How much time/effort do you spend on Titles?

[IncognitoBandito]

When writing for Literotica, do you look to create eye-catching titles or do you go for a more down to earth name and hope the quality and tags will eventually lure people in?

 

[49greg]

I don't put enough thought into them, especially my first dozen or so. I usually just came up with something as I posted them. At one point I was decided to post them in alphabetical order which constrained things. It was still a mess since I had already done a couple out of order. Doh!

My worst examples are when I changed the name from something I put thought into previously. I guess I'm a bit impulsive.

My latest, a non-erotic story I submitted last week was literally a last minute choice that I regretted immediately after I saw it posted.

 

[HeyAll]

Titles definitely help. No doubt about it.

I try to create a catchy title. Something interesting and/or eye catching.

There was a thread a while back where someone wrote a story called "peanut butter and jelly" or something like that, and wondered why no one was reading it."

So a nice title is definitely a plus.

But as you've mentioned, if you don't catch the reader with your title, the story description also works.

The category is also a factor. If you write incest, the title doesn't matter as much. As long as you put 'mom' or whatever in the description, the audience will find it.

 

[RejectReality]

I spend a lot of time on my titles and description lines, because those are the two things readers see through most of the site. The tags are hidden on the last page, and don't appear anywhere else.

As often as not, it's the title and description I come up with that transform the general scenario I have in my head into a story.

It doesn't matter how good your story is. If the title and description aren't intriguing, nobody's going to open it to know.

Alternately, you can go full blown obvious and use titles like "Mom Fucks Son and Licks Daughter" I personally find that lazy and unattractive, but there's no denying the approach works to attract readers, even if it turns some like me away.

 

[spellslave]

Depends on if it is a one-shot story or part of chain.

 

[PennLady]

I hate coming up with titles. Unless one presents itself easily -- like if I got the idea from a song, or there's a quick way of summing things up -- I tend to struggle with it. The taglines not so much, but the titles, Ugh.

 

[sr71plt]

I usually have a title before I start writing the story but I will change it if another, catchier one, hits me as I'm writing. I usually know whether my original title is a solid one or if I have to keep on thinking. I make some effort to make it a unique title, at least for others posted here in that genre.

 

[oggbashan]

I try to make my titles unique so that there are no other stories on Literotica with the same title as my story.

No one else has used this title: Getting Nude With Chairman Mao.

I wonder why not?

It doesn't always work because some of my stories have obvious titles from the plotline e.g. Photo Shoot.

 

[IncognitoBandito]

Right now I'm working on something with the tentative title of 'Lust, Romance and Cuttlefish Confidants' and I'm not sure if it stands out or is a little too overblown. Suffice it to say it's for the Sci-Fi/Humor categories.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I agree with the statement that a good title (and description) drives traffic to a story. My least viewed stories have terrible titles. Conversely, the stories with the most views tend to have better titles.

As far as time and effort to create titles, well, that varies greatly. Some titles suggest themselves. Others were in my head before I even had a story. Some of the worst were the ones I spent the longest time pondering. I don't have a formula or a method. Sometimes they are just there , and sometimes I flail away and end up unsatisfied.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Right now I'm working on something with the tentative title of 'Lust, Romance and Cuttlefish Confidants' and I'm not sure if it stands out or is a little too overblown. Suffice it to say it's for the Sci-Fi/Humor categories.

LOL, it's sounding good already!

I know titles are important, people have switched off stories of mine which didn't have appealing titles.

However there is a bit more than that. Like others are saying here, the title has to be appealing to the category audience. That's a good title (IMO) for Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Humor. However if you post something witty/intriguing as a title for categories like Erotica Couplings or Incest, I think people steer away. Here is a selection of current titles from Loving Wives for example:

Getting Ahead in Business
A Real Loving Wife
The Conference Call
Sharing Asian Wife Ch. 01.

I think they work well because they immediately tell you whether the story is going to be your kind of story. I don't know what your story will be like, but I am a little intrigued and because I like to read the Fantasy, Romance and Humour categories (if I ever get time ), I would probably be suckered in (ho ho - cuttlefish, sucker, geddit?) out of curiosity. My suspicion is that Incest and Loving Wife readers have no time to waste, they want action.

 

[TxRad]

I usually have the title when I start the story and very seldom do I change it. The only one i remember changing took a hard right turn after the first page. The title no longer applied.

 

[AZMotherLover]

It depends on what you want your title to do.

I want my titles to lure in the incest readers, so I always include the word "mom" or "son".

 

[oggbashan]

My most effective title in generating views is "Virgin's Sister".

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

My titles appear as the story unfolds. The newest is MISTER LUCKY. The description line will appear along the way.

 

[DreamCloud]

Titles are meaningless. I have stuck with the format 'The <something>' and it has worked just fine. It is the story that counts. Nothing else matters (including grammar). Of course, I am three sheets to the wind, so I could be wrong.

 

[DreamCloud]

My titles appear as the story unfolds. The newest is MISTER LUCKY. The description line will appear along the way.

Hell yes! When the title becomes part of the story as opposed to just a descriptor, it kicks ass. Words are art, art is words. Make them sing.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I usually have the title before I even start writing. I have been known to change it though at the last minute because I came up with something better.

 

[MatthewVett]

I try to pick something that'll grab attention. There's a lot of stories out there. You want your title to make someone stop and look. That's how I end up with titles like, "Three Feet of Cock," presumably...

As for coming up with it, I usually have something in mind before I begin writing, but sometimes it changes as the story progresses. If I don't have something at the start, though, I'll just give it a filler title and move on.

 

[The_Fool]

For my book of poetry, I had to go back and read every fucking poem all over again to figure out a title. I never title any of them until I have to.

 

[karaline]

I get a bit panicky about titles (and names for my characters oddly), I struggle to think of catchy interesting ones and I'm rarely happy with them. That said, of my stories its the one with the most mediocre title that has the most hits.