Tips In Writing Horror Stories

[Writing Tips] - Title

When I see titles like:
When Ms. Nobody meets Mr. Heartthrob, My Husband is a Mafia Boss, I Fell With My Brother's Bestfriend, Nerd Turns into Powerful Assassin, bla bla bla... Parang ako pa yung mismong nahihiya kesa sa author. Lol.

When you come up with a title for your own story, please observe the following:

- NEVER EVER summarize the story with your title. Tulad ng example sa itaas, kapag ganyan ang title mo, hindi na nila babasahin ang kwento mo. Bakit? Dahil parang binigay mo na rin ang plot ng kwento mo kaya wala na silang dahilan para basahin pa ang kwento mo. May idea na kasi kaagad ang mga readers na, "Alam ko na mangyayari sa kwento. Magkakatuluyan yung bidang babae tsaka yung bestfriend ng kapatid niya." Alam ko naman na lahat tayo ay dumadaan sa pagka-jeje, pero talamak na dito sa Wattpad 'yung mga ganyang title so please lang 'wag na kayo dumagdag. Seriously, do you even see book titles like this in the bookstore nowadays?

- NEVER EVER put random punctuations in your title. Huwag niyo nang lagyan ng special characters like [(!*&@#)]. Hindi nakakaganda ng kwento mo yan. Bagkus, dagdag dumi lang. Let the title speak for itself. Be professional about it. Though there's a saying that there's always an exception to the rule. Yes, merong mga books na may interobangs sa title nila, but it's very seldom to see one. Kaya kung hindi ka na talaga mapipigilan sa paglalagay ng excess special characters, learn how to execute it properly.

- ALWAYS USE proper grammar in your title, not unless you have a reason against it. For instance, let's use the fiction film Back to the Future. Maaaring masabi niyo na walang mali sa title na 'yan but grammatically speaking, you can't go back to the future since it's not yet happening. So it doesn't really makes sense and there's no grammatically correct way to combine tenses in this way. So always use your discretion.

Ang bottomline dito, you can't break a rule without even knowing the rules itself. And if you do, you must have a good reason for doing so. Ngayon ipapakita ko naman sa inyo ang ilan sa paraan kung paano makapag-isip ng matinong title. Personal opinion ko lamang 'to, so take the following with a grain of salt. By no means do you have to follow these rules. Pero feel free to use it.

- TRY TO USE ambiguous words. 'Yung mga title na may dalawang kahulugan ay interesting. Generally, nakakapagdulot 'to ng confusion sa mga readers. But with the correct and precise execution, magiging maganda ang resulta nito.

Kukunin ko ang excerpt ng isa sa mga paborito kong libro na pinamagatang The Catcher in the Rye na sinulat ni J. D. Salinger para mas makuha niyo.

"I ran all the way to the main gate, and then I waited a second till I got my breath. I have no wind, if you want to know the truth. I'm quite a heavy smoker, for one thing-that is, I used to be. They made me cut it out. Another thing, I grew six and a half inches last year. That's also how I practically got t.b. and came out here for all these goddamn checkups and stuff. I'm pretty healthy though."

The words "they" and "here" used by the speaker are ambiguous. But the readers are allowed to presume from the context that "they" might be the professionals helping out Holden, and "here" might be a rehabilitation center.

- TRY TO USE one-liner word on your title. Hindi ako gaanong fan ng mahahabang titles, kasi nahahati yung atensyon ng readers. No offense sa mga sikat na libro katulad na lang ng Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban na sinukat ni JK Rowling. Pero para sa' kin, mas malakas pa rin ang dating ng isa 'o dalawang salita. E.g. Artemis Fowl, Eragon, Inkheart, Pride and Prejudice.

- TRY TO USE thesaurus. Hindi mo naman kailangan gawin 'to, but it's fun playing with those words. Kunwari ang title na nauna mong naisip ay Beauty. Subukan mong ilagay sa dictionary yung word na 'yan, tapos tingnan mo 'yung mga synonyms. Pero alalay lang ng konti kasi minsan same thought lang sila pero magkaiba pa rin yung meaning nila.

E.g. Beauty is the quality of being attractive physically. It has a synonym of aesthetic, which pertains to art or beauty. Kung ang plot mo ay tungkol sa babaeng maganda, definitely you can use beauty. No doubt. Pero ibang usapan naman na kapag ang plot mo ay umiikot sa babaeng maganda na mahilig mag-painting. That's the time that you can use Aesthetic as your title. Sana nakuha niyo yung punto ko.

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A/N: Kung medyo malabo man 'yung pagkaka-explain ko, comment lang kayo at sasagutin namin ang mga tanong niyo. Let us know as well about your opinions on the aforementioned topic.

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