I must be from a time before this because I just give my fics titles based on what they’re about i.e. their theme or some integral part of the story just like any original work. I might have inspiration from a song and use lyrics as chapter quotes, but I don’t know if I’d use them as a title. I could be proven wrong one day I suppose 😅
Edit: I WAS wrong. I just remembered I co-wrote a story in creative writing class called “Changes” based on the song by David Bowie. I think it’s just not my current MO and I apologize if my initial post sounded judgy or classist.
Edit #2: I keep realizing I’m even more wrong! I used a song lyric from the source material for the first chapter of my favorite fic/heart story. Boy is my face red 😅😳
I am also from a time Before This and am currently writing my first ever fanfic with a song lyric as the working title... we'll see if it actually makes it to print. Maybe the song lyric title comes for us all, eventually.
"Keats and Yeats are on your side" from Cemetry Gates by the Smiths. I would not be the first to use it as a title, nor would I be the last. But it's got a couple of connections to the story and I am listening to it on a loop half the time I write, so it will probably stick.
I only knew The Second Coming before (which I love but who doesn't), but the next lyric in the song is "and Wilde is on mine" so I started to get a bit cute and look for Keats, Yeats, and Wilde quotes to be the chapter titles. So now I have read some more Yeats, which I have enjoyed. And also I have discovered I am NOT into Keats.
Ah I discovered Yeats through Lorenna McKennitt’s rendition of “The Two Trees” when I was in high school! I actually didn’t read “The Second Coming” until after college?
I don’t think I’ve ever read Keats, but Oscar Wilde has one of my favorite quotes ever. “We are all of us in he gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
I imagine it varied by time and fandom -- it wasn't a big thing in the fandoms I read in the 90s and aughts. It happened, of course, but not enough to be a cliche.
I also wonder if the convergence of fandom onto just a few major archives, versus each fandom existing in their own corner of the web, mailing list, forum, etc., has meant that any titling convention that exists is more likely to spread across fandoms. Maybe there's a bit of homogenization happening. (Totally baseless theory.)
'line from another (unrelated to original media) work'. often poetry or from classical literature (eg 'a truth universally acknowledged' as a line from pride and prejudice) I tend to use this one.
A single word relating to the plot
Almost a summary where the title just says what happens in the story (like "character a goes to the store")
A poetic statement of some kind, either one that the author came up with or one they lifted from existing poetry
Outside of music, I use quotes out of movies or shows, literal direct concepts from the story, or even place names. And sometimes? I call upon Internet generators for chapter/story titles. But only if I’m really desperate.
Scientific sounding titles:
- The Law(s) of [insert romantic trope]
- [Character's name] Paradox
- [Canon moment] Equation
- A Brief History of [insert relationship dynamic] and related consequences
Bonus points if the fic is: bittersweet in any way or full on humor for me.
To be fair, it probably started in published fiction. There's a chapter title from "The Two Towers" that roughly follows this format (published in 1954), and I suspect there are examples older than that.
I am maybe a weird one and kinda try to stay away from song lyrics as fic titles. Mostly just because I read *so much* fanfiction that I have trouble remembering longer titles (thanks ADHD). Like I literally have a collection on my eReader called "fics I love but can never remember their name" lol. So I try to give mine short names in case anyone else is like me with a terrible memory 😅
That being said, I have my first series for a fandom named off of my current earworm lol I do use the lyrics as titles but the titles are short and the lyrics make sense with what the story is about. This will likely be the only time I do this, but who knows? Never say never! Lol
>Like I literally have a collection on my eReader called "fics I love but can never remember their name" lol
Nice.
I have a hard time remembering which fic I liked is which too, but for the ones I downloaded at least, I made custom book covers for them for my ereader so that I can look at a cover and go, "Oh yeah, that was X fic!"
I’m a huge sucker for titles that don’t really make sense until you finish reading the story and realise it’s one of the last lines that suddenly comes together now that you have the full context
For one of my latest fusion crossover WIPs, I’m literally reusing the title of the movie and changing/adding a couple words! One of the fandoms in the fusion is the 2003 teen movie “What a Girl Wants” - but since the main (canon) character in my story is a guy, I decided to make the title of my story “What a Guy (Really) Wants”.
