Ask Sally #28 - Finding the Right Title

I've heard that titles for stories are almost always changed by the editor, so is it vital to use a grabbing title or can the story stand alone by itself? I am rubbish at finding a good title that fits the magazine I'm writing for. Is work dismissed straightaway if the story title is boring?

I don't know that work is dismissed straight away if the title is boring, but the title of your story does say as much about you as your story, so it's wise to pick a good one if you can. Think about your story. If it's amusing, try and give it an amusing title. If it's sad, try and find a quote that might fit. I use lots of quotes for titles, and I also use a lot of song titles which are often perfect for short stories (there's no copyright on titles so you can use them without legal repercussions. Avoid titles like The Wedding, The Funeral, The Birthday Party, The Dilemma, of which I'm sure the magazines get a lot. It might be wiser not to name your story after a famous book. Song titles are okay, but books are often set in peoples' minds.

Also, I was told by the fiction editor of Yours magazine that they're not keen on one-word titles because of the page layout and apparently titles with more than one word look better (however, when I asked they did agree to keep my title as Clarence). For the same reason it's probably wise not to use titles that are too long either.

Yes, magazines do often change titles, but you still need to find one that's going to catch the editor's eye. Recent titles I've had published/accepted were The Night of the Mange Tout, Elvis Kills the Loch Ness Monster and Mr Potato Head. The 'Mange Tout' and 'Potato Head' titles were kept by the editor, and I'll know about the 'Elvis' one when it goes to press in the near future. The previous fiction editor of the Weekly News commended me on my stand out titles, even though he sometimes changed them.

However, I have used titles that were changed. For example, a story I wrote called The Second Banana was changed to Caught In The Act. I personally preferred the first one but sometimes it's best to just take the money and smile.

The best thing to do is study the magazines you're interested in and see what sort of titles they use. Of course, you won't know, unless you know the writer, whether they were the original titles, but it gives you an idea of what the magazines prefer.

Titles are one of the hardest things for writers to get right, so you're not alone in struggling with them. It's something that like all writing, comes with practice. When you find your writing voice, you'll find the right titles.