You've thought of the most brilliant plot. The characters are just speaking to you, asking you to tell their story. You've written a handful of chapters. You think it's good enough to hit that orange publish button.
But wait, what will you name your story?
Creating a title can be daunting. There are so many possibilities and it can be so difficult to just choose one. What if the options you think up aren't perfect? What if you come up with nothing?
The main thing to remember when brainstorming a title is it must be relevant to your story.
Your title also shouldn't be too long; it can become long-forgotten in the reader's mind. Your title also shouldn't give too much away about the plot.
There are many stories out there on Wattpad, you know the ones I am speaking of, where the title is long and practically tells the whole story.
For example, and this is one of my old embarrassing titles from about ten years ago when I was in high school, "I'm Falling For The Son Of My Step Father's Enemy! Does Anyone Have The Antidote For Love?"
So as you can see, this title tells the basic plot line of the story.
That is not the purpose of a title. The title is supposed to draw the reader in, catch their attention, make them curious, and hint at the plot or characters or world you are creating.
When brainstorming title ideas, think of the following:
• What are the major themes of your story?
• What are the lessons to be learned?
• What is the location?
• What are the traits of your characters?
• What is unique about your characters?
• What is unique about your story?
• What sets your story apart from similar stories?
• Is there a phrase or a word in your writing that just keeps popping out to you?
• Is there a certain goal or end result the plot or character aims to achieve?
• What does your main character desire?
Once you've come up with a list of possible options, attempt the following steps:
1. Use a thesaurus: Type in keywords from your list of possible titles. Sometimes changing that one particular word in your title can improve it immensely.
2. Read summaries of similar stories: Find a story similar to yours and read its summary on Wattpad. You might just find words or phrases that describe your story that you hadn't thought of beforehand.
3. Use a "Keyword Map" tool: If you Google "keyword mapping tool," there are many options out there. Some you need to pay for. Others offer free trials.
The benefit to keyword mapping is when you type in a word, you'll see related terms searched by others online. Basically, you will see what readers out there are using as keywords to find a specific story theme they're in the mood for.
For example, when I'm in the mood for some good ghostly love, I don't just type in the words "ghost" and "love." I type: "romance, paranormal, love, mystery, horror, suspense," etc.
You can utilize these results by possibly swapping out a keyword or phrase for a more popular one.
4. Revisit brainstorming your own ideas: All of these steps may help get your creative juices flowing and will likely have you come up with new title ideas on your own.
At this point, your list should be more narrow and relevant.
Recruiting the help of your family, friends, or even fellow Wattpad writers always seemed to do the trick for me. After trying all of the mentioned steps, I'd present my critics with a list of possible titles. I'd read them my summary and give them the basic plot line for my story, so they'd have a better understanding and foundation for choosing a title they thought fit best.
If you take a look at my published Wattpad stories, I've used characters' names, a story's theme, and a phrase that encompasses a story's plotline.
Here's an example of my process:
It was called "Not Meant To Be?" in the first draft. The basic plot line was a college student who was with the same guy throughout college. Graduation was just around the corner. During Christmas, he proposed to her. She said yes. But then, one wild girl's night out gets out of hand. She ends up sleeping with another man. The story is about her internal struggles on whether or not to tell him she cheated, coming to terms with her feelings about their relationship, and the aftermath of it all. I won't say any more in case you want to read it.
I wrote about three drafts for this book, before finally deciding on the title, "Stability." How did I come up with the final title? I followed the above advice and realized that all the main character ever desired was to be stable in her life, with her relationships and future.
Brainstorming a title for your story can be fun, but it can also be incredibly time-consuming.
Like I said, that final title took me three drafts, which in real time, took about five months. (Side note: I'm not 100% happy with the book. It still deserves way more edits and revisions than its current state.)
So what is your best title? How long does it usually take for you to come up with titles? Do you have another way to brainstorm that wasn't mentioned here?
Please share, comment, and vote!