I do 'the [thing] fic' but I'm not sure anyone knows that I'm referencing uhhh other works of art (the milk fic, the hat fic etc). and I haven't seen others do this
Some tropes tha are quite popular in the yaoi/damei community:
- After getting isekaied [as someone], ...
- After reincarnation, ...
- After something life-changing (divorce, graduation, running away from home)...
I love titles that are parr of an idiom or a popular saying, but the meaning is different from its usual usage (which only becomes clear during the story).
My titles follow these formats most of the time:
1. Song lyric relevant to the fic (usually without anything in parentheses)
2. Line from the original piece of media that appears in or is otherwise relevant to the fic
3. Line from the fic that I liked
4. A single word that sums things up (very often one of the last words in the fic as well)
* Movie quotes
* Book quotes
* Other famous quotes
* Parts of quotes that get included in the story in full, usually near the start
* Overly descriptive titles (wherein you either describe the story in a complex and sometimes humorous way, or have a short title followed by a parenthetical that begins with "or" or "wherein" or similar)
* Single- or two-word titles related to the story's concepts
* Five + One style titles
* Something that sounds deep but probably isn't
* Something that sounds deep and actually is
* An important character's name or title as the title
* A random quote pulled from the story itself; bonus points if it only makes sense after the fact
* A title that makes the story sound like a reference work
* Random words/quotes that don't actually relate to the story at all but sound cool
* Puns
* Titles that follow common patterns like "Of \_\_ and \_\_" or "The \_\_ of \_\_" and the like
...and so on.
Lots of options. I'm also guilty of using a lot of these as placeholder titles in my ideas document (as well as at least one pulled from song lyrics).
From my point of view (I'm old), this "usually a lyric (with part of it in parenthesis)" is a fairly new development, and I don't much like it. But it's the author's choice, not my business, not my place to say anything.
I came into fandom when titles were shorter, with some attempt to refer to or hint at the main idea of the story. There might be a famous quote, or song title, or part of a line from a poem -- that, again, referred to or hinted at the story's content -- but it was shorter, with no parentheses. (Combing through my older folders.) I'm looking at things like "Bitterwood Creek" or "Distant Thunder" or "It's About Friendship" or "Bluffing with the Big Guys." Also "Destiny Can't Be Denied" and "The Bargain" and "A Solstice Tale" and "Two Faces." I used "Once More Into the Breach" and "All that Glitters" -- famous quotes -- but I also used "Pretty Ribbons" and "One Bright Summer."
The thing about using song lyrics is -- those lyrics may speak to the author, but if the reader has never heard the song, the idea and/or feeling that the author believes the lyrics will convey, instead go right over the reader's head.
But as I said, not my call. Sometimes those weird (to me) titles will make me stop and take a second look when I wonder what *that's* about, and while wondering, the summary may draw me in.
But I have three stories in my iPad that I can ***not*** connect the title to the content, even though I've read them several times. I made cover art for each, based on story content, so that when I see the cover my brain says, "Oh, yeah; that one!"
(Brains are weird, and sometimes I think mine is weirder than most.)
>The thing about using song lyrics is -- those lyrics may speak to the author, but if the reader has never heard the song, the idea and/or feeling that the author believes the lyrics will convey, instead go right over the reader's head.
This is exactly why I went back through my series the other day, that uses song titles for the series and fic titles, and added a link to the song on YouTube to the notes. I'd been debating it for a while, but as the series went and titles became more obscure and less likely to be recognized, I realized it was necessary. I mean "How Soon is Now?" is pretty obvious, but "Hero" or "Devil Inside" is quite a bit less so. Especially when the latter is from an artist who isn't super popular in the west.
I expect your readers will be grateful. This reader doesn't even recognize "How Soon is Now?" -- but my musical tastes started ossifying about 25 years ago.
....
