Give Thought To Selecting A Title

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  A lot of writers can turn out essays or short stories of a thousand or more words in record time. But then they find themselves stumped. What shall I call this? The writer tries one title, then another, and goes on to create several more before settling on one.

Something that should be so simple is often the hardest part of writing your story. The title is what hooks the reader. It needs to be catchy, relatively short, but also indicative of what is in the story or essay. It shouldn't be boring. It shouldn't be too cutesy. It shouldn't be blasphemous.

One of the women in my online writers group has revised a personal essay several times She doesn't want to submit it anywhere until it is polished and satisfies her and the other writers who have been critiquiing it. She finally has it almost ready to go except for one thing. The title! She's tried a number of different titles, some vetoed immediately by those who have been critiquing the piece from the beginning. Others were considered to be so-so. Not terrible but also not terrific.

What should her title include? It can be something that reflects the theme of the essay. Or a short piece of dialogue that is central to the theme. It might show what lesson was learned. It might ask a question that will be answered within the essay itself. She could pull a phrase from the essay that shows enough to hook a reader.

Never pick one title and go with it. Play around with several titles. Line them up and select the one that stands out for some reason. If you keep returning to one of the titles, there is a good chance that it's the best choice.

Should you ever use a person's name as a title? Sure, why not? Think about the books that have become classics that use this kind of title. Hickleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer are good examples. Both were written by Mark Twain. He chose simplicity rather than catchy. Each book was about the person whose name became the title. If you see a book or story with only a person's name for a title, aren't you going to be a little bit curious? I think you'll wonder what kind of problem and solution will there be for that person. So, your curiosity may need to be satisfied and that will happen when you read the book.

Consider the titles John Grisham used on his books. Most are very short. The Firm and The Litigators and The Racketeer and Calico Joe and The Client. If you read the entire list of his works, you'll find that nearly all are very short titles. The author wants you to see that short title and ask yourself what is there about this title that piques your interest. I think those two words will do exactly that.

How about Katherine Stockett's bestseller The Help? Short but it makes a browser want to know what about the help. Who are they? What will happen to them? Two words can create several questions in a reader's mind.

When I select a title for my blog posts, I often pose a question. I think it tells the reader that there is something to learn here.

Picking a title for your writing is not an easy task but it most assuredly is an important part of the whole piece. Don't grab for a title in a hurry. Give it some thought.

Titles

I used an Amazon gift card to purchase three new books for my writers library;  The books arrived yesterday, and I'm eager to read them. Not sure which one to start on, but I'm going with the one whose title called out to me. Unleash The Writer Within by Cecil Murphy. 

I don't know what Mr. Murphy will have to tell me, but he scored with the title. He got my attention as I browsed through the section on books about writing. Enough to make me click on the title and read the summary and editorial review. 

Recently my critique group had a short discussion on titles. Why can we write a 2000 word personal essay and then be stumped when choosing a title? Why can a novel writer ruin a perfectly good story with a wimpy title? I think too many writers don't consider the importance of a title. 

I wrote an article a few years ago about titles and quotes. It was published at Absolute Write--a newsletter for writers. I'm going to put the section on titles below. They are important, so don't just grab one from the sky and plop it on top of your carefully written story. 

Gourmet Touches-- Titles and Quotes By Nancy Julien Kopp If you invite someone to dinner, you're apt to add some special touches to the food and table decor. As a hostess, you try to make a dinner party special for your guests. Stories and articles deserve to be dressed up, too. Let's take a look at two items that add gourmet touches to a story-- titles and quotes. Titles The title of a story, article or book draws the reader's attention. It gives the reader a reason to read. Have you ever gone to the fiction section of the library or a bookstore and scanned titles? A few cause you to stop and pull the volume from the shelf. Something in the words on the books' spine called out to you. Ever wonder why? When you meet someone new, they make an impression of some kind. Sometimes it's positive, and other times not. The title of a book or story also makes a first impression, and it either creates further interest or moves us to pass on by. So, it's important to find a title that is creative or catchy in some respect. That doesn't necessarily mean it should be outlandish. Some writers think an outlandish title will catch an editor's eye, and it may. It might also make the editor pass it by in a hurry. When Margaret Mitchell finished her epic Civil War novel, she played around with several titles. Among them were Tote the Weary Load,Milestones, and Not in Our Stars. Her final selection, Gone with the Wind, turned out to be perfect. In four little words, Ms. Mitchell let you know that her story dealt with loss and starting over. The title can be taken from the meaning of the story, a comment made within the text, or a strong image the story projects. A proper name can serve as a title, too. If the book or story is a success, the name will live forever. Don't we all know and love a boy and a book named Huckleberry Finn? The unusual first name piques interest. A title should intrigue the reader, but it must also use the same tone as the story. After all, the title is an introduction or a preview of what is to come. If you write a story dealing with a tragic accident and death, you wouldn't use a title laced with humor. On the other hand, when you write a humorous story, you want to reflect that as well. Some writers add the title last, and others begin with a working title. After the story is complete, the writer plays around with titles until the most satisfying one emerges. It's the frosting on the cake, the dressing on the salad. It finishes the story.