Can you use the same story title as someone else?

[Astrotrain]

I was thinking of writing a story called "The Shy Boy" about a dominant girl seducing a submissive boy. But then I found out that another user, Gaius8666, had written a story with that title. I have the same interests as him (well, apart from the foot fetish) so I guess it's not surprising we would come up with similar ideas. Can I use this title or do I need to come up with another one?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Can I use this title or do I need to come up with another one?

I suggest you submit it with the title you want, but add a Note to the Editor saying it's also the title of another story - and say who it's by.

Laurel will decide, either by approving the story or by sending it back and asking for a new title.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

I was thinking of writing a story called "The Shy Boy" about a dominant girl seducing a submissive boy. But then I found out that another user, Gaius8666, had written a story with that title. I have the same interests as him (well, apart from the foot fetish) so I guess it's not surprising we would come up with similar ideas. Can I use this title or do I need to come up with another one?

Yes. They add a number at the end of the URL to distinguish it.

Just do a search for "The Circle". It's astonishing how many stories have that title.

 

[big_cane_sugar]

You might consider something like "The Shyest Boy" or "Another Shy Boy."

 

[Sams_Island]

My personal preference is to avoid using the same title if it's very used. I think it confuses my stories with others.
One of my first published stories was, "Surprise Party." Yeah, super original, right? ;-) I've actually pulled it for a major rewrite.
What I do now is when I'm writing or editing, I go and do a Story Search on my working title. If it comes back with a bunch of same or similar titles, I come up with another one.
If you only found one other, "The Shy Boy", I might still stay with it, unless the other story is also just a year or two old. Then use your Description, to set your story apart.

 

[RejectReality]

There's absolutely no prohibition against using the same title as someone else. The system simply appends a number to it when generating the FURL.

You can't use the same title for two different submissions on your own account, but somebody else using it ( even another of your own pen names, if you have multiple accounts ) doesn't affect you.

That being said, an original title could potentially be beneficial to you. As often as not, you can achieve this by dropping "A","The", etc. I suspect "Shy Boy" won't be original either, but it will work out often enough to be worth a check.

 

[RoperTrace]

I wrote a story, and when I checked my title, it had been used or something close to it multiple times. Since a new story shows up on the Lit feed, I let it go, and haven't had a problem with it. It quickly gathered a lot of views. If using the same title bothers you, maybe just add onto it like Shy Boy Goes Bad, or whatever. The Shy Lad, The Shy Young Man, or stealing from The OK Corral, Shy Boy's Coming For You, and He's Bringing Hell With Him.(sorry-I just love that Wyatt Earp line).

 

[bejjinks]

Another easy fix is to add the character's name like:
Jason, The Shy Boy
or
Noah, The Shy Boy
or
.
.
.

 

[OlderFitterWiser]

I'd just change it to 'The shy teen' or something similar.