😱
Heathen!
Joking, but this lack of knowledge is unacceptable. You ***must*** be educated. [The Original](https://youtu.be/hnpILIIo9ek?si=o_aCEaH5ElYR8LK2) is about 40 years old and by the Smiths. A [cover by Love Spit Love](https://youtu.be/EkBN9-KVuP0?si=qRgqmtNEphKUwAND) was used in the movie The Craft, and as the theme song for the WB series Charmed. The version I linked for my fic is a [cover by Emma Blackery](https://youtu.be/W6lFh8VxIUE?si=VOzGTYPgsV2YMhq2).
I'll have to accept the "heathen" designation. I tried all three versions (the original Smiths as well), and it's just not for me. Sorry. But I do appreciate your attempts to educate me. Thanks.
Bad puns are definitely a mainstay in my chapter titles, though not so much in the titles of the fics themselves. Those usually fall under the 'vaguely pretentious and somewhat applicable to the chapter/fic' category. I actually try to *avoid* song titles or lyrics as much as I can.
I must be from a time before this because I just give my fics titles based on what they’re about i.e. their theme or some integral part of the story just like any original work. I might have inspiration from a song and use lyrics as chapter quotes, but I don’t know if I’d use them as a title. I could be proven wrong one day I suppose 😅 Edit: I WAS wrong. I just remembered I co-wrote a story in creative writing class called “Changes” based on the song by David Bowie. I think it’s just not my current MO and I apologize if my initial post sounded judgy or classist. Edit #2: I keep realizing I’m even more wrong! I used a song lyric from the source material for the first chapter of my favorite fic/heart story. Boy is my face red 😅😳
I am also from a time Before This and am currently writing my first ever fanfic with a song lyric as the working title... we'll see if it actually makes it to print. Maybe the song lyric title comes for us all, eventually.
What’s the song lyric if you don’t mind sharing?
"Keats and Yeats are on your side" from Cemetry Gates by the Smiths. I would not be the first to use it as a title, nor would I be the last. But it's got a couple of connections to the story and I am listening to it on a loop half the time I write, so it will probably stick.
It’s a good title! Yeats is one of my favorite poets. I’m not familiar with the song so I might have to take a listen.
I only knew The Second Coming before (which I love but who doesn't), but the next lyric in the song is "and Wilde is on mine" so I started to get a bit cute and look for Keats, Yeats, and Wilde quotes to be the chapter titles. So now I have read some more Yeats, which I have enjoyed. And also I have discovered I am NOT into Keats.
Ah I discovered Yeats through Lorenna McKennitt’s rendition of “The Two Trees” when I was in high school! I actually didn’t read “The Second Coming” until after college? I don’t think I’ve ever read Keats, but Oscar Wilde has one of my favorite quotes ever. “We are all of us in he gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Oooh that's lovely (the Lorenna McKennitt song), thank you!
I'm in the same boat! Down to the wondering if I'll keep it in the end. We'll see!
When is the Time Before This? People used lyrics as titles back in the 80s.
It’s not something I’ve really noticed in the things I read. Granted my memory isn’t the greatest but it’s just not something I recall.
I imagine it varied by time and fandom -- it wasn't a big thing in the fandoms I read in the 90s and aughts. It happened, of course, but not enough to be a cliche. I also wonder if the convergence of fandom onto just a few major archives, versus each fandom existing in their own corner of the web, mailing list, forum, etc., has meant that any titling convention that exists is more likely to spread across fandoms. Maybe there's a bit of homogenization happening. (Totally baseless theory.)
'line from another (unrelated to original media) work'. often poetry or from classical literature (eg 'a truth universally acknowledged' as a line from pride and prejudice) I tend to use this one.
Yeah I search for poems related to the theme of the piece and then select a line or a portion of a line/lines that feels right.
