How to choose the best title for your story
by JadenSeptum

What is your story about?

What is your character trying to achieve?
What is the climax?
Here's a challenge. Try to think of one word that describes your book, or the idea of your book, as a whole.
For instance, I wrote a book a while ago where all of the characters thought one thing through the whole story but at the end they find out it's all completely different than they assumed. So I called it "Revelation".

Make sure it's a short title. Most best titles are―it leaves more of a dramatic feeling and mystery as to what the story is about. When your title is too long it comes across as cheesy or lazy. Except if it's a comedy. In which case it's funny to have unnecessarily long titles. I was considering making my Star Wars comedy parody of the Force Awakens be called "The Totally Random and Sometimes Pointless Adventures of Benjamin Solo and Rey Kenobi". But ultimately I ended up finding a funnier one based off a pun which was "Star Wars: The Force Hits Snooze".

An interesting thing to do is to name your book after the villain instead of the hero. For instance I named my Halo/Marvel combined book "The Flood" and that title is very plain, but it describes a villain that they don't even expect is coming. Until they show up, you don't realize why the book is called this.

A good tip is to make your title representative of an idea instead of a character or plot. Some good examples include Christopher Nolan's films such as: Interstellar, Momentum, Inception, and The Prestige. In my opinion Chris Nolan and Hanz Zimmer are the gold standard when it comes to titles of both movies and songs. Another example is my own book called "Vigilance" because it represents the story's concept which is that keeping an eye on everything ends up biting them in the butt later. I also did one called "Inundation" because as two armies fight over the kingdom, slowly a darkness sweeps over and destroys everything much like a devastating flood.

Pick an idea word, and use a thesaurus. That way you find a very sophisticated and specific term for the idea that rules over your story. Make it mysterious. An idea that isn't relevant until the climax of the story when something is revealed. Then you have that moment when your reader realizes why the story has this name. And up until that point they are just wondering. It's a great thing to keep them in suspense and suspicion.
One word titles tend to leave the reader intrigued and curious about your book. It also helps for a dramatic effect on the cover. Because if you have a great cover that entices readers the last thing you want to do is cover that up with a long title that explains too much about the book. If you need a preview that goes at the back (or in Wattpad's case it goes in the description memo). So there you can leak out some things you want the reader to know to further draw them in.

I am not saying that longer titles are bad. Perhaps it's just my style to prefer shorter ones. But you definitely want a title that represents your book without giving too much away. Or something that draws in a particular genre or age of readers. But make sure it doesn't limit you when you're writing. For instance, if The Hunger Games had a different name, the author may have been able to go to a different path in the second and third book and transform the story in any way she wanted without someone saying "Why is this book called The Hunger Games if it's not even about the Hunger Games anymore?"
I'm not saying that her books were wrong to be that way. But a title like that could in fact limit the writer if they choose to go a different way in the future.

I have not yet written any sequels to my books, but if I do, I actually prefer to give them completely different names than the first ones. For instance I am planning on naming the sequel to "Vigilance", "Vengeance". And I was considering making a prequel book for "Between Two Worlds" called "Era's Crossing". But that's still a concept. Another example of this is "Divergent", "Insurgent", and "Allegiant". Is that in the right order? I can never remember... Anyway I actually really love those titles; to me they are super creative. But then again, that's just my taste.

There's really no one style that's just wrong. Sometimes they work for the story they are used for. I can only give advice to certain ways of thinking. But I am not criticizing anyone's choice of title. Mainly just trying to help you come up with something that works.

Here is some more specific advice on particular genres:

Sci-fi: this one is simple. Whatever element is in this story that makes it sci-fi, use that to inspire your title. Make it something subtle so that it makes people wonder what kind of story this is going to turn out to be. Sci-fi is probably my favorite genre and is the one that inspires me the most. I love the idea of taking something normal and adding something new to make it different than you thought it was going to be; twisting reality to something unseen and shocking readers and your characters. There's a lot of room for dreaming and wonder, which is what you want to use when trying to think of a title. What makes you wonder and what inspires you? What was the idea that caught your attention to make this story? Write it down.

