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

[shadoedseptmbr.livejournal.com]

Wandering by from the daily_snitch

For my own purposes, though I'm not prolific, I can't write and post without a title. It stems from my high school experience in essay contests, where you were flatly disqualfied from the competition without titles. I title first, even if I change it later. If I don't have a title in mind (inspired by a lyric or line from a poem, generally) I use the old standard: "This, That and the Other Thing." Someday I'll actually use that title and have to find a new standard.

However, I don't read untitled fic outside of drabbles. If you didn't care enough about it to name it, you likely didn't care enough to spell check, either. I want some assurance you put a modicrum of effort into it.

[shadoedseptmbr.livejournal.com]

*sigh* It never fails when I mention spell-check, I almost automatically misspell something. Modicum.