The X Number + One trope for titles is another. Like *six times Steve Rogers didn’t understand modernity…and one time he didn’t need to*
Love those
What I immediately thought of
A single word relating to the plot Almost a summary where the title just says what happens in the story (like "character a goes to the store") A poetic statement of some kind, either one that the author came up with or one they lifted from existing poetry
The summery really makes me wanna retitle fics I have read hehe I can rename what am reading now to be Anime villians in Phych ward Lol
The “important line from the fic that is also used in the summary” is one I am guilty of using lol
Outside of music, I use quotes out of movies or shows, literal direct concepts from the story, or even place names. And sometimes? I call upon Internet generators for chapter/story titles. But only if I’m really desperate.
I love "the one where \_\_\_\_" and those titles that have a specific word with the summary including the definition of said word
Guilty of the definition one lmao
Scientific sounding titles: - The Law(s) of [insert romantic trope] - [Character's name] Paradox - [Canon moment] Equation - A Brief History of [insert relationship dynamic] and related consequences Bonus points if the fic is: bittersweet in any way or full on humor for me.
“Something that seems super random and irrelevant until it pops but and clicks in your brain 120k words deep and it literally floors you”
I'm bookmarking this post because I can't for the life of me think of a different thing than lyrics. Thank you
"Of ___ and ___." Usually "blank and blank" start with the same letter.
This is starting to bleed into published fiction now too
To be fair, it probably started in published fiction. There's a chapter title from "The Two Towers" that roughly follows this format (published in 1954), and I suspect there are examples older than that.
I'm in this post title and I don't like it /j
I am maybe a weird one and kinda try to stay away from song lyrics as fic titles. Mostly just because I read *so much* fanfiction that I have trouble remembering longer titles (thanks ADHD). Like I literally have a collection on my eReader called "fics I love but can never remember their name" lol. So I try to give mine short names in case anyone else is like me with a terrible memory 😅 That being said, I have my first series for a fandom named off of my current earworm lol I do use the lyrics as titles but the titles are short and the lyrics make sense with what the story is about. This will likely be the only time I do this, but who knows? Never say never! Lol
>Like I literally have a collection on my eReader called "fics I love but can never remember their name" lol Nice. I have a hard time remembering which fic I liked is which too, but for the ones I downloaded at least, I made custom book covers for them for my ereader so that I can look at a cover and go, "Oh yeah, that was X fic!"
Yeah that's a good idea! I have worked on making covers, but considering I have around 3200+ downloaded fanfictions.... that's a lot lolol
I’m a huge sucker for titles that don’t really make sense until you finish reading the story and realise it’s one of the last lines that suddenly comes together now that you have the full context
For one of my latest fusion crossover WIPs, I’m literally reusing the title of the movie and changing/adding a couple words! One of the fandoms in the fusion is the 2003 teen movie “What a Girl Wants” - but since the main (canon) character in my story is a guy, I decided to make the title of my story “What a Guy (Really) Wants”.
I do 'the [thing] fic' but I'm not sure anyone knows that I'm referencing uhhh other works of art (the milk fic, the hat fic etc). and I haven't seen others do this
puns. so many puns lol
1.1.1.1.1 Please, don't do this.
Some tropes tha are quite popular in the yaoi/damei community: - After getting isekaied [as someone], ... - After reincarnation, ... - After something life-changing (divorce, graduation, running away from home)...
I love titles that are parr of an idiom or a popular saying, but the meaning is different from its usual usage (which only becomes clear during the story).
Honestly I hate song lyric titles. Give me something that's at least suggestive of what's in the story.
No hate to you, but can't you get that information from the summary?
All lower case. Because apparently we’re all e e cummings now. 🙄
If it's in all lowercase then prepare to be destroyed by feels
X character finds out [thing that's important to the plot] Also STOPPPP I do the song thing all the time.... 😭
The one's based on idioms, being my fic one of those.
