coming up with titles

[marguerite_26]

come tell me... what is the silliest/strangest/most clever way you've ever come up with a title for a fic?


There was some meme going around a few years ago where you translate something from English to Latin, then back again. The results are very amusing. (if, like me, you are 12)

One result I got or Faithwood got... i don’t remember the details... but it was “Draco coming iron”. This was so hilarious to me (us) and sounded painfully like Draco should see a doctor. So clearly a fic needed to go with this great Latin title! and that's how/why Ferreus Rememdium got written.

And like all Latin titles, no one can remember the name, and even I just think of it as that fic that starts with an F and means coming iron.

Comments

[ginger-veela.livejournal.com]

*shyly raises hand*

I'm not sure this is clever or in any way original, but one thing I like to do is tie the title of a story to the final sentence or image in a fic. It kind of keeps the reader guessing at the meaning thereof until the end, and it can be a satisfying way of wrapping everything up.

And then sometimes, my titles are stupid and boring. IDK. :-/

ETA: I like your method better. *steals*

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of tying a story to the final sentence or the ~feel of the ending. I'm more of a title and summary match sort of person. /lame.


ETA: I like your method better. *steals*
hee! seriously. just translate something into latin, then back into english and use it as a prompt for a kink!fic. how can you go wrong? lololol

[ginger-veela.livejournal.com]

I just read your story. Oh my god, HAWT.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

lololol

poor draco and his sick penis.

;)

[renrenren3]

My titles suck because I have no clue how to do titles. Usually I abuse descriptive titles such as "Of [something relevant to the fic] and [some other thing relevant to the fic]" or "In which [short summary of what happens]" -- so far In which Arthur and Merlin are dating even though Arthur says that they aren't, and they get married in the end. Also they have sex. takes the cake, though that was ~for funsies~ so I'm not sure if it counts. Going through my writing folder, it seems that despite those crazy outbursts I have a preference towards shorter titles, one or two words at most. I like vague literary references or lifting a line from my favourite songs in a way that's hopefully not immediately obvious.

AND NOW I'M GOING TO STALK THIS POST AND LEARN HOW PEOPLE DO TITLES. :|

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

"Of [something relevant to the fic] and [some other thing relevant to the fic]" or "In which [short summary of what happens]" --

LOL! I think you've described half my title and summaries. >.>

I like vague literary references or lifting a line from my favourite songs in a way that's hopefully not immediately obvious.
yeah - I'm def. the sort to google an 'idea' and look to see what pops up in terms of poem and saying and such. I rarely use a quote, but the ideas there will usually inspire a title.

BUT, I think my titles suck in general. So I wouldn't say my method is successful.

[junkshop-disco.livejournal.com]

Mine almost always follow the same formula - the fic asks a question, and the title is the answer (so A Fistful of Infinity and Starlight asks, 'what's it like to fall in love with someone who has a destiny?' 'it's like trying to hold a fistful of infinty and starlight'). I always start with the title too - I have to know what it is before I write a single word, so I never have to come up with one later unless I've accidentally comment ficced or something. In those instances I just find a line that sort of encapsulates what I was trying to say and pull out a phrase. In a pinch I go Dada: pull out a couple of random words and smoosh them together until there's something I like (oh, and on those occasions, I totally go back and tweak the fic to fit the title so it looks like I meant it all along).

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

I always start with the title too

okay.. that is fascinating. I think that's happened to me a handful of times, but what a wonderful way to bring focus to your fic.

(oh, and on those occasions, I totally go back and tweak the fic to fit the title so it looks like I meant it all along).

LOL

[junkshop-disco.livejournal.com]

I think I write backwards to the way most people do -- I always need to know the last line and the title -- it's like that becomes the target I'm aiming for, and if I don't have that I don't know what the story is and it just feels utterly random. It's only when I've got those I can think about actual scenes and trace the trajectory backwards to find out where to start.

[nympha-alba.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like how you create titles - I'm going to try that next time I write something!

I often have the last line too when I start writing. Sometimes I write the final scene first, so I know where everything is going to end up, and then I find out how the characters got there.

[rickey-a.livejournal.com]

ah titles... sometimes they are so easy and pop in your head and other times a struggle- finding a line or concept from the fic, stealing from a song title (or poem, book, movie or otehr source), or just over-used saying. Silliest/strangest? Three is a Magic Number which is total porn Snape/Harry/Draco with a title appropriated from a School House Rock song for learning the '3' multiplication tables. ;P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5h11p-w4kY

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK TITLE FOR YOUR FIC!!!

I love it! ahahaha!

[xsmoonshine.livejournal.com]

I am trying to come up with a title at the moment. Urgh. I have no idea. Sometimes I think of a title first and write to it as a sort of theme, (and then possibly change it afterwards), sometimes I just scratch my head in confusion after writing a story and slap some Embarrassingly Random and Clearly Unsuitable Title on it in a sort of revenge on myself (there, that'll teach you to write badfic, boo).

