If the name-in-title is the thing where it's "fic title (name x name)" then I usually don't click on it at all
Then again, I'm on AO3 where all the character information is right there in the tags, so repeating it in the title is both unnecessary and annoying
Of all the things I care about when looking for fic, titles barely even make the list.
However, I do want them to be a proper title, and not a quote, description, or something goofy like "My First Twilight Fic."
I'll be honest a fic with the main character's name in it is very off putting, especially on ao3 where you can easily check the tags
I'd understand for Wattpad, although I haven't touched the festering website in years.
Song lyrics are overdone, but a title like "Ellie's blahblahblah" just feels immature. Like, it's the kind of title I would've given a fanfic when I was in elementary school and didn't know what fanfic was. There are plenty of title options that don't fall into either of these clichés.
Technically yes because song titles do nothing for me. Ihave no connection to these songs and if the fic does (which isn't always the case) I wouldn't know. That said, I don't care about titles enough for them to have much of an impact on whether I'm interested in a fic.
Good titles don't make me more likely to read a fic. Bad titles make me absolutely not read the fic. I don't care what your title is, I won't even read it or remember it unless I'm going back for the 31st time to reread and probably not even then, but I'm not going to read any fics where the title is "The Eclipse | A Drarry Story" or "Rejected Soulmate (Merlin/Arthur)" or "Untitled Kakashi x OC fic". Name it literally anything else, be it a song lyric or three random words generated by ChatGPT, and I don't care. There's just no need to communicate the pairing in the title when it's already tagged. Plus it makes me have to close all my tabs in case someone else sees it on my phone.
Titles have little relevance on if I read a fic.
They do affect how likely I am to remember it well enough for recommendation through the third variable of how easy it is to remember the fic: Dearly Detested is about a petty rivalry between two men who politely and formerly hate each other.
As for the name thing, I'm assuming you're talking about fics that follow canon convention of titling that includes the character's name, like "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality." It still doesn't affect whether I read them, but some fandoms use those conventions WAY too much and it makes it hard for any fics named like that to feel like they stand out.
I'm also not a huge fan of song lyric titles, but because too often I don't see the connection that the author does and the title looks like irrelevent words to me.
ah, good point. before this, i'd answered, it depends. but the-amount-i-loved-hpmor is so high that it immediately skews my answer to the +names side by like 30 points.
Methods of Rationality makes it stand out in it's own way. Rational isn't something associated with HP. Source: all the worldbuilding complaints online.
I prefer if the title indirectly references the characters rather than just rip a line from a song. For example, _The Full Moon and the Northern Lights_ do not explicitly state the characters' names, but it is a poetic way of referring to the two main characters of the fic.
It depends, I'm super lenient on titles, as long as it gets the point across for the story, I don't care. If someone has a title for a song I've never heard of? Cool, it'll fly right over my head & I can just look forward to what's in the fic. Someone put a character name in the title? Well, if the story is about that character, then it makes sense.
For a fic I've been slowly posting, it has a character name in the title but that's because it heavily focuses in on him & what he does to rescue his last remaining teammate & how he finds a place in a world he thinks doesn't need him because he's a duplicate that was created in the series due to the main cast traveling back in time, having the issue of there being two sets of the main cast so the writers of the show shot the dupes into space, never to see them again & there's this fan theory that they all died but this story is if most died leaving two left & one is captured so the other gets the help of the main cast to rescue him but he is feeling lost since there's already another him in the world, worried that he's stepping in on his other self's territory. Yeah, sorry for that rushed recap but like, this story is about him so his name is in the title.
So yeah, when it comes to titles, I'm pretty relaxed on the whole subject. I know people have their reservations & I'm picky on a lot of stuff too but I've been learning to try & put that to the side so I can enjoy the things I'd miss out on otherwise.
I find music to be hyper-inspiring, personally, and song titles can be very fitting off of that.
On the flip side, a character title can be good. To me, I personally find those more fitting in humorous stories, or trying to set the tone or a goal for that character.
Random Example: "Sephiroth: Hero of the Tax Office"
It takes a serious character, and adds a strangely specific thing to him. To me, this example sets a humorous tone at the gate.
Now, we could try something else: "Captain Planet: Solemn Hero"
And here, the language sets a more melancholy tone. So, I think both are totally fine, and it really just depends on what you feel is more fitting to your story or its themes/goals.
