On titling fics

[themostepotente]

I'm hard pressed to admit -- sometimes the title of a fic is the deciding factor on whether or not I read it.

Titles can be very eye catching, and sometimes I need that stimulus (can I call it this?) to attract my attention.

Witty, clever, thought provoking -- anything really. I just need to make that connection.

To me, there is nothing worse than a poorly titled fic. Does anyone else share these sentiments?

Do poor titles affect your judgement? Does the word 'Untitled' tend to turn you off?

How do you go about choosing an appropriate title for your fic? Song titles, catchy phrases?

What about sharing story titles with a well-known author? So many fics out there. It has to happen more often than not.

Share your thoughts, please :-)

--P

Comments

[twilightsorcery.livejournal.com]

Here from daily_snitch.

I envy and admire a good title. Choosing a title (at least for me) tends to be like bumping into things in the dark. Until I hit on it, I never really know. "Snape's first day of teaching" became "Reactions" when scifantasy pointed out that reactions were the driving force of the story. I had a story that went through "Werewolves of London", "Bitter Flesh", "Inevitable", and finally went back to "Bitter Flesh" when I realized I was never going to think of anything better. "Bloodline", on the other hand, had the only title it could possibly have before I wrote one word.

Either it happens or it doesn't, but I would rather see a stupid title than no title at all. Suffer like me, damnit! ;)