How do you come up with a good title for a story?

Not published, like @Phyrebrat, except for the odd short story, but I struggled with my agent a lot over titles. I like longer titles and she wants the kind of titles that are 'something and something' (Ink and Shadow/ Blood and Shadow/ Ice and Shadow...), which can sound just like every other title out there. I suppose that's her point.

As far as coming up with them is concerned, they just turn up in my head at some stage during the writing and feel right to me. That's one of the reasons I struggle to let go of them. Now I'm writing again (as soon as I stop faffing on the Chrons) I think this will be one of the things I try to keep more control over. At least until a publisher tells me to change it, I suppose...
 
Hex said:
Not published, like @Phyrebrat, except for the odd short story, but I struggled with my agent a lot over titles. I like longer titles and she wants the kind of titles that are 'something and something' (Ink and Shadow/ Blood and Shadow/ Ice and Shadow...), which can sound just like every other title out there. I suppose that's her point.

As far as coming up with them is concerned, they just turn up in my head at some stage during the writing and feel right to me. That's one of the reasons I struggle to let go of them. Now I'm writing again (as soon as I stop faffing on the Chrons) I think this will be one of the things I try to keep more control over. At least until a publisher tells me to change it, I suppose...
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So glad you're writing again. I love reading your work.
 
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You may consider setting an almost rhythmic pattern to your series and 'own' the form .
Who do you think might write a book called The Heidelberg Accord ?
 
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I'm just self-published, so I haven't had the issues that Theresa and others have mentioned here, but, like Alex said, I find that they usually come to me on their own (and in their own time, annoyingly enough). Sometimes the title comes to me early and never changes, but, other times, I've only had a clear title for the series, but the individual book titles just refused to be named for ages. I have a work-in-progress series that I've been struggling with book titles for for years, set it aside to write a different series and then about a month ago the titles for all three books came to me.

If you can't find that title that you 'love' at the beginning, than start with one that helps guide your initial story concept and come back to it later. You may find that your book has a mind of its own and that your original title ideas no longer fit the finished work. Having a working title can be helpful though just to get over that first hurdle of getting words on the page.
 
Hex said:
It's great to be back. Really looking forward to reading more of your work again, lovelies.
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Good Grief, you're a blast from the past, lady.

In answer to the OP, I currently don't. I have a sequel called imaginatively Inish Carraig 2, which is great since Inish Carraig didn't exactly scream sci fi to people before. (The original name came from me wanting to have an irish name for the book, and translating Rocky Island into Irish). Titles are pigs to come up with. Also, I often resort to poetry for inspiration - Val McDermid uses TS eliott for all her Wire in the Blood books.
 
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Wayne Mack said:
When writing a title, how much of the plot line should be revealed? Should I avoid echoing the final conflict in the title?
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Try summarising your novel in one sentence - basically, an impossible task, though always instructive. This technique will allow you to get down to the most fundamental level of your story, which, in turn, may suggest a title.
 
You're all wonderful. Thank you (she sobbed). The last couple of years have been a little bit challenging, and I've missed you all.

(@Phyrebrat -- is that two (or three?) years of missed 300s, which is 8, or 12. Assuming I voted exclusively for you, which I would have done, obviously(*), I must owe you 36 votes. It's probably my fault you haven't won everything)

(*) if I could have, which I couldn't because there are rules, but this is High Level Retrospective Maths.
 
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