Titles
I owe a debt to B.W. Clough's article at the SFWA Web site for some of the information here.
Let's face it: you have almost zero chance of ever creating a title as cool as "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream."
On the other hand, there's no reason your best story should dog you to the grave with the title, "A Bunch of Crazy Shit That Happened."
I have a hard time with titles, and I suspect many other writers do as well. I think Harlan Ellison and J. Michael Straczinski stagger from the shower every morning with another ten wondrous titles in mind which they add to a massive Oracle database to which they refer when they have time to pen another story or episode. "Paladin of the Lost Hour," "Deconstruction of Falling Stars," "Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman": these are not titles born from normal minds.
Fortunately, you can systematically search for titles if none flash in your mind like a supernova by trying the following sources:
Characters
These can be either specific characters (David Copperfield) or less specific descriptions (The Lord of the Rings). In either case, the character should be central to the story and interesting enough to warrant having the story named after him or her. Don't name your story "Lionel Williams" after the handyman who mops up the hero's teeth at the end of chapter three.
Objects
If you name your story after an object from the story, remember:
- Make sure the object is crucial to the story.
- Make sure the object has some dramatic flair (The Maltese Falcon).
- Don't give away the story with the name (That Crazy Face-Melting Ark Full of Sand vs. Raiders of the Lost Ark).
Places
Often the place a novel occurs is either intrinsically interesting (Airport) or somehow encapsulates the meaning of the novel (The Hotel New Hampshire). Also, the name of a place can sometimes add mystery to the book (Salem's Lot is a title with a question behind it).
Events
You don't want to give away too much with an event-centered title, but you can reveal enough to provoke interest. In the case of The Caine Mutiny or Rendezvous with Rama, the title intrigues us with the central action of the book but doesn't reveal the build-up or outcome.
Times
1984, of course, is the primary example of this, although less specific dates (Love in the Time of Cholera) also work well. By naming your work for the time in which it takes place, you're elevating the importance of that time period. Only do this if the time period does figure prominently in the action of the story. Do not name your story, "Last Wednesday" unless that time is important to the story.
Themes
Fortunately, this particular method of naming a work isn't used commonly; otherwise we'd have a lot of vampire novels entitled Sexually-Repressed Angst Bubbles to the Surface.
If you name your story for its theme, you risk two things:
- Giving away the theme ("Hey, Don't Mess Around With Stuff Like That" vs. "Call of Cthulhu").
- Making the theme more important than the story.
Theme titles are tricky for those reasons. It's better to use metaphor to conceal your theme (The Catcher in the Rye) so that the title has resonance once the reader finishes the story.
Phrases from the Work
Sometimes, there's a well-crafted phrase from within the story that works perfectly as the title. "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" is an example.
Part of the reason this title works is its inherent strangeness. It provokes curiosity. It also works because it appears as a surprise in the story.
For maximum effectiveness, choose your phrase for drama value. What sums up the story? What is said at climactic moment? When is everything revealed? If you can choose a title from within your story that reveals everything but doesn't connect with a reader until the end, you've found a gem.
Don't plant such a phrase in your story just for the sake of mining it out again as a title. This is almost always forced and obvious.