Pick A Title For Your Writing

Running late today as my husband had a minor accident in his garden this morning. Tore his arm on a tomato cage, and since he is on blood thinners, it bled. A Lot!  So, off to an urgent care place to get the bleeding stopped, treated and tetanus shot and antibiotic prescription. That 2 1/2 hours was not in our Monday morning plan. 

I did have time to think about what today's post would be. A short word--titles. Yes, it's short but also of major importance. A title is what draws a reader to a story, a book, a poem or an article. How many times have you been in a bookstore or library and scanned the shelves until a title jumped out at you? What about the ones you passed up? Why did they not appeal to you?

Writers seem to fall into one of three categories when it's time to choose a title for your precious piece you've written, edited, revised and more. One group excels in picking good titles. The second group does a so-so job while the third group tries one after another until they find a workable title. 

Are you one of the lucky ones in the first group or do you struggle with titles? Those writers who are excellent with titles have probably the fewest in number. Then, there are the rest of us in one big, frustrated clan.

What should you consider when choosing a title:

• Length--short is fine if it says the right thing. Longer is alright, too, if it reaches out to the reader  
• Keywords--there should be some keywords that alerts the reader to what is to come within the text.
• Pull quote--use something that is in the story itself. Pull it out and make it your title. It could be a phrase or a short sentence
• Names--a character's name can serve as a title. Huckleberry Finn is one example. The reader is drawn to the title mostly because it is an unusual name, not a Tom, Dick or Harry.
• Impending disaster--is your story about a storm or some kind of disaster? Use it somehow in your title. 
• Question--you could ask a short question. Readers might want to find the answer within your text
• Alliteration--many writers use alliteration in a title. Readers like the way it trips off the tongue.
• One word--if you find the best 'one' word, you will be successful in drawing readers.
• Personal--use 'my' or 'I' in the title and the reader knows it is a first-person account.  Some readers are drawn to that type of story.

I do not recommend finding a title and going with it right away. Play around with several titles. Make lists. Try different variations of one title. Let it simmer a couple days before you make a final decision. 

Don't take choosing a title lightly. It's your first chance to 'sell' your full piece of writing to an editor or to your reader.