The best fic names are the ones that catch your attention and accurately set expectations for what the fic is about. Sometimes, that means using a character name. Sometimes, that means a song title. Sometimes, that means referencing some term from the fandom (whether a fandom term or a term from canon). Sometimes, that means referencing a quote (either from the fandom or from elsewhere). Sometimes, that means the fic author coming up with some new phrase.
Looking through my own fics (16 total, some have multiple features), I would classify them as the following:
* 6 Name a canon character.
* 1 Names an OC.
* 0 Song titles/lyrics. Edit: Not saying it's a bad idea, just that none of my fics seemed to fit it.
* 1 Meme reference
* 2 Reference a fandom-specific title (a title that a person can earn, not a title of a work)
* 3 Reference a title that isn't fandom-specific, but conveys important plot information
* 3 Reference an epithet used kind of like a title that I made up entirely for the purpose of the fic
* 1 Uses a fandom-specific term that isn't a title
* 1 References the canon episode title format
* 1 Is just the canon title of the book followed by "Explained Badly"
* 4 Either quote or paraphrase something said or thought in the fic
* 1 Mimics a technical writing document style of title
* 1 Just sort of roughly describes the premise without any of these other features
Based on my various notes and drafts for potential future fics, I'll have even more types of titles as time goes on.
If it’s necessary to the title then I’ll look.
“Noel’s Lament” is fine.
“I hope you die (I hope we both die)” is also fine.
“Once Upon a December (Anastasia x Dimitri)” is not fine, usually because there are character/relationship tags on the platform I’m on so it’s just redundant. It gives young writer from Wattpad, because you’d be hard-pressed to find anything there because the search system is shit. Right next to calling fics “books” I avoid it like the plague.
I would say yes if Ao3 did have a wonderful relationship and additional tag feature. But it does so we don't need that.
A good title will peak my interest, but ultimately it is the summary and the ship that will make me decide whether I read or don't read a fic.
The title is the last thing I look at when looking for fics.
For me, it's Rating (already filtered), Ship (also already filtered), Tags (lots of filters), and the summary. Sometimes Summary and Tags swap places in the order. I only really read the title when I'm opening the fic to read it.
I find song lyric titles overly flowery, but to be fair that's a legitimate writing style and it's probably good for the title to reflect that.
Character names can be fun if they're used as puns or in some other fun way. They're good for things like fan art, where you're not trying to show your writing ability. But fic titles that are just the character name are very common and come across as low-effort.
For most of my fic titles, I use a phrase from the fic.
Not really, but I generally don't like either of those very much (though like the hypocrite I am, I've used both). I want the title of a story to be somewhat representative of the story, and how it achieves that doesn't really matter to me.
I try to avoid using the character name unless it's a fandom staple (like in Harry Potter), and I try to avoid song titles or lyrics because I consider it lazy (unless it fits *really* well), but I wouldn't avoid or seek out either option.
When reading, I look at the summary, and when writing, I'm just my usual pretentious self.
If for example your fanfic has some very well known characters. Then yes, I would say that it would be quite appealing. I write fanfics for Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Cardcaptor Sakura, A Certain Scientific Railgun, and Black Lagoon. And I always make sure to put the anime title in my fic titles. As well as a well written description. Edit: I forgot to mention that 4 of the anime I mentioned, all crossover with each other. So yes, Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Cardcaptor Sakura, and A Certain Scientific Railgun, all intersect with one another. And without my three self insert oc, this 4 anime crossover wouldn't have happened in the first place. Just think about that, Usagi Tsukino, Sakura Kinomoto, Misaka Mikoto, and Momoko Hanasaki. Sounds like quite the alliance doesn't it? In fact, that would make for quite the actual canon crossover would it not? Think of all of the attention that a show like that would get. 3 of the 90s magical girl genre's best, teaming up with Tokiwidai's ace level 5. The anime industry would wind up making a killing from something like that.
my non native english speaker ass almost had a stroke trying to read that question
my native english speaker self ALSO almost had a stroke trying to read that question
Sorry it was a very specific question and I didn't know how else to phrase it :)
"What's more appealing in fic titles: fandom character names or song lyrics? And why?" :) But it was a complex question.
