Help me? I can't think of title for my stories!

[Mr_Cuddles]

Hey folks,

I'm fairly new to this forum and I don't know if this is the right place to post this. If it's not, please direct me to the correct place

I have 2 story Ideas but I do not know what I should call them, everything I think of doesn't seem right.

Both are planned to be 7+ Chapters long or maybe 1 big story each with about 9+ Lit pages.

I will explain these stories to you, but I'll not to bore you and go into specific detail.

The first story is about a man, who has lost those closest to him. The day after he develops new powers and with these new powers, he tries to help the human race but in his own twisted way. He 'cleans' up the world. 'Cleaning the world' to him is: killing all criminals, destroying all drugs, and changing the biological structure of the human race.
Example: He makes sure that the birthing rate changes 1 male:5 females.

His powers are/is (I'm not good on grammar) that he can destroy and make matter. So he can turn bronze to gold or even turn the air into diamonds (He has to destroy something in order to make something else. If he just makes something and doesn't destroy another thing then the universe will come out of shift and bad stuff will happen ).



The second story is about a man, just turned 22. His favourite Uncle dies and leaves all his possessions to him. Unbeknownst to him, his uncle dabbled in sorcery and was in the possession of a highly sought after item. An item that can only be used by the owner and can only be given a new owner when the previous owner dies (Does that make sense?).
The main character then goes on a quest to find his Uncle's murderer. On the journey he meets new friends and new enemies and he also learns about magic.


Both these stories will be in the Science Fiction section. Both stories are set in modern times (21 century) I have most of the writing done but I just can't think of titles for these stories

Perhaps you guys can help me?

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Some ideas...

For the first one...

The great cleansing/ dark responsibilities/ rebirth/ the great change/ the great feminization/ the only answer

For the second one...

The magician's nephew (dont publish that, copywriting )/ The nephew's journey/ The magician's tale/ the sorcerer's beginning/ the long road/ The sorcerer's secrets

Hope that I helped you out a little. Most of those are pretty ambiguous, so you will need to make sure that the blurb under the title helps you to explain

I look forward to reading your work!

 

[Mr_Cuddles]

For the first one...

The great cleansing/ dark responsibilities/ rebirth/ the great change/ the great feminization/ the only answer

For the second one...

The magician's nephew (dont publish that, copywriting )/ The nephew's journey/ The magician's tale/ the sorcerer's beginning/ the long road/ The sorcerer's secrets

Hope that I helped you out a little. Most of those are pretty ambiguous, so you will need to make sure that the blurb under the title helps you to explain

I look forward to reading your work!

Hmm, if I have blurb explain then I need to write it in 1 big story? Or just the same blurb for every chapter?

 

[PennLady]

I think "Cleansing" or something simple like that might work for the first story. I sympathize -- I'm not much on titles myself and am often dissatisfied with what I end up with. Perhaps you could even work in the word "grief" to bring in the idea of his loss.

The second story is tougher. What you have there, based on the description, is a basic quest story. I don't see anything very unique or different in your summary, so it's hard to suggest anything. Is there anything more personal going on there that might help?

Sometimes it helps to pick one sort of side aspect that plays a part in the story. I picked, for example "Young Blood" for one of my books because the bad vampire in that one was turning young people into a vampire army, but that wasn't the whole thrust of the book.

 

[Mr_Cuddles]

I think "Cleansing" or something simple like that might work for the first story. I sympathize -- I'm not much on titles myself and am often dissatisfied with what I end up with. Perhaps you could even work in the word "grief" to bring in the idea of his loss.

The second story is tougher. What you have there, based on the description, is a basic quest story. I don't see anything very unique or different in your summary, so it's hard to suggest anything. Is there anything more personal going on there that might help?

Sometimes it helps to pick one sort of side aspect that plays a part in the story. I picked, for example "Young Blood" for one of my books because the bad vampire in that one was turning young people into a vampire army, but that wasn't the whole thrust of the book.

I am really bad at thinking of titles. I have written stories on other sites and always end up taking them down because I want to revise them and make them better.

For the first story I had 2 titles that I really don't think would work.
'For the man who lost everything' and 'It's my world now!'

I don't really think these work for the story, or give them justice because this is a story about a young man, because of a huge change in his life, gets powers and struggles to use them for good and bad. Maybe 'To Choose Between Good And Evil' might be good? I'm just so undecided!

And the second story, yes it is a basic quest story. This is because I don't think I have the skill to turn it into an intricate novel with too many plots in one thing. I want to be focusing on one thing.
I tried to think of something for the 2nd one and I drew a blank.

Writers block comes in many different ways, eh?

 

[Cruel2BKind]

its ok

to write a blurb for every chapter

 

[JackLuis]

Titles cum last.

If the stories are finished, edited and spell-checked, then you have to decide if the Title is a come-on or an explanation of the plot?

If story #1 is about the choice between Good and Evil, in Black and White, rather that the shades of grey of real life, "Shades of Greystroke!"

Okay, maybe not.

 

[DeeZire]

Story #1: God Gets a Hair Up His Ass (In the USA, that term implies annoyance or even rage.)

Story #2: Can you name the item the dude is searching for? If so, that could be in the title. Another angle might be "Seven Steps to (wherever the guy is going.)" The seven steps could refer to the seven (or however many) obstacles he must surmount in order to reach his goal.

Story #3: A violent confrontation between the first guy and the second guy. The first guy's army is mostly women. The second guy uses his magic skills to make the clothes disappear from the first guy's army. I'd read that!

Story #4: The women take over and change the world for the better, using the technology from the first guy and the sorcery from the second guy. Of course there will be some bad women. Who must be punished. By other bad women. I'd read that too.

 

[fuckwaffle]

#1 - Changes

#2 - Wizards Wonder




Have fun.

 

[SydneyBlake]

I suck at titles, too. Really, I don't think a good title will present itself until you've established what your premise is, which you think you know what it is when you start, but it can change duringthe course of writing, unless you've got a good outline worked out (or whatever tool you use to stay on track). I saw a couple of good working titles up there, tho. Whatever you do, keep it simple.

 

[Mr_Cuddles]

In short. Thinking of titles suck.

lol.

 

[Mr_Cuddles]

#1 - Changes





Have fun.

I'm going to use 'Changes' for first story. Thanks man!

 

[elfin_odalisque]

The title is part of your thigh-waving to get a punter to step in the car. It should be seductive and shortish - making someone click on your masterpiece.

'Changes' has been used so many times - even with song titles. Oh, I don't know, Sadie's Education, The Final Hand, etc.

Given around 80 stories a day appearing on Lit, a writer who is not already established needs to pay attention to the title and short blurb to try to get readers to click.

 

[PennLady]

For the first one, what about something like:

A Better World
Creating a Better World
A Clean, New World

The second one seems tougher, as I still don't see anything distinctive. Hmmm. Quest for Vengeance? Nah.

 

[mynameisben]

Story #2: Death of a Talisman

 

[Dragonlipz]

I like both of these stories because the protagonists remind me of myself........name them after the plot twist (s).............

 

[Neonurotic]

Titles cum last.

For some, the working title is part of the inspiration for the story. It works for me that way for both story and poem writing.


@ Mr_Cuddles, #1 Grief Cleansing , #2 Deadman's Apprentice.