FIVE WAYS TO CREATE A WINNING STORY TITLE

Over the past year I’ve focused on flash fiction writing, completing how-to courses and entering competitions. One piece of advice that is repeated over and over is to choose your story title with care. This makes sense with flash fiction as competition entries usually sit around 250 to 500 words, some pushing the writer even further by allowing only 100 words. With such little material to play with and perhaps hundreds of entries to read, it’s understandable that judges prefer a title that shines. 

And much the same goes for a short story or novel. A title must be memorable, unique, intriguing, genre-appropriate. One that says to the reader ‘pick me, pick me.’ If this all sounds a touch daunting, never fear, as a quick internet search revealed some creative and quirky ways to come up with imaginative and winning story titles… 

RANDOM STORY TITLE GENERATOR 

The first thing I stumbled across was a list of random story title generators. Who knew such things existed? Most are FREE and they are more sophisticated than you might at first think, with different generators focusing on specific genres - Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Non-Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Children's and Comic Book titles. Even if they don't provide the perfect title for your piece, it's still helpful to have a go and hopefully find some inspiration along the way. Click on the link to discover a list of the Best Book Title Generators 2021, shared from the Kindlepreneur blog… FIND YOUR NEXT STORY TITLE HERE!

USE A CHARACTER'S NAME 

If your protagonist is a strong character, worthy of attention, then why not be bold and use their name as the title. My latest book group read was Angel by Elizabeth Taylor (the 20th century novelist, not Elizabeth Taylor the actress). The plot, as well as a cast of minor characters, revolved around Angel, so it made perfect sense that her name should be on the cover. Other examples that spring to mind are Oliver Twist, Jane Eyre, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Rebecca, A Man Called Ove. Daniel’s Daughter by team member, Victoria Cornwall is another fine example. 

Use a character name...

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT? 

One purpose of the story title is to offer a hint as to what is to come, so it can be useful to consider the content and entice the reader with an attention-grabbing statement.  Excellent examples of this include The Hunger Games, The Devil Wears Prada, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Book Thief. Not forgetting great reads by our own team members including The Witness by Terry Lynn Thomas, and The Girl I Left Behind by Andie Newton 

Entice with attention-grabbing statements...

WHERE IS THE STORY SET? 

One of the joys of reading is being transported to another time or place and it can be useful for readers to know where they are headed. One of the easiest ways to do this is to signal the location in the title. Who could resist being swept away by the following; A Passage to India, The Paris Library, The Mermaid of Black Conch. We also have two fantastic examples from team members Kathleen McGurl (The Daughters of Red Hill Hall) and Linda Mitchelmore (Summer at 23 The Strand). 

Transport the reader to a fab location...

POETIC BOOK TITLES 

Still need inspiration? Then try reading some well-loved poetry or favourite song lyrics. All the following titles began life in a poem; The Lovely Bones, Of Mice and Men, Far From the Madding Crowd, I Know Why A Caged Bird Sings. Our own John Jackson's, Heart of Stone shares its title with both a beautiful poem and popular song.

Turn to poetry for inspiration...

So, if you are a writer, how do you choose a title? Do you have tricks or tips not already shared?  

I hope these pointers are handy, but most of all I wish you fun creating a whole stack of winning story titles.

Rae x