Picking a title

[designatedvictim]

I've always been a bit... call it fickle with my titles.

My last story, Figure Study with My Sister, went through five names during its writing.

That title came from an in-story observation made my the MMC when he and his sister were both watching her roommate.

I'm writing a new part to that story, which has also gone through about six names, so far.

I went out of my way to include a scene where the MMC is watching the roommate and the sister, together, by firelight.

Current title: Figure Study of My Sister.

Only time will tell if I'll stick with it.

As with the title discussion thread here a few months back, I have my own image I found through image searches: a black and white nighttime image of a nude woman standing by a camp fire, lit along the edges of her figure toward the flames.

You know, as motivation.

 

[Whanmore]

Glad I see lots of people obsessing over this. I'll spend weeks debating a title. Illeteation? Rhymes? A play on words.. I'll worry about it weeks after i've published.

 

[liliput1]

I struggle with titles. Distilling the essence of something that can be 10k+ words long can be incredibly difficult, especially because I tend to be dealing with a lot of different themes beyond "and they fuck." Title conveys mood and vibe of the story as well, so having dissonance with the emotion and themes of the story can be jarring (which can be used to effect, but only if you're doing it intentionally).

A lot of the time, it takes me a while and a great deal of brainstorming and throwing stuff at a wall before something finally materializes. Other times, the title pops up first, and the story materializes after (and in some of those cases, takes an unexpected turn and then I have to find a new title ), or a phrase will show up and it's like "this captures everything beautifully."

I wish in AH we could flag ourselves. It's be good to see if the pantsers and plotters generally agree among themselves but not with each other.

As a pantser, it seems like a good title could inspire a story, but if it doesn't come it's more important to get into the story and hope that something will come to you before you hit the editing phase. As a plotter... Well I'm not a plotter so I don't know what those people get up to. But it probably involves drafting tables, rulers and calligraphy pens.

You should give yourself permission to put a placeholder so as not to break momentum and lose elements of the nascent story. You don't need a title until you're discussing the story amongst more than 2-3 people. Though I understand Hollywood uses code names to avoid people figuring out how movies are progressing.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I struggle with titles. Distilling the essence of something that can be 10k+ words long can be incredibly difficult, especially because I tend to be dealing with a lot of different themes beyond "and they fuck." Title conveys mood and vibe of the story as well, so having dissonance with the emotion and themes of the story can be jarring (which can be used to effect, but only if you're doing it intentionally).

A lot of the time, it takes me a while and a great deal of brainstorming and throwing stuff at a wall before something finally materializes. Other times, the title pops up first, and the story materializes after (and in some of those cases, takes an unexpected turn and then I have to find a new title ), or a phrase will show up and it's like "this captures everything beautifully."

For my last chapter I followed the @SimonDoom marketing advice - keep your title clear and advertorial, no ambiguity, and reinforce it with the subtitle. It's not subtle.

Taylor's Got a Younger Sister
She likes older men too.
05/30/2026 in Mature Stories
Hot 4.76 / 147
23 faves
19.8k views
8 comments

It's a second part, so punters already know who Taylor is. Not bad for a week old story.

 

[anthrodisiac]

For my last chapter I followed the @SimonDoom marketing advice - keep your title clear and advertorial, no ambiguity, and reinforce it with the subtitle. It's not subtle.

Taylor's Got a Younger Sister
She likes older men too.
05/30/2026 in Mature Stories
Hot 4.76 / 147
23 faves
19.8k views
8 comments

It's a second part, so punters already know who Taylor is. Not bad for a week old story.

My next one is Diary of a Clutch Slut, so, you know, really nailing that subtle literary vibe.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My next one is Diary of a Clutch Slut, so, you know, really nailing that subtle literary vibe.

That will do it. Don't stuff up the subtitle!

 

[SimonDoom]

My next one is Diary of a Clutch Slut, so, you know, really nailing that subtle literary vibe.

It's erotica. We're writing stories to turn people on. Nothin' to be ashamed about. I guarantee the use of the word "slut" will get extra views.

Once people start reading your story, you can impress them with your literary prowess. The first step is to get them to read your story, out of the dozens of stories that are published every day.

 

[anthrodisiac]

It's erotica. We're writing stories to turn people on. Nothin' to be ashamed about. I guarantee the use of the word "slut" will get extra views.

Once people start reading your story, you can impress them with your literary prowess. The first step is to get them to read your story, out of the dozens of stories that are published every day.

This whole project started as a joke from basically the title. It's a good title, very accurate, fits the vibe of the story perfectly — that's what I strive for with my titles. Not ashamed of it at all, I'm quite proud, it's the essence of what I look for in a title, the story distilled. The fact that it's also incredibly porny, well... it's a very porny story, makes sense to me.

The title's job is to pique the interest, description is to sell the product, story is to entertain. Only thing I need to figure out is the description. All I got so far is that the word "dinosaur" shows up somewhere, but that's future Anthy's problem. Current Anthy needs to edit the damn thing.

 

[anthrodisiac]

It's be good to see if the pantsers and plotters generally agree among themselves but not with each other.

On some things. There are a lot of axes to writing philosophy, and every once in a while you get writers who align on a lot of stuff (like me and @StillStunned), but for the most part who agrees with whom will depend on what discussion/argument is currently being had.

