Insert Title Here

I recently had a person ask me about naming a story. Most people really don’t think about the naming of a story beforehand, but it is a very good process to get into. After all, the title of a story or article is usually the first thing a person sees. The title is the thing that normally gets the person interested in the first place. Of course there is the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, but still many people will be drawn to interesting and creative titles rather than boring, bland, or overused ones. So I’m here to talk about the process of story naming. Ready?

A commonly overused title is “So-and-so’s Quest” or “Quest for the *insert-item-here* ” Though it does tell some about your story, it’s been used so much that it gets boring – not to say that story is boring or the person is a bad writer. But let’s try to get a bit more creative, shall we? Another common title is “So-and-so and the *insert-item-here*” This is almost a combination of the two above examples. I’m not saying it’s wrong to use these – I’m only saying they’re a bit overused and uncreative.

Sometimes a good title can come from a character’s name. While not altogether creative, and telling you absolutely nothing about the story save that there is a character called that, it is a common title.

Let’s get creative, then!

One of my favorite ways to create a title is simply to take the entire story and try to choose one of my favorite quotes from it. Take for example my story, “Will You Remember Me?” This title was created for obvious reasons (if you haven’t read the story you won’t know what I mean). This is a pretty creative way to title your story. Think of the funniest, most inspirational, most daring, or even the most strange quote, and try using it as your title. It doesn’t even have to be a dialogue (speaking) quote. Try part of your narration (author speaking), meaning part of the story where the characters aren’t speaking. It is one of the most creative ways, don’t you think? It may work after all!

Another creative way is to summarize your story in a few words. What happens to your characters? What do they do? Let’s say your story is a sea adventure. How about titles that talk of sea-life? “Voyage Across the *insert-title-here*” can be an interesting, creative title. Keep thinking about it. You never know what might pop into your mind!

Yet another way is to take your favorite scene in a story, or perhaps even the climax, and summarize it to two to six words. “Battle for the *insert-item-here*” , “Where the *something* Is,” etc. etc. Be creative. Expand your possibilities. Rewrite your ideas. Did you know the original title for “The Chronicles of Knight: The Knight Within” was “To Become a Knight”?

Riddles – one of the most creative ways is to speak in riddles. What I mean is to use homophones. Homophones are two or more words, such as Knight and Night, that are pronounced the same but have different meanings and even different spellings. The best example is a word that can be both a character’s name and an object, like raven, kitty, or others. Even last names work, like brooks. Let’s say the main character is going to go and greet the Brooks family. “Over to the Brooks” might be a creative title you can create. It could mean over to the Brooks family, or over to the brooks (as in a stream). There are literally thousands of different homophones you can use. Try searching for “homophones” on the internet.

Another way to create a title would be to take a major character (good or bad) and use their name or title as the title for your story. Let’s say you have a warrior knight. Perhaps you could call it “The Warrior Knight” or something else that the character is called. How about a story about Darigan? “King of the Citadel” (or lord, whichever you choose). “Bad guys” can also be used: “Leader of the Thieves” (if you don’t know who that is, then I suggest you pay better attention to plotlines). The list could go on – it depends on your characters.

Then again, you could always use a description of your character – remember to keep it short. “The Silver Draik”, “Those Sad, Grey Eyes”, you name it. Practically anything that describes your character can be used! “The Greatest of All Thieves”, anything. It’s your story, so you should be able to name it well.

Take the above two suggestions and apply them to a group of characters – it's another way you could name your story. Take the Council in Tale II of my Knight Chronicles. “The Royal Council of Meridell” might be a good title if I were to ever write a tale about it. “Decisions for the Land” could be another. The list goes on.

One of the neatest ways to grab someone’s attention is to use a lesser-known language or even a dead one to supply you with your title. Try typing “free online English to *insert-language-here* translator”. Sometimes a free, online one will come up. Sometimes you won’t be so lucky. By using the translator, though, you can create an interesting, unique title. Let’s say you wanted to call your story “Brightest of Days”. Sounds a bit boring? Try translating it to Latin (that’s a dead language). “Sudus Interdiu” sounds a bit better, eh? Of course, it would be a good idea to explain what the title means somewhere in your story. It isn’t a good idea just to say “I got it off a translator site.” How about “he knew that phrase, sudus interdiu, the brightest of days…” Try it. You may like it.

Of course there are many other ways to name your story – these are just a few suggestions if you’re having a hard time. The best thing you can do is keep re-wording and re-phrasing your title until it is THE title. Like I said, The Knight Within was originally “To Become a Knight”. I know there are some who began reading that story because the title “The Chronicles of Knight: The Knight Within” grabbed their attention. Don’t just settle for a title because you can’t think of anything. Keep trying. It’ll come to you.

Of course, you can just ignore all I just said and create a title that has nothing to do with the story… People will look at you weird when you have something called “Pretty Flowers” talking about the Rubbish Dump. But it’s your story. I’m only here to lead, if you want to follow a ways. Again, I’m off to write another story (basically, that’s all I do). If you are still reading this, then I advise that you open Word (or your notebook) and continue writing your story. Off! Scurry! Write a tale worth reading, with a title fit to catch even the most fleeting of eyes!