This may be a bit of a dumb question, but how do you come up with titles for your fics? And chapter titles for your longfics?
Hi! So titling things is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I’ll break this down into a few sections bc I’m actually really excited to talk about it.
First up is shortfics with song titles (and the one that has a poem title lmao). Many of my shorter fics have titles pulled directly from songs which influenced the vibe of the fic or that I think fit well with the characters. Pretty straightforward and good for when I don’t want to think too hard lmao.
Then, there’s my shortfics with derivative or quoted titles (see “The Inherent Trauma of Being Spencer Reid,” “Square Peg, Round Hole,” or “Not Gone, Merely Marching Far Away” to name a few). Some of these come from sayings common to the universe the fic is set in, such as “Not Gone, Merely Marching Far Away,” which is a Mandalorian statement to honor the dead, which relates to Rex and Boba remembering and discussing Jango. Others are just sayings, like “Square Peg, Round Hole,” that I found applicable or even memes I adapted to the scenario (”The Inherent Trauma of Being Spencer Reid”). Others are takes on show titles or book names (”Juno Steel and the Toast That Wasn’t That Bad, Actually” is a take on the episode titles from The Penumbra Podcast Junoverse). They’re a little more complex than song titles, but ultimately are just tidbits of speech that I found interesting and relevant.
Last in the shortfics are my shortfics with entirely original titles. Most of these are just quotes from the fics themselves that I thought summed up their vibe or hinted at what’s to come (”Step 2,” “Stay, Please,” “Sweetheart,” etc.). The ones without a root in the fic are a bit more complicated. For example, “Feynman, Freud, Who Cares,” is a title I’m proud of because it references something Spencer said, Spencer’s love of physics, the nature of his gender identity, and my own physics hyperfixation at once! Many are like that, pretty obvious: “The Aftermath” refers to the aftermath of Mando s2, “To the Bone” refers to Peter’s injury and the way he was forced to open up, “A Little Closer Than Anticipated” refers to the surprise of Loki and Valkyrie’s relationship, etc.
Some of the original titles are pretty abstract, though. One of my newer fics, “Sharks,” got its title because of a thought I had about sharks circling the water, waiting to smell blood. Obi-Wan’s feeling that something bad was coming reminded me of a shark attack. “Lysed” is a word for what happens when your cells explode due to internal pressure, which Clint sort of talks about in that fic. “In Name Only” is some in-world meta that I never got into because I never finished it oop-. Essentially, the abstract ones just sort of come to me.
Longfics can be harder to name, but some of the same rules still apply. For example, “Aaron Hotchner vs the World” is just a take on Scott Pilgrim vs the World, which I thought was funny at the time. “Rendered Small,” my longfic in the making, is just a quote from a poem Palpatine recites to Maul. Honestly, “Damning and Dizzying in Equal Measure” just occurred to me while I was filling out the title box.
Chapter names are both harder and easier. Sometimes, I don’t bother with them. When I do, though, I think about how much the reader is likely to care about the titles. “Damning and Dizzying” was published in one sitting and I thought people would read it in one sitting, so I used the chapter titles for vibey purposes and not informative purposes. AVW, though, was longer and published in pieces, so I thought about how to convey as much information as possible in as few words as possible. The “X vs Y” title format let me stick with a theme while also naming the main characters and hinting at the plot.
I hope this was coherent and helpful lol. Have a lovely day!
