Writing Your Way [Writing Tutorial]

To Judge a Book

To every good book comes a great title, and with that comes a lot of expectations. If you've ever heard the phrase don't judge a book by its cover yeah, no, it's simply not true, as people always judge a book by its cover and its title. 

There are ways to title your story to create something that is concise, memorable and intriguing to your desired audience. 

Try writing down any keywords, phrases or ideas that relate to your story's theme. It may be a bit easier to leave the title at the end once you've fully fleshed out the entire story. Unfortunately, this is Wattpad, so unless you plan on completing the story entirely without publishing until the very end (which is okay to do) then you're gonna wanna figure out a title fast.  

To be honest, it's actually not as complex as you may assume to name your book title. Usually titles are after the main character, the setting it takes place or what the plot entrails. For example:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

It's clear, it establishes the mcguffin (An object that drives the story) and the main character that you'll be following.

Here's another example:

Bud, Not Buddy

It tells you who the character is and has an iconic phrase that is repeated throughtout the story.

Even if its as simple as Charlotte's Web or Coraline, it tells you something about the story that will have readers become interested in reading it. Also paired with a great cover will provide further context to what kind of story it is.

If you have a story that is romance, think of a title that fits that feeling. Whether it's something as obvious as A Wedding Date or something more abstract as The Fault in Our Stars or something in-between like Pride and Prejudice, your title will have a feeling about it that lets the readers know subconsciously that this is to deal with romance. Now if you have mixed genres then that's a little different.

If you have a drama-action-romance book, I'd say it is best to figure out which genre is the main plot. If action is the main plot then go for a title that pops out at you. If it's more on the drama side, then have something more obvious; The Mafia's Ex Wife or something similar. That's just an example.

How I title my stories depends on how much information I already have. If I already know the entire story, I'll pick a point in the climax that is the most interesting part and name the book after it. If I only have the characters done then I'll name it after the character, and if I only know the plot but no characters or the ending, I'll name it after the plot.

If you take a small peek at my account page, you'll see the books I've written and the titles for each. If you have a good title, the book will attract more readers and it's just a fact. If you have something vague but it's a drama book, it's not going to be that engaging. The cover and title is the first thing people look at when they are about to read a book.

For a little tip, once you've established a title, a cover and a synopsis, have someone close to you look at it and ask them what is the first thing they noticed. It always helps to have untrained eyes to help you see from an outside perspective.

Here are some solid examples of titles, even without the plot. Sometimes you have a title but no story yet but that is how you know it is a story worth writing.

Title examples:

Cover Your Cough
Our Old Friend
Palm of Gold
The Heart is a Mirror
The Big Egg
The Great Blinding
Breaking Backs
The Lie
Frozen Brother
Unruly Is Grim
Eternal Morale
The Heartless Cupid
Telltale of The Longest Midnight
Masonry's Mission
Above 6 Feet

These are jjst some off the top of my head but I'm sure it'll inspire someone. You can also combine all of your favourite genre of books, games or movies and brainstorm a title but be careful as to not make it too similar.