How to Come Up With a Great Title for your Work of Fiction

 

Your book title has the power to hook or bore your reader in precisely two seconds.

Yeesh.

That kind of pressure can make it mind-numbingly painful to come up with a unique book title that suits your story and wows readers. So how do you do it? How do you come up with a great title for your work of fiction?

You give yourself some time, find the heart (or message) of your story, and consider what readers expect in your genre.

So what does all this mean exactly? Let’s expand on each idea and get your novel a name unlike any other!

 

Timing

Oh yes, It’s so tempting to BEGIN with the title and write our story from there like the title is a compass we’ll use to guide us through our fantastical writing journey.

But here’s the thing: EVEN IF YOU’RE DEAD CERTAIN YOU LOVE THIS HERE “TITLE” you’re actually doing your story a disservice! That title will instead be like a dumb anchor keeping you down when all you want to do is sail the wide, open ocean of storytelling.

So, don’t commit to a title at the start of your writing process, or even at the middle, precious petunia! Have a working title in place if you feel like a title will provide you some reassurance but DON’T by *any* means commit to a title until your work is complete. You don’t wanna settle, ya know? 😉

This tactic gives you the freedom to write your story, make room for unexpected changes, and shed old skins. 

 

At the end or close to the end of your novel you will have a fully blossomed story ready to give you a name.

Raise Anchor, Hoist the Main Sail

Don’t limit yourself to just one or two test run book titles. Get absolutely wild with your options. Try giving your book ten or twenty or fifty names. Just don’t settle.

Harper Lee’s first title for her book To Kill a Mockingbird was actually Atticus. F Scott Fitzgerald had a slew of working titles before he landed on Great Gatsby, some of them being Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires; Gold-Hatted Gatsby, and The High-Bouncing Lover (yikes). Can you imagine if these authors settled on their first (or even second or third) picks for their novels?

So give yourself some time, give your book some breathing room and don’t worry about your title at the start. Simply worry about the story.

 

Your Story’s Message:

Creating a unique title that bears the heart of your story means understanding your story’s message. Your story’s message is essentially its central theme. So what is a message? And what message is YOUR story sending?

To put it simply (without losing focus on our topic) a story’s message is an age-old adage that you are proving through your character’s journey.

So for instance, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” or “Don’t judge a book by its cover” or “Love conquers all” are all good examples of age-old adages or messages that have been told over and over in fresh, awesome styles.

For instance, the message “Don’t judge a book by its cover” has been demonstrated in stories like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast and Edward Scissorhands.

So naturally, figuring out what your story’s message is will help you narrow in on a title that embodies your story.

But having this message laid as a base helps you narrow in on which character(s) fully embodies this message, at what pivotal point this message is made clear in your story and what obstacles your character(s) will overcome to get there.

And thus a name, a strong representation of your book, begins to take its beautiful shape!

(Need help figuring out what your story’s message is? Then stay tuned because I’ve got just the course for you 😉 )

 

Symbolism, and Talents:

What symbols or symbolic imagery, icons, etc. are central to your story and its message? Does any character have a superpower? A gift of some kind? How does that gift influence your plot? How does it change your character? 

If symbolism plays a major role in your story, whether through a literal object or a worldview of some kind, why not consider using this in your title?

Check out these titles and how their symbolic icons or trademark talents influenced the titles:

The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R Tolkien)

Renegades (Marissa Meyer)

The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)

Wonder Woman Warbringer (Leigh Bardugo)

These titles represent the symbolism or special gifts that can be found in the story or in the characters. Plus these titles hint at what the hero’s journey might be.

Let Your Story Tell You Its Name:

The heart or message of your story beats a steady pulse, confidently surging throughout the pages of your novel. Take a moment to feel for this pulse by simply reading your book front to back. Take off your ‘writer’ crown for a teensy sec, put on your ‘reader’ tiara and simply experience your novel.

You’ll find that this gives you the chance to discover your book title hidden between scenes of dialogue, internal conflict, relationship turmoil, or powerful plot points. And don’t adamantly search for the title like it’s a treasure hunt or something. It will hit you between the eyes in the most unexpected place at the most unexpected time.

 

Ask your Reader a Subliminal Question

Titles should elicit intrigue, asking your readers a question they want to know the answer to (without them even realizing it!)

So what does that mean exactly?

Take some of these awesome titles for instance:

Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs)

Everlost (Neal Shusterman)

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (Jenny Han)

The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

These titles give the reader a hint, a taste, an idea. And without even realizing we are asking, “What’s so peculiar about these children?”, “Who’s lost?”, “What’s she gonna say to all her past crushes?”, “What is this game exactly and who are involved in it?”

Ya see? WE. WANT. TO. KNOW. DANGGIT.

Likewise, that sort of intrigue lures readers to pick up your book and find out the answer. So consider how your title can ask a question to the reader thus inspiring them to want to know the answer!

 

Genre and Series:

Consider your book’s genre for one. Is it a sci-fi, dystopian a fantasy novel? If so, have a look-sy at some popular novels in that genre and you’ll find common themes amongst titles. For instance, I’ve noticed a ton of “Chronicles of” out there including a smattering of words like “Blade”, “Fire”, “Throne”, “Bone”, and “Crown”.

That’s partly because readers who enjoy a good fantasy novel look for things like thrones, crowns, swords, magical places or people, that kind of thing. So titles bear a promise to the reader that they will find what they’re after in their book.

Now, is your book going to be a stand-alone novel or be one of a series? If so, you’ll notice some popular titles in your genre that tend to have the same general title with just a wee changeup in the subtitle. Books like these maintain their theme, but each book focuses on a new aspect of that theme:

Now here’s the thing- I’m NOT suggesting you copy and paste this style or shove yourself alongside your favorite authors with another run of the mill title.

NO siree bob.

What I am saying is be cognizant of what attracts readers- specifically YOUR ideal reader and what popular titles are found amongst your potential buyers.

 

 

Easy to Read, Easy to Pronounce, Easy to Share

Look, if you want to help your reader out, be sure you title your book with something that isn’t a tongue-twister, a head game, or anything else that requires math.

If they can’t easily say to a friend, “Hey I heard about this great book called The Hunger Games, you should check it out.” Then you need to rethink the memorability of your title.

Honestly, your title’s got two seconds to either hook your reader or send them packing. So what are you offering them in two second’s time? Something easy to wrap their head around or something like The Soldegarrdian MystBlood Throne of Grimswort’s Past??

(Did you even finish reading that title?) So can you imagine trying to remember it later to look up? Or to ask an astute librarian to help you find it because you know you ain’t gonna remember that biz on your own.

Case in point: make it legible, make it memorable, make it shareable.

 

You have the power to grip your future reader with a stunningly awesome title. But remember to give it time just like every other part of your writing process. Let your story speak to you, and make it resonate easily with your reader.

Have a working title in place right now? Why not share it with me in the comments section? I’d love to hear what you got so far!

Now, remember how I promised you a course that would help you understand what your story’s message is? Well, this online course I’m creating specifically for teen writers like you not only does exactly that, but so so much more: