Did that title hook you? How about these? (Btw, if your story starts like this, ha ha, I have pointed out your suckiness)
I am married to _______!?!
Moving in with ______?!?
We did that and made a baby!?!
I like you, so why do you like her?!?
Titles like this suck, so why do people use them???
I don't read fics with those titles!!!
A title shouldn't reveal what is going to happen or summarize the story without leaving room for surprise.
This does originate from the fact that the very first fanfic that I absolutely put my foot down to had a title like this. Odd thing is that I still remember the title.
Titles like these will tell the entire story in one little phrase. Moving in With Super Junior, Married to LJoe, I'm the only girl in this guy group. Don't feel offended that I used names from fics that were updated today, they are so bland and cliche it honestly doesn't matter. Learn from this instead.
You summarize the outcome of the story, or you reveal any little surprise that would have been fun to read. Don't do that! I won't read it, you already spoiled the whole thing! It might be that she had his baby and the entire story is about raising it with him. If that is the case, you still suck at choosing titles because I have mentioned this before, but your title should be about what is going on in the fic, not what happened before or after or in a flashback (my goal is to eliminate those) or in some form on not actually the story just mentioned there.
The difference between a title making sense at the end and a title only describing the end.
A title that makes sense at the end has little bits of information leading up to it. I'll use an example from my fanfic This is Utopia.
So far, we have not been introduced to what utopia is. If anything I have been writing about what a Utopia is not. Torture, lies, dictatorship, poverty. These things don't make a Utopia in the least. If anything, my title does not fit my story at all. But I know what the ending is, and the ending will reveal what a utopia is and it will show that all the things I had mentioned before, abundant sex, lazy life, hunger, all of those are in Utopia. (only mentioning it because it is for this one I have writers block for.)
It also helps to have good chapter titles like Based on... survival, celebration, discovery, impressions, time, possibilities. These are also clues leading to what utopia is.
This is Utopia does not reveal the entire story, but it gives a feel of what the story is about... not really because a lot of people can't get their heads out of the clouds and realize that love is a trivial matter. If you didn't catch that, it is not a love story.
A title that only fits for the ending would be from my New Years Kisses one shot series. The first one, stolen kiss, (it does reveal what is going to happen but it is really open to interpretation) only fits for the end of the oneshot. It starts with Jaejoong going to the store, then he is on the bus, then he is mumbling about Changmin being a food monster, then he get's kissed by a girl and that is the end if the story. The stolen kiss part only fit at the end, even if it didn't summarize the entire oneshot, as I just proved with my paraphrase. \
An example in a drama would be Sungkyunkwan scandal. Not until the end does anyone find out that she is a girl (those two guys don't count because they didn't tell anyone) and then it was a scandal. There are other moments when there is a scandal like scene, but this was what the title was about.
A title should be unique but meaningful to the story.
Now for my next example.
My first fanfic was called Push and Pull.
That is a very boring title and doesn't even sound that interesting. A love story, not rated, about Jaejoong and You. It can't possibly be good. (it's not, thank god I am revising it right now) I'd give this title a 1/5 for good effort. It is so simple you won't see it anywhere, but it is still simple. BUT it plays such an important part in the story that it is ridiculous. After every few paragraphs is the word Push or Pull as it was used to be a transition between scenes. Seriously, the entire fic is based off of pushing and pulling. even the chapter titles 20th Push- you moving away (not an actual title because that obviously really sucks) That would give it a 2/5 then.
A more unique title is something like my Second fanfic. MidNightmare. It's not even a real word. Unusual, sets the mood and gives a general idea of what is going to happen. Midnight... Nightmare. Connect the dots.
The titles I look at most are the ones in another language. I don't mean written in Kanji or Hangul, nor the romanization of these. Something French or Latin will really attract me. Not kidding, I click on them in hopes of them being good because I already want to read them.
Titles like Stabbing ten more times, or Love during breaktime, those are unique and don't reveal everything. Can't be sure about stabbing ten more times coming up frequently unless the person goes, "I wish I had just stabbed that person (the authors) ten more times instead of leaving (nasty comments)."
A good example from a drama is IRIS. The entire show is about the dude and the assassination people of Iris and that flower names sounds really unique and unusual for a show about gun fights.
Vague meaningless titles are not good.
Let's take the title One Last Song for example. It is really vague about what the story is about. It sounds pretty and nice, but it is really a bad story. It's like the author (me) starting saying random sentences and decided that this sounded good. (I did)
In reality, these titles usually have nothing to do with the story at all. (Mine does not. It's a series of Oneshots. The oneshots are not based off of songs nor does the theme of a final encore ever pop up. No one is going mute and singing their last solo nor is anyone dying and saying their goodbyes. It is just a pretty title.)
More examples from the top of my head
Sunshine in the morning
Together
Happy Forever
Our memories
Looking back
All sound nice, but really don't fit that well and are just for show. Vague and uninteresting.
An example of one like this would be Boys over Flowers. It sounds nice, but it is exactly what I have said. So what if Hyunjoong is cute? I can't stand that storyline anyway....
Reoccurring but a slight spoiler okay.
Next and final example unless I think of more things is really what would make it a good title. It has to be original and fit with the story, most of the story, doesn't give away the entire plot, and reflects the story in some way. This one is Tainted Wallflower.
The title itself is rather boring, but the word Tainted is supposed to draw you in. Dark words show the mood and also sounds different form normal 'we fell in love' fics. The wallflower part identifies someone in the story and gives a little characterization for them without spoiling it. "You corrupted little old shy me?" It gives you clues about what is going to happen because, yes, it is rated, and yes, they will have sex. It also shows a little hidden meaning. Flowers represent purity, so a tainted flower in general means losing purity.
Also, it is mentioned a couple of times that she is a slowly budding flower, so the title does play a role in the fic. It isn't overdone like my push and pull, nor is it ignored like my Utopia. The title makes sense now, but it hasn't happened yet. It isn't an obvious one either so you don't know what is going to happen unless you stop for a second and think like I just did. You go in with the mindest that something is going to happen, not knowing what, but understanding immediately due to the good title clues and the points they play.
I'm not sure if it is the title or the fic that I don't like, but I am not happy with Tainted Wallflower. Wish I had a better example, but this time I was using my fics to rant with.
See, I'm not perfect and I am a hypocrite. I couldn't do these things months ago nor will I do them now.
I lied, it's not writers block, I'm just being lazy.
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