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

[tehlils.livejournal.com]

I almost always struggle with titling a fic. It's not an easy task if you want something eye catching. I find that unless the author is someone that I really enjoy reading, I avoid "Untitled" like the plague. I mean for drabbles its completely fine, and I shrug it off, but if you're giving me something to read that's more than 200 words, it ought to have a title. Beyond the untitled thing, I haven't really paid attention to it, but perhaps subconciously I avoid fics with titles that don't interest me. I think one word titles can be the most eye-catching as you wonder how it fits. Also very odd sounding titles draw my attention. Its difficult to pin down what exactly makes a title good.