Titles are evil. /eyeing assignment

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Oh! I highly suggest you go with: Lorem Felis Iniquum!!!!

It's the translation of Embarrassingly Random Title into Latin. ISN"T IT BEAUTIFUL???

[xsmoonshine.livejournal.com]

If I use it, I will give you full credit. Thank you. -_-;;;

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

ahhahaha!!! USE IT!!! (no need to credit *g*)

[wolfangeldeath.livejournal.com]

That is the most beautiful title EVER!!!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

:D

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Titles are the first thing I come up with. I build a story around that.

If a title sucks or is over-used (IE Through a Glass, Darkly *barfs*) I may not read the fic.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

I really admire being able to come up with a title first. It's a great thing for fic, I think. but it rarely happens for me.

[wolfangeldeath.livejournal.com]

http://mdbenoit.com/rtg.htm

I actually get a lot of titles from that

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

oh wow. I'm totally bookmarking that.

The Weeping of the Dying -- is clearly a fic that needs to be written just to use that title. :)

[wolfangeldeath.livejournal.com]

Absolutely

[blue-eyed-1987.livejournal.com]

I'll google a theme and try to find something that matches. Occasionally I'll pinch things from songs I've listened to whilst I've been writing.

Otherwise it gets an 'untitled' or a 'summary-of-a-fic'!fic


I am awful at titles. Titles and endings.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

yeah - I usually hit google too, but sometimes it's fun to just have a whimsical title that means nothing. LOL.

[lordhellebore]

Titles are hard for me. I frequently go through song lyrics, poems, and Bible quotes to come up with titles.

"All Through The Night" is from a song, "No Greater Love" is from a Bible verse, to give just two examples.

I often also include those lyrics/verses somewhere in the fic.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Both great title inspiration sources! I've not considered bible verses before...

[lordhellebore]

The Bible is such a huge source of good titles :) I'm in the process of plotting a fic called De Profundis Clamo Ad Te Domine.

[faithwood.livejournal.com]

aahahahaahah! Draco comes iron! GOOD TIMES!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

hee! SO MUCH FUN. ;)

[chantefable.livejournal.com]

Lately I am vivisecting obscure poems for quotes because I'm lazy.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

hee! obscure poems are a fountain of inspiration. ;)

[nympha-alba.livejournal.com]

I'm hopeless with titles. I like for titles to really tell something about the fic, or add to it - perhaps not in an immediate way, but in a way that makes the reader think, when they've read the fic - "ah, so that's what the title meant". And of course I hardly ever come up with titles like that. :) If I can't think of anything, I often use a quote. Boring, I know!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

but in a way that makes the reader think, when they've read the fic - "ah, so that's what the title meant".

yeah i do love those sorts of titles. but um... not always the easiest thing. LOL.

[mialoco.livejournal.com]

I suck at coming up with titles. I just write down plot bunnies and give it a title of something that reminds me of where the plot bunny made my head go. Then after everything is finished I usually stick some random bit that was in the story in for a title, but it always remains the working title to me so I can never usually find it again unless the plot bunny is part of the summary.

It can sometimes be a trial to live in my head. Course I don't have to worry much about it since I don't often put my stuff out there for public consumption anyway.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

it always remains the working title to me so I can never usually find it again unless the plot bunny is part of the summary.

ha! yes. I do that too. Like there are some fics I honestly cannot remember the name of (even recent ones) because the working title 'wolf!fic' is how I will forever think of it.
:D

[hereticalvision.livejournal.com]

Because coming up with titles is a constant struggle for me, it's most usually a quote. "Start with a strong and persistent desire" - name of an album I used to like. "The Brilliant Green" though the colour is used as a recurring image in the fic is actually named for a Japanese band. Even "Hands of Lust" is from the Ballad of Reading Gaol. Proverbs, lyrics, bits of poems - anything I don't have to think of myself.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

oh.. I like that you use album/band titles. That unique.

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

I shouldn't reveal my secret...

Ah well, on occasion I'll go to this site: Cliche Finder (http://www.westegg.com/cliche/) and type in words that pull together what I'm trying to say in the fic, and on occasion it gives me a perfect title.

Other times a title just pops into my head like magic. I like that.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

heh... that sounds neat, but I can't seem to get that cliche finder to work for me! *pouts*
but that is an AWESOME secret. ;)

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

Xander and the Vampire Zebra was because I had fics starting with every letter of the alphabet but X, V and Z :-)

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

AHAHHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!! YES. That is perfect. :)

[enchanted-jae.livejournal.com]

*giggle*

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

hee! <3

MErry Christmas, jae!

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

I did a whole workshop one time on theforce.net on how to come up with titles. It was a lot of fun!