Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Title Crafting

This article offers some tips on creating an effective title.

I'll add one more tip: If there is a totally, intuitively obvious title then use that. Certain things tend to stick in the human mind, to the point that people will use them even if they are supposed to be using something else. So if put a non-memorable title on your story, poem, etc. then people are liable to forget it and give it a nickname. If that happens, you flunk Title Craft 101 for that story.  It can tank your sales.  A classic example of this phenomenon is the song "Escape" -- nobody remembered that name, they asked for "The Piña Colada Song."


Tags: how to, networking, writing
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  • 4 comments
msstacy13

msstacy13

February 28 2011, 18:01:24 UTC 10 years ago

Very good point.
I would also add that if an editor wants to change a title,
accept the change. It's the editor's business to know what readers will respond to.
ysabetwordsmith

Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

February 28 2011, 23:55:41 UTC 10 years ago

I would say seriously consider the change, but no more than that. Editors aren't magical savants. They just have experience to draw on. Some of them know better than writers. Some do not. It's uncommon for me to change a title; making sharp titles is a skill of mine. If it happens, usually it happens at home with my very savvy first-reader Doug. Only rarely have I let an editor change a title of mine. I usually won't agree to something that weakens a story, and I've been asked to do that more than once, not just with titles.
msstacy13

Re: Hmm...

msstacy13

March 1 2011, 00:01:36 UTC 10 years ago

Other changes, I'd consider considering,
particularly if it were a prestigious magazine,
but I doubt that I'd change much.
The title, however...
Well, it's their magazine.
But it's possible you're right,
so I won't argue any further.
:)