Fantastic entry about titling your work.

[valis2]

painless_j discusses titles, why some work, and why some don't.

As some of you might know, I have an English major. One of the most formative classes I took was a Shakespeare class. The woman teaching the class continually took off points for having boring titles for papers.

I'd always had boring titles. I always felt like it was kind of...showing off, maybe? to have fabulous titles. I mean, what if it doesn't live up to a cool title? But this teacher really pushed me, so I started naming my papers wildly, and she gave me full points.

I've kind of gotten out of that, but J really made me think about it. The title for Retribution was pretty boring, but at the last moment I froze, and went back into that old don't-make-the-expectations-too-high mode. Now that I read her entry, I realize that I'm not doing myself any favors by naming things so vaguely.

*resolves to name wildly in the future*

Comments

[rinsbane.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Me neither. But also I think that the titles that I just know and feel are titles for fic that I'm closest to. The titles I like best tend to go with fic I like best. I can think of several idiotic titles that I just tacked onto fic that I don't like. Which is not to say that some fic I do like don't have titles I don't like as well, but that if I know a fic isn't one of my better ones, I probably don't like the title as well either.

And I don't think it's a coincidence that a few of those same fic that kind of make me cringe are the ones that more people read/rec'd/liked than the ones I know are good. It's that same marketing thing - it's not just the title that markets, but the easiness of fic. Understandable. It makes us happy and squishy to read easy fic, and I love it myself, but I also know that it's not where my writing strengths lie. This is why I tend not to write it. No, that's not quite accurate. Rather, it holds no appeal to me to write. When I have written it, it's been because I had to exorcise the idea. But since I don't write to tell a story, and the best I can say about my easy fic is that it tells a story, meh. So what if I get the most readers on those fics? I mean, I like feedback and all. But.

I think all that was a long-winded way of saying, yeah, not marketing type either. ;-)

[auctasinistra.livejournal.com]

I'm an easy fic writer by nature, of course, but I understand what you're saying. You write because there's a drive in you to write, not because you need people to read your stuff - so it wouldn't matter that the style of writing nearest your heart, the style that speaks closest to what your heart is saying, isn't "marketable." That's just entirely beside the point - and that's nothing against fic that is broadly liked. Who cares if it's broadly liked or liked by a few, if what you wrote said what you needed to say? That's the raison d'etre if you write for yourself. If you write to bring something within you, some idea or feeling or thought, out into some concrete form, "how can I make this LOOK appealing to others" is not likely to enter your head. Most especially, "How can I CHANGE this to make it look more appealing to others" isn't going to. (Notice I don't say be more appealing - marketing via title is all about package, zero to do with substance) As for titles, like you, mine resonate with me - that's why I pick 'em. They work with the story, they represent it (to me, and if I don't know what my story's about, who would?). That couldn't possibly have less to do with the concept of making it gleam so other people are attracted unthinking, magpie-like, to its shininess.

And, again, that doesn't mean it's evil to like having people read one's stuff, or that a sparkly title is innately bad. If it so happens that the "right" title is sparkly, awesome. But reaching for surface glitter instead of substance? No thanks (hell, my stuff has little enough substance as it is). If readers only care about the surface glitter, to paraphrase somebody or other, "then they are not the sort of readers I want."

[rinsbane.livejournal.com]

Pre-cise-ly. That's exactly it.

You do write easy fic (in the sense that it's happy, though I wouldn't necessarily equate the two automatically), but that's deliberate on your part and I've always assumed that's what speaks to you, which is the reason to write anything. Therefore, your "easy" fic isn't my easy fic, and couldn't lack in the same way I find mine does. I've seen you write not-easy fic, and it took my breath away. Which is not to say that I haven't enjoyed the rest of your fic immensely - it's always pure joy and such excellent craft - but my point is that it's clearly choice on your part, not for marketing or other reasons. Which is the nice thing about fanfic, that it lets us cater to our whims rather than the purse. And if you get readers to love it the way yours is loved, that's just gravy. *g*