How Your Title Can Enrich Your Writing

September 12, 2022

By Michael Gallant -

Don’t struggle to create a book title — or any writing project’s title. Propel and define your work by adapting your project’s name as you go.

When I began my career, I rarely gave much attention to naming my writing projects. I didn’t ignore titles altogether — they were just never a key focus.

Instead, I structured my pieces, sketched them out, and poured myself into the body text. As a project got closer to being done, sometimes a fitting title would emerge organically, and sometimes it wouldn’t. Often, choosing a title felt like the annoying final task I had to slog through before calling a project complete.

As I’ve grown as a writer, I’ve seen how powerful the practice of mindfully naming my work can be — whether I’m trying to come up with a book title or a headline for a blog post — and how continually engaging in the process can benefit all aspects of a project. Now, I brainstorm and regularly update titles along the way. It has helped me immensely — maybe the practice will prove useful for you, too.

Review genre expectations

Every category of writing project has at least loose standards when it comes to titling, regardless of whether you’re looking at Shakespearean-style sonnets, sci-fi horror novels, or historical essays.

Before you write, briefly research other published works in your genre to see what writers before you have done. Once you have a reference point for naming your work, it’s completely up to you whether to follow tradition or protocol or choose a different direction entirely. But regardless of where you end up, starting with a little context will help you complete your work with a title that helps you achieve your creative goals.

Craft a working title that launches your piece

At this point in my career, I begin nearly every project by choosing a working title before I compose a single sentence.

The title I start with is very often not the name I end up with when all is polished and done — and that’s by design. Having even a rough initial title that reflects the meaning, purpose, and spirit of my project helps guide me through everything that comes next.

Finding a good initial title may take time. In choosing this article’s name, for example, I went through at least ten iterations before landing on something that aligned with my intentions. Your initial title doesn’t have to be perfect — far from it — but don’t rush the process, either. Give yourself time to audition a variety of options until one inspires you to move forward. [Ed. note: The title of this piece as published here is not the same as the one Michael submitted. Another wrinkle in this process is sometimes ceding that control to an editor who has other factors to consider when determining what a published article’s title will be.]

Avoid gimmicks, jargon, and shock value

Whether you’re choosing an initial working title for a blog post or trying to come up with a book title, go with something that’s clear, communicative, and timeless. This means avoiding flavor-of-the-minute catchphrases (unless such a cultural reference is central to your project) and technical or specialized language that only a small portion of your readership will understand. Similarly, try to avoid a clickbait title that doesn’t actually represent what’s in your body text. You want the title to attract and engage your intended audience without misleading them.

Adjust the title as needed

Whenever I make significant additions or edits to a project, I revisit the title and ask myself if it still fits or if an update is needed. For some projects, I’ll end up reworking the title over a dozen times before it’s done; for others, the name I come up with at the beginning stays unchanged.

Looking back regularly at titles is also key to making sure that my projects stay focused, on-topic, and true to my goals and intentions. Many times, I’ve written extensive body copy, then checked back on a project’s title and found that some aspect of my recent writing, large or small, was distracting or irrelevant to my overall purpose and intent. In such situations, I tweak the copy to better reflect the title and then revisit the title to make sure it fits my newly adjusted copy. As long as both title and body text evolve in tandem — in a way that serves your goals and keeps your project moving forward — you’re in good shape.

Look back and take notes

Sometimes I revisit old projects to see if the published titles still work weeks, months, or years later. If a project’s name felt cool when I wrote it but seems awkward or pretentious in hindsight, I keep that in mind for future works. Similarly, if a title remains simple, powerful, and memorable years after publication, I use that as a beacon to guide future work.

What principles do you keep in mind when titling your work — and do your titles change as you bring a project to completion? Tell us in the comments below.