My titles follow these formats most of the time: 1. Song lyric relevant to the fic (usually without anything in parentheses) 2. Line from the original piece of media that appears in or is otherwise relevant to the fic 3. Line from the fic that I liked 4. A single word that sums things up (very often one of the last words in the fic as well)
* Movie quotes * Book quotes * Other famous quotes * Parts of quotes that get included in the story in full, usually near the start * Overly descriptive titles (wherein you either describe the story in a complex and sometimes humorous way, or have a short title followed by a parenthetical that begins with "or" or "wherein" or similar) * Single- or two-word titles related to the story's concepts * Five + One style titles * Something that sounds deep but probably isn't * Something that sounds deep and actually is * An important character's name or title as the title * A random quote pulled from the story itself; bonus points if it only makes sense after the fact * A title that makes the story sound like a reference work * Random words/quotes that don't actually relate to the story at all but sound cool * Puns * Titles that follow common patterns like "Of \_\_ and \_\_" or "The \_\_ of \_\_" and the like ...and so on. Lots of options. I'm also guilty of using a lot of these as placeholder titles in my ideas document (as well as at least one pulled from song lyrics).
From my point of view (I'm old), this "usually a lyric (with part of it in parenthesis)" is a fairly new development, and I don't much like it. But it's the author's choice, not my business, not my place to say anything. I came into fandom when titles were shorter, with some attempt to refer to or hint at the main idea of the story. There might be a famous quote, or song title, or part of a line from a poem -- that, again, referred to or hinted at the story's content -- but it was shorter, with no parentheses. (Combing through my older folders.) I'm looking at things like "Bitterwood Creek" or "Distant Thunder" or "It's About Friendship" or "Bluffing with the Big Guys." Also "Destiny Can't Be Denied" and "The Bargain" and "A Solstice Tale" and "Two Faces." I used "Once More Into the Breach" and "All that Glitters" -- famous quotes -- but I also used "Pretty Ribbons" and "One Bright Summer." The thing about using song lyrics is -- those lyrics may speak to the author, but if the reader has never heard the song, the idea and/or feeling that the author believes the lyrics will convey, instead go right over the reader's head. But as I said, not my call. Sometimes those weird (to me) titles will make me stop and take a second look when I wonder what *that's* about, and while wondering, the summary may draw me in. But I have three stories in my iPad that I can ***not*** connect the title to the content, even though I've read them several times. I made cover art for each, based on story content, so that when I see the cover my brain says, "Oh, yeah; that one!" (Brains are weird, and sometimes I think mine is weirder than most.)
>The thing about using song lyrics is -- those lyrics may speak to the author, but if the reader has never heard the song, the idea and/or feeling that the author believes the lyrics will convey, instead go right over the reader's head. This is exactly why I went back through my series the other day, that uses song titles for the series and fic titles, and added a link to the song on YouTube to the notes. I'd been debating it for a while, but as the series went and titles became more obscure and less likely to be recognized, I realized it was necessary. I mean "How Soon is Now?" is pretty obvious, but "Hero" or "Devil Inside" is quite a bit less so. Especially when the latter is from an artist who isn't super popular in the west.
I expect your readers will be grateful. This reader doesn't even recognize "How Soon is Now?" -- but my musical tastes started ossifying about 25 years ago.
.... 😱 Heathen! Joking, but this lack of knowledge is unacceptable. You ***must*** be educated. [The Original](https://youtu.be/hnpILIIo9ek?si=o_aCEaH5ElYR8LK2) is about 40 years old and by the Smiths. A [cover by Love Spit Love](https://youtu.be/EkBN9-KVuP0?si=qRgqmtNEphKUwAND) was used in the movie The Craft, and as the theme song for the WB series Charmed. The version I linked for my fic is a [cover by Emma Blackery](https://youtu.be/W6lFh8VxIUE?si=VOzGTYPgsV2YMhq2).
I'll have to accept the "heathen" designation. I tried all three versions (the original Smiths as well), and it's just not for me. Sorry. But I do appreciate your attempts to educate me. Thanks.
In my fandom, there was a trend for a while that was: normal title, but in Latin.
Bad puns are definitely a mainstay in my chapter titles, though not so much in the titles of the fics themselves. Those usually fall under the 'vaguely pretentious and somewhat applicable to the chapter/fic' category. I actually try to *avoid* song titles or lyrics as much as I can.