Imaginative Story Titles

[fetish101]

I know there's probably already been a thread or two on this, but I'm annoyed with it so I'll make a new one.

I'm tired of the amount of stories with names like "nadine's torture" or "shelly's Training". I'd just like to see a little more imagination go into them other than [girl's name][descriptive word]

I don't think I'm alone when I say that seeing that sort of canned title sorta steers me away from the story.

[Curtis]

Hmm, short and descriptive turns you off, hunh? I think coming up with a title is a LOT harder than writing the story. And what else are you going to call it? "Fun With Electrodes" would probably turn off more people than "Chantelle's Ordeal".

But you do have a good point -- just as certain story codes will steer a person toward or away from a story, so, too, can an unimaginative (or too-specific) title.

[Hawke]

I generally try to make my titles at least a little mystifying-for example, one could not tell what the story "Gone" is about. Hell, to this point, the meaning behind the name hasn't even been said. But with something like "The training of [name here]", it's not too hard to see that the story is about the training of [name here].

[Alex Bragi]

I understand what you are saying, but I don’t really mind those short and descriptive titles – those ones that say what they are, and are what they say – without giving too much of the story away. It’s often a good way to fast track what I’m looking for on sites like this.

[fetish101]

I know what your saying Curtis, but I just feel like "chantelles ordeal" is almost saying M/f, in a little more detail (stress little)

I agree with you that coming up with a title would be hard, but I guess for me that's just another part of what separates the good stories from the mediocre.

[Spitman]

Every story is, or should be unique. Although there can be a lot of very similar stories, each one should have unique qualities such as the author's perspective, and the kind of descriptive detail included. If this site contained dozens of stories all boiling down to, 'The Master caned his slave's bare bottom,' we might not be here.

Librarians would go mad if book titles were duplicated dozens of times, but there are books and also stories with titles like: 'Caroline'. I agree with fetish101 that authors should use more imagination in creating the title of a story. I would like the title to reflect some unique quality in the story. If the title itself is fairly original this makes it a lot easier to classify and find stories. The last thing an author should want is to write something with the same title as a well known, popular story. Making an effort will help to avoid this.

Some things to avoid are the use of a first name, such as 'Michelle,' and titles like: 'My first time', 'My ordeal', or even 'Submission'. Be careful to avoid using a single word as the title unless there is a very good reason.

First-time or inexperienced writers will often think that there is something unique about the theme of their first story, until they realise that there are actually dozens of very similar stories by other authors. That doesn't mean that each story has no unique value. What the discerning reader wants is a new perspective, some personal angle, or just nice descriptive prose that makes the story a pleasure to read.

Broadly speaking, most of the titles of stories on this site are unique enough. There are a lot of inventive titles. I still agree with fetish101 that effort of this kind is never wasted.

The title can have a hidden meaning. I have used the title: 'Checkout' for a recent story, and the true significance of the title will only become clear towards the end of the last chapter. Whatever the reader thinks it means will turn out to be wrong, but once the story is finished, readers will agree that it is the only possible title.

[boccaccio2000g]

On a slightly different topic, what about chapter titles? Do you think chapter titles have anything to do with whether a reader opens a given story?

I'm not sure that they do, but I use them anyway, for three reasons:

1) I think that they can add a little color to the story

2) In a long story, descriptive chapter titles can help the reader find the passage he or she is looking for more quickly, whether to refresh his memory or to rekindle an exciting moment.

3) Most importantly, they help ME to find my way around in my long, rather complicated stories. :-) What scent did this particular heroine wear, if any? What color was a person's eyes? What exactly happened the last time A and B were together

I'm constantly going back over the earlier chapters of my stories to clear up those details and it would be almost impossible without the chapter titles to help me get my bearings.


Boccaccio

[Curtis]

Gee, thanks for setting the bar a little higher, boccaccio. I can't come up with one title, and now you want seven?

I do know what you're talking about, though. When I search my e-mail archives for a reference, it's a lot easier to find what I'm looking for if each e-mail has a unique subject header. When I go back over my (let us say) Alex Bragi archive, all I see are a sea of "Hi" and "re: Hi" headers, and I'm totally lost.

("Hi" Alex!)

[Xue Lan]

but what's the fuss?
I look at most recent updates. There are 23 stories, and only 4 contain a hint of what they're about in the title.
That is what, 16% ???
So then I looked at author names, and of 22 authors, you got 2 who have BDSM names.
Then I look at my Fox's story titles: Summer in Paradise; Tonight I'm Going to Party; Fore! Play; Snippets 1,2,3
What's the fuss?
I think tonight I'll go to Blockbuster, rent "Night of the Living Dead" or Terminator Three, or maybe the Matrix Revisited.
or Dumb and Dumber, ya?

[Lord Douche]

With chapter titles, I have often spent 15 minutes just thinking of one, only to change it half-way through the chapter.
I also try and think of obscure phrases to use: "Strangers in the Night" for example, which is a quote from the old computer game Blood, in turn stolen from some unknown tune. Something that fits the content of the chapter, and yet has other meanings
As for titles, "Julie" isn't exactly the most descriptive, but I have no idea what else I could call it! (And no, I'm not changing it )
LD

[Curtis]

some...unknown...tune.... kill...me...now....

[woodsman'sgame]

"Strangers in the Night" was sung by none other than Frank Sinatra.
You are hurting Curtis's sensibilities, Lord Douche.
Old farts, like Curtis and me, actually remember hearing that on the radio.

[Lord Douche]

ROFL. "Strangers in the night, exchanging glances..." was the full thing. And it was totally unknown to me

[leo9]

On a slightly different topic, what about chapter titles? Do you think chapter titles have anything to do with whether a reader opens a given story?

I sometimes like to use the old-fashioned style of chapter headers which are a quick synopsis of the chapter - "In which (something happens)" or "Tells how (this happened)". These can be very quirky, so that you only understand them after you've read the chapter. In my BDSM novel one chapter heading I particularly liked was "How Celia Kissed and Eric Made Up": what actually happens is that she captures him by giving him a blowjob (till she's in a position to say "Surrender or I'll bite"), then he gets a TV makeover.

[Morrighan]

I don't think I've ever satisfactorily titled anything in my life. Titles and names of characters are the two things that set me up for writer's block every single time. As for naming chapters--no way. I've been struggling with a novel for ten years now, and while the novel itself has reincarnated any number of times, I still have no satisfactory title. After ten years. I figure I'll just let my editor read it, and if he comes up with something that is not utterly abhorrent, I'll go with that.

Morrighan

[Frito]

I really have little to add to this. My own creative ability is rather limited in this arena. Still, I have been toying with cute names for stories:

Knights in White Satin
China Doll
Photos, Finished
Pshinked
Branded X
Twins in Trouble
Troubled Youths
Remotely Controlled
Anal Awareness Training
He Never Had A Chance

[Dr Mabeuse]

I don't think I've ever satisfactorily titled anything in my life. Titles and names of characters are the two things that set me up for writer's block every single time. As for naming chapters--no way. I've been struggling with a novel for ten years now, and while the novel itself has reincarnated any number of times, I still have no satisfactory title. After ten years. I figure I'll just let my editor read it, and if he comes up with something that is not utterly abhorrent, I'll go with that.

Morrighan

Yeah. By the time the thing's finsihed and it's time to title it, I'm usually so drained that I slap up almost anything that comes to mind.

I've had a few stories where I forced myself to come up with something deliberately over-the-top, and actually that's worked out pretty well. It can be kind of embarrassing to title something "Descent into Heaven" or "Holiday for Leather Lovers", but it seems to draw readers.

---dr.M.