parents and Children. Rewrite - the title refers to Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Children, because he writes about problems and conflicts in opinions that parents and children may have, and that was exactly the main issue of my fiction.
Another example - Maestro of the 5th Station - is a story about a genius violinist who plays at a train station for people who walk pass him. Why does he do that? 'Cause he wants the art of music to be available for absolutely everyone. Why maestro? 'Cause he is a genius.
Simple, really. I have got many ideas, many projects, and usually I create a title first, and only then a story Anyway, the main point is to find out what your story is about, then try to understand what is most important in it - a hero, an event, or an idea (philosophy), and then describe your point in a few words.

 

[K5Rakitan]

A) Keep it short and sweet
B) If you have an editor, ask the editor. You can give the editor an obnoxiously long title, and they can figure out how to trim it down or choose something more relevant.

 

[Surprise]

The title doesn't matter much, I mean you just need to put the right tags isekai, harem, smut etc and the readers won't forget your novel trust me buddy. Jokes aside your title is already good.

 

[HURGMCGURG]

Determine the main focus of your story, whether it be a character, setting, plot device, yadda yadda. Make a title that references the main focus.

Really long names aren't the best. If your title is more than seven words, that's too much.

Don't make a title with words that are overused. "Ultimate" and "mage" are two words that are completely overused.

 

[Leti]

I thought I'm the only one struggling to decide a title for a story.

 

[binarysoap]

When looking for new stories to read, I read the title and see the cover before deciding to click on it, and then I see the synopsis/tags. So it helps a lot if the combination of the title and cover allows me to get a good idea of what the story is about.

Don't overdo it and write a summary as a your title, since long title will get cut off, and no one sees them anyways.

P.S. If the cover isn't yours, shouldn't you at least give credit to whoever you stole it from at the very least?

 

[Maple-Leaf]

Go for cringe. Always works. Hopefully.

 

[YuriDoggo]

On the topic of title change: it's fine if you change it. Readers won't complain.

Comments on the chapter I changed the title:

 

[hastalavista]

When looking for new stories to read, I read the title and see the cover before deciding to click on it, and then I see the synopsis/tags. So it helps a lot if the combination of the title and cover allows me to get a good idea of what the story is about.

Don't overdo it and write a summary as a your title, since long title will get cut off, and no one sees them anyways.

P.S. If the cover isn't yours, shouldn't you at least give credit to whoever you stole it from at the very least?

I'm still looking for that person. I found it on pinterest, and I even asked the one who posted it, but even her didnt know. And I'm sure that I'm going to change it if don't find the artist, because Im really thinking of buying it

 

[hastalavista]

Go for cringe. Always works. Hopefully.

Lol, the story is a tragedy

 

[hastalavista]

On the topic of title change: it's fine if you change it. Readers won't complain.
View attachment 3404
Comments on the chapter I changed the title:
View attachment 3402
View attachment 3403

Thats so good. Thanks!

 

[hastalavista]

I thought I'm the only one struggling to decide a title for a story.

I even stay for hours thinking for each chapter title

 

[hastalavista]

The title doesn't matter much, I mean you just need to put the right tags isekai, harem, smut etc and the readers won't forget your novel trust me buddy. Jokes aside your title is already good.

Lol, the problem here is that Im really not good in writing erotica. Because my storage of words runs flat in this area

 

[hastalavista]

A) Keep it short and sweet
B) If you have an editor, ask the editor. You can give the editor an obnoxiously long title, and they can figure out how to trim it down or choose something more relevant.

Lol, I don't have a personal cover not just an editor.

 

[hastalavista]

Hi there!
I must admit that your title sound pretty cool to me, honestly.
As to how I choose the titles for my works, I usually tend to concentrate on philosophical issues of a writing and then make a title that would represent those issues. For example, Masquerade of Souls means that in the story a reader will find many characters, places and events that are not what they appear to be, that many people in the story will deceive each other by lying and disgusing their true intentions, that they will act a lot instead of being honest, because that's what we call hiding behind a mask. Masquerade os Souls is where peple hide their true souls behind masks.
Or, for another instance, a fan fiction I was writing some years ago dedicated to an RPG characters' children. It was called Parents and Children. Rewrite - the title refers to Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Children, because he writes about problems and conflicts in opinions that parents and children may have, and that was exactly the main issue of my fiction.
Another example - Maestro of the 5th Station - is a story about a genius violinist who plays at a train station for people who walk pass him. Why does he do that? 'Cause he wants the art of music to be available for absolutely everyone. Why maestro? 'Cause he is a genius.
Simple, really. I have got many ideas, many projects, and usually I create a title first, and only then a story Anyway, the main point is to find out what your story is about, then try to understand what is most important in it - a hero, an event, or an idea (philosophy), and then describe your point in a few words.

Actually, I'm really seeing that your titles are very good and explains a lot. Thats why I thought of at least adding epic to my title, because the story turn to be an epic later on

 

[hastalavista]

*looks at the title for her own story*
'-'
I don't think I'm a good choice to be asking that.
>w>
<w<

X

Lol, really no problem. I will ask another quedtion later about how to writing with better language. So I will depend on you there.

 

[hastalavista]

i honestly have trouble coming up with decent titles without a hell of a lot of head scratching, pondering and tons of discarded ideas

Yea, The same here... It's so hard