 

[bi_cathy]

I'm of the opinion that a title should make readers click. Most of my stories' titles are not-so-subtle sentences a character says at one point (sometimes the first sentence in the whole story). So the story and title are interwoven and inseparable. Some examples:
- I've seen the way you look at me
- I know where your tongue has been
- I'd go gay for you
- I'm seducing you
- J'ai envie de toi
- I dare you
- I take it off for you

For my series, the title is often decided towards the beginning too. "Strings Attached" is the only one that came after, mid-writing, and became an evidence the more I wrote. However, I think my biggest tour de force, title wise, is:

A Spectacular Pair of Tits

That was pure bait on the face of it, but also the best possible title for the story once you read it (a sizzling but slow lesbian seduction). It almost alienated my usual readers, but those who gave it a chance loved it, and it brought on so many new readers too.

 

[THBGato]

I suck at titles. Whatever you do, don't copy me. I tend to just name mine after songs I was listening to at the time (e.g. Love is a Place, Thirty, What a difference a day makes, Look at me, Son of a Preacher Man, The Parting Glass) or bad literary puns (Clueless of Cotham, Pygmalion 3.0, Clara and the Star, A Tale of Ten Kisses).

 

[Dave1010101]

Titles are one thing you can use AI for, legitimately. If you feed your story in, you can suggest several alternatives. In this case AI advises, but the author decides

 

[Erozetta]

Titles are one thing you can use AI for, legitimately. If you feed your story in, you can suggest several alternatives. In this case AI advises, but the author decides

I'd rather use a porn title that is nothing more than exactly what the story is about.

 

[BeechLeaf]

Noop, definitely haven't got any titles that grab the reader. One of my characters was better at that: she admitted to having stories called 'Drowned in Cum' and 'Teen MILF Gangbangs Cumslut', but she also admits she was just being silly. (No, I am not tempted - not much - to actually write these, or even excerpts.)

Several of mine have wordplay, but you might have to read most of the story to notice even that. Actually, none of my titles contain anything erotic at all. (Does 'inhibitions' hint at anything?) If I monitored my numbers I'd be tempted to see whether putting 'bikini' or 'nakedness' in one made it a statistical outlier, but I'm not here to attract readers.

 

[Dave1010101]

I'd rather use a porn title that is nothing more than exactly what the story is about.

Your titles are great - I couldn't resist reading "Tainted Love" and "The Magician's Doll". Hot stuff Erozetta

 

[Erozetta]

Your titles are great - I couldn't resist reading "Tainted Love" and "The Magician's Doll". Hot stuff Erozetta

Thank you. I appreciate that.

 

[StillStunned]

Titles are one thing you can use AI for, legitimately. If you feed your story in, you can suggest several alternatives. In this case AI advises, but the author decides

I'd rather use a porn title that is nothing more than exactly what the story is about.

Let's play... things I'd rather do than let AI generate a title for my story!

I'd rather use my real name and address as the story title.
I'd rather stab myself in the stomach and name my story whatever letters my entrails form.
I'd rather ask my mother to name my story.

 

[TheLobster]

A Spectacular Pair of Tits

I skimmed through this story and found it very disappointing. As far as I can tell, there is nothing within it that deals with the themes one would expect based on the title.

Which is to say, birds and ornithology.

 

[bi_cathy]

Let's play... things I'd rather do than let AI generate a title for my story!

I'd rather use my real name and address as the story title.
I'd rather stab myself in the stomach and name my story whatever letters my entrails form.
I'd rather ask my mother to name my story.

I genuinely laughed out loud at those, esp the last one.

I’d rather mistakenly share my story to the work Slack and ask for title advice.

 

[bi_cathy]

If I monitored my numbers I'd be tempted to see whether putting 'bikini' or 'nakedness' in one made it a statistical outlier, but I'm not here to attract readers.

I don’t know. I think there’s a way to pick titles that are very raunchy, but also actually fit the story, and then surprise everyone by delivering something beyond the basic raunch that the title suggests. Why not attract readers and write good smut?

 

[Erozetta]

Let's play... things I'd rather do than let AI generate a title for my story!

I'd rather use my real name and address as the story title.
I'd rather stab myself in the stomach and name my story whatever letters my entrails form.
I'd rather ask my mother to name my story.

So, funny story ....


Someone who now has my address correctly guessed my name based on a story I let them read. The story did not have my name in it. I figured since they figured that out, they deserved cookies. So now they have my address, too. Totally sane of me.

Yes.

...Nah, I think I'd rather turn to AI than let my mom anywhere near my stories. I would face an exorcism if she ever saw my writing.

 

[Erozetta]

I genuinely laughed out loud at those, esp the last one.

I’d rather mistakenly share my story to the work Slack and ask for title advice.

Almost emailed my boss from my porn email a few times. One day it will happen.

 

[bi_cathy]

Almost emailed my boss from my porn email a few times. One day it will happen.

That’s why my email here uses Proton, whereas the rest of my life is in Google/Gmail — there should be enough visual difference for me not to make that mistake. But, one day, I will ctrl+v at the wrong moment in the wrong window. It’s inevitable.

 

[BeechLeaf]

When Proton gets hacked, we are all going to be so stuffed.

 

[Erozetta]

That’s why my email here uses Proton, whereas the rest of my life is in Google/Gmail — there should be enough visual difference for me not to make that mistake. But, one day, I will ctrl+v at the wrong moment in the wrong window. It’s inevitable.

I can honestly say my boss would never notice. She is technologically inept.