o5: Titles

◣ Gяαммαя & Wяιтιηg Tιρѕ ◥

Most people don't take titles into consideration much, if at all. First, let me tell you what not to use as a title.

Anything along the lines of

I'm Married to ____?!?!

An Arranged Marriage with _____??!!

I'm Pregnant with _____'s Kid?!?!

If you're asking "Why can't you use something like that?" then here's your explanation.

It gives off way too much of the story's plotline. For example, if there is a story titled "I'm Married to Byun Baekhyun?!", the reader who is looking for a new fic to read will not click on it because they already know what happens. A title is supposed to get a reader interested in reading the story, and they won't be if they know what happens. Do not give the plot away in your title. Let's see if you can figure out what's wrong with this title for a story:

LIVING WITH WHO??!?!

Hm, let's see. There are quite a few. First, as I previously mentioned, the title gives away too much of the plot. Secondly, it is in all capital letters. Avoid your title being in all capital letters. Lastly, there is an excessive use of exclamation points and question marks. Do not overuse question marks and exclamation points. Use only one of each tops, if there is a need for it at all.

Now, onto the most cringeworthy aspect of titles: emoticons.

I'm not even going to go into this deeply; DO NOT USE EMOJI/EMOTICONS IN YOUR TITLE.

 


 

I mentioned capitalization earlier. Let's focus more on that now.

1. The first letter of both the first word and the last word of the title should be capitalized.

2. All major words in the title should be capitalized.

3. Prepositions, articles, and other small words should not be capitalized. (If you are unsure what a preposition or article is, there will soon be a chapter published on different types of speech along with examples.)

4. I already mentioned this, but THE FIRST LETTER OF BOTH THE FIRST WORD AND THE LAST WORD OF THE TITLE SHOULD BE CAPITALIZED, EVEN IF THEY ARE A PREPOSITION, ARTICLE, COORDINATE CONJUNCTION, ETC.

5. All adjectives, verbs, nouns, and adverbs are capitalized.

 

Let's take these rules into play.

If your title is one word, it is definitely capitalized.

If your title is two words, both words are capitalized.

Any other amount of words is dependant on what the words are.

Let's take the title "sun and moon" and use capitalization. The first word and last word should both always be capitalized, so it would turn into "Sun and Moon". The word "and" stays the same because the word is a coordinate conjunction, and they are not capitalized.

Another three-word title, such as "stop the wedding" (I know, the title itself is cringeworthy, but I'm looking through actual titles here on AFF for examples.), can be used as an example. The word "the" is an article and it is not at the beginning or end of the title, so it should not be capitalized. The other two words are the starting and ending words, so they are capitalized.

Now, remaining focused on the word "the", let's take a longer title. How about the bestselling book, The Fault in Our Stars? Although the word "the" is still an article, it is the first word of the title, and it is therefore capitalized. The last word, as always, is also capitalized, and in this case, it is "Stars". All adjectives, verbs, nouns, and adverbs are capitalized, so the words "Fault" (noun) and "Our" (adjective) are also capitalized. The word "in" is a preposition, and prepositions are not capitalized, so it remains the way it is.

 


 

AUTHOR'S NOTE

If you would like help on a title to figure out which words should and should not be capitalized or if the title is good or needs help, feel free to comment and I'll reply to you as well as add it as an example to the chapter if it's something I haven't gone over.

PS I watched TFiOS yesterday and oh my god honestly one of the only book-to-movie adaptations that is about as good as the book LOL
Twilight Saga (all four books/five movies) - books were definitely better
The Hunger Games - book was so much better
Catching Fire - although the movie was better than the first, the book was still better
Divergent - book was better

I could go on forever lol

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Faridizzat
#1
It helps me to improve my stories
sehunata
#2
Chapter 5: Hi~
It's a good tips! Keep goind with your other tips! It's helpful