Action: This may be a bit more difficult. But here I typically like to go with one word titles that are considerably long or sophisticated. Try to avoid putting the title's focus on cliché words like "mission" "spy" "adventure" and other words that could be used as a tag. It's okay to use words like that so long as any other words in the title draw focus away from those; something that makes it different from other books in its genre. I'm not sure if "Inception" was sci-fi or action, but a title like that is a perfect example for the ones that should be used in this genre. It's simple but it plays on an idea that forms in the story.

Mystery: I think it's pretty obvious that with this genre you want to make people wonder constantly why the book is titled what it is. Perhaps leave it to be revealed (like I previously stated) until a point in the climax where they find out why, but don't let it give anything away. Because Mystery books are built around suspense. And people are usually drawn to titles that stand out, so make sure to keep that in mind.

Romance: I have not personally written any strictly romance books that are swoon fests. The only "romance" books I have written are actually "romantic comedies" and start off funnier than people usually decide to go. I would just avoid cliché things again with this and try to go with a title that people aren't expecting; something unique and maybe quirky. Again I'm not a huge fan on dramatic romances like Fifty Shades of Beige―I mean Grey, but even The Fault in Our Stars had its funny and quirky moments. I would choose a title that speaks close to your heart. Choose one that relates to the reason you love this particular couple in this book so much.

Comedy: Here is where you can have some fun. Because honestly there are no rules for this genre title. Anything goes. Even if it's cliché usually people play on that and make it that way on purpose. You can have a short title, or an insanely long title, or even a sarcastic title; anything that works and makes people laugh. Sometimes people use puns or just something that's so obvious it becomes funny. Comedic things are one of my favorites to write. I seem to have no filter when it comes to them and it comes naturally to me; because I enjoy laughing. There's no really specific advice I have for this but just come up with a few titles and ask someone, choosing the one they laugh at the most.

Fantasy: Avoiding clichés here is very important. Because a lot of time this genre can come across as cheesy, and very easily too. I tend to go to the more realistic forms of this genre and make it more about the character's story than the elements that make it fantasy. Those will appear more epic if you focus on the core story. For titles I would just be careful and think of something that inspired you for the book (kind of like the sci-fi genre because these two are very closely related). But fantasy books tend to take it to the next level and can really unfold into an epic over all story. These are difficult because you must think of everything from scratch; a world, characters, religions, politics, animals, and lots of magic elements. Try to avoid naming the story after the world that you have created. For instance JRR Tolkien didn't call his books: Middle Earth (or Arda). And that would be too broad. Instead he named it after specific events and wars that occurred in the books. Honestly the one long word titles can work for fantasy too because it brings a certain unique and modern grittiness to the book. But if you go with this make sure the cover reveals that it's a fantasy book. It will draw in more curiosity.

Horror: I haven't actually ever done anything in this genre and I really actually hate the genre but I would guess that the mystery genre advice would apply here too. Because you want something clever and mysterious especially if it's a paranormal story. Maybe it could sound like a very old book title, very classic and therefore spooky. Maybe you could name it after the antagonist/antagonist thought that plays throughout the book. I think that would be a creative idea.

Drama: I think this genre can fall into the category of almost any above and usually very close to the romance genre, but an idea that this story is based on usually is good. The only drama show I actually ever watched was "Parenthood" and that was because my mother loved it so much. But a title like that is a good example because it wants you to focus on this theme throughout the show. Whatever concept you want people to notice, try going around that for your title.

Overall, use your books and titles to inspire people. Instead of making them ache and cry (which is okay for certain parts but don't end it there―YEAH I'M TALKING TO YOU FAULT IN OUR STARS aka THE HOLE IN OUR HEARTS) and make sure people feel good when they've finished, and leave them satisfied with the ending and dreaming of what could lie ahead of the characters' lives. I use my stories to speak words of wisdom and inspiration to people, getting them to see a bigger picture of what's going on in the world and helping them understand things they don't normally notice. And have fun of course! Sometimes giving people a book that just makes them laugh is a way to make someone's day better; someone far away that you don't even know who is struggling with something you could never struggle with. And to give others some small moments of happiness is just as good as a book that leaves a large impression on people.

Anyway I will stop babbling now and conclude this article.
I hope this helped. Thanks to Wattpad for choosing me to write for you guys! Anyone can message me anytime if they need help with literally anything, or want to talk, or want someone to write with, because I love to help fellow writers and just get to know and support them!
God bless!

Where the title of your story come from? Which is the best one you have read?