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Not sure if there’s a discussion for this, but anyways, titles are my new favorite thing. Here we can talk about the titles of our favorite books, intriguing titles, what makes a good title, or even title prompts, inspired by @emerald-flyer on the Writing Prompts discussion made by @rochellaine . These title prompts could be lines we made up or lines we see other places that we think would make a cool title. For example, I found these two lines that I thought sound like cool titles in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar:
Betwixt Your Eyes and Night
Messengers of Day
Read to explore worlds, write to create them.
@sleepwalkingmk Great idea! I was actually planning to mention somewhere something my sister and I were talking about the other day, and here seems like a good place to do that. We were discussing the fact that the more flashy the title, the more trashy the book. 🙂
Usually it seems a good book’s title is simple and poignant, while a book by an inexperienced author has a title which shouts out a loud “read me” to the viewer. Both my sister and I agreed that we usually skip those books when we see them on the shelves and head for the more ambiguously and gently titled works.
Does anyone else agree?
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@rochellaine Oo, I agree! Do you have a favorite poignant book title?
Read to explore worlds, write to create them.
@sleepwalkingmk Yes. My current favorite title is Stars Fill Infinity by @seekjustice
Isn’t that one beautiful?
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@sleepwalkingmk Cool topic! I haven’t even thought about titles that much. I like longer titles over shorter ones like “The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf”, because it tells me that the book isn’t taking itself that seriously, and I like those kinds of books. I actually have been thinking about a title for my own book recently. Right now I am calling it “The Key to Everywhere”, but it feels really cliche to me, and similar to a book called “The Girl from Everywhere”. What do you think?
Aw, I’m glad you like my title! I love it too. I actually had the title long before I had the book, I think its a random line in Les Mis which I thought was absolutely beautiful!
I like short, simple titles too. My favourite books right now are in a series and they are literally called Once, Then, Now, After and Soon and they make really poignant titles.
I also like titles with the name of the character or the title of the character, like Jane Eyre, Rowan of Rin, Prince Caspian, etc.
In general, for a title to catch my eye, it needs to be eyecatching and unique but not super weird or flashy, like its trying too hard. If I was to say come across a book called The Magic Sword or something I probably wouldn’t pick it up, because ot basically reeks of unoriginal. 🙂
INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.
@seekjustice Oh, I forgot about character name books. Those are actually really helpful if you’re going back for rereads because it’s often easier to remember the name of the MC than the title. 😀
Yes! Books with flashy titles seem like they’re trying too hard. Like the author isn’t confident enough in his own writing to draw you in and feels like he has to make it sound really exciting on the outside.
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@sleepwalkingmk @rochellaine @seekjustice
I have this book I am working on along with “Mahinia” (which is named after the story character) that I am calling “For the Kingdom”. This title does sum up the book well, but I am wondering if it is to boring or intimidating?
"In a mask, was he?"
@ariel-ashira I don’t find it boring or intimidating, but I find it a little ambiguous. I don’t mean that you should put the entire plot of your book in the title, but “For the Kingdom” could describe probably hundreds of books, and you want readers to pick up your book because it sounds new and unusual.
And I am going to do that horrible thing where I give you advice and don’t have any ways to fix it. 😀
“For the Kingdom” is actually a fine title, though, and if you have a cover design/picture with a scene from the book that will give the audience a little more to work with in their imagination it could be perfect for your story.
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@rochellaine Thank you! I agree. I will let you know if I come up with something better and see what you think.
"In a mask, was he?"
okay, would Decisions be a title that y’all would look more into?
WIP - Decisions
Kapeefer til we're old and grey@sleepwalkingmk I really like the book title A White Bird Flying. I also think Calico Bush is a good title.
@alia Decisions does sound intriguing! Especially if paired with some cool cover art.The Kingdom has been torn asunder...
http://www.encircledbygrace.com/@kaya-young, thanks. unfortunatly I can’t draw to save my life, so I have no cover…or no good one
WIP - Decisions
Kapeefer til we're old and grey@sleepwalkingmk I’ve never thought that much about it before, but now that I do I would have to say that I basically agree with everyone else:
- eye-catching but not flashy
- unique but not too weird
- Both short and long work for me.
- describes something about the book
- OR it could just be the name of the MC, like my novel, which I call Leukauf.
A Kapeefer for life!
Compendium of KP Literature: kapeeferliterature.wordpress.com
@seekjustice That is a beautiful title! I love how simple and deep it is, and the bit of mystery intrigues me 😀 What’s your book about?Oo, those titles sound interesting! I’m reading a series right now like that; the titles are Deadline, Dominion, and Deception, and each title is a huge theme in its book.
Yes, I agree. Character name books are another good simple option, but some books wouldn’t fit it. Like the rest of the Narnia books couldn’t be named after a character because there are just too many important ones.
What do you think about longer titles? I usually like shorter ones, but there are some so unique that reflect an important part of the book, like To Kill a Mockingbird or The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And I know this is more children’s literature, but I’ve always remembered From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler because of how unique the title is.
I definitely agree. If the title is cliche or unoriginal, I tend to assume the book is too.
Read to explore worlds, write to create them.
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