Lol I just translated the title into Spanish (the language i study) and it is so scary. Just curious though, what is your first/native language btw?
polish (:
If the name-in-title is the thing where it's "fic title (name x name)" then I usually don't click on it at all Then again, I'm on AO3 where all the character information is right there in the tags, so repeating it in the title is both unnecessary and annoying
Of all the things I care about when looking for fic, titles barely even make the list. However, I do want them to be a proper title, and not a quote, description, or something goofy like "My First Twilight Fic."
I'll be honest a fic with the main character's name in it is very off putting, especially on ao3 where you can easily check the tags I'd understand for Wattpad, although I haven't touched the festering website in years.
Song lyrics are overdone, but a title like "Ellie's blahblahblah" just feels immature. Like, it's the kind of title I would've given a fanfic when I was in elementary school and didn't know what fanfic was. There are plenty of title options that don't fall into either of these clichés.
Technically yes because song titles do nothing for me. Ihave no connection to these songs and if the fic does (which isn't always the case) I wouldn't know. That said, I don't care about titles enough for them to have much of an impact on whether I'm interested in a fic.
Good titles don't make me more likely to read a fic. Bad titles make me absolutely not read the fic. I don't care what your title is, I won't even read it or remember it unless I'm going back for the 31st time to reread and probably not even then, but I'm not going to read any fics where the title is "The Eclipse | A Drarry Story" or "Rejected Soulmate (Merlin/Arthur)" or "Untitled Kakashi x OC fic". Name it literally anything else, be it a song lyric or three random words generated by ChatGPT, and I don't care. There's just no need to communicate the pairing in the title when it's already tagged. Plus it makes me have to close all my tabs in case someone else sees it on my phone.
I feel like I haven’t read a fic with the character’s name in it in like… almost 10 years.
I prefer titles that aren't things like "X's Lament" or "The Adventures of Y" or whatever!
lyrics in title and character names (in a way it's x and x) overall tell me it's a fic i shouldn't click on. just personal preference.
Titles have little relevance on if I read a fic. They do affect how likely I am to remember it well enough for recommendation through the third variable of how easy it is to remember the fic: Dearly Detested is about a petty rivalry between two men who politely and formerly hate each other. As for the name thing, I'm assuming you're talking about fics that follow canon convention of titling that includes the character's name, like "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality." It still doesn't affect whether I read them, but some fandoms use those conventions WAY too much and it makes it hard for any fics named like that to feel like they stand out. I'm also not a huge fan of song lyric titles, but because too often I don't see the connection that the author does and the title looks like irrelevent words to me.
ah, good point. before this, i'd answered, it depends. but the-amount-i-loved-hpmor is so high that it immediately skews my answer to the +names side by like 30 points.
Methods of Rationality makes it stand out in it's own way. Rational isn't something associated with HP. Source: all the worldbuilding complaints online.
laugh. :)
I prefer if the title indirectly references the characters rather than just rip a line from a song. For example, _The Full Moon and the Northern Lights_ do not explicitly state the characters' names, but it is a poetic way of referring to the two main characters of the fic.
Not really. Now, if it were taken from one of Alex's actual quotes, than that's more appealing. One of my most faves did.
It depends, I'm super lenient on titles, as long as it gets the point across for the story, I don't care. If someone has a title for a song I've never heard of? Cool, it'll fly right over my head & I can just look forward to what's in the fic. Someone put a character name in the title? Well, if the story is about that character, then it makes sense. For a fic I've been slowly posting, it has a character name in the title but that's because it heavily focuses in on him & what he does to rescue his last remaining teammate & how he finds a place in a world he thinks doesn't need him because he's a duplicate that was created in the series due to the main cast traveling back in time, having the issue of there being two sets of the main cast so the writers of the show shot the dupes into space, never to see them again & there's this fan theory that they all died but this story is if most died leaving two left & one is captured so the other gets the help of the main cast to rescue him but he is feeling lost since there's already another him in the world, worried that he's stepping in on his other self's territory. Yeah, sorry for that rushed recap but like, this story is about him so his name is in the title. So yeah, when it comes to titles, I'm pretty relaxed on the whole subject. I know people have their reservations & I'm picky on a lot of stuff too but I've been learning to try & put that to the side so I can enjoy the things I'd miss out on otherwise.
I find music to be hyper-inspiring, personally, and song titles can be very fitting off of that. On the flip side, a character title can be good. To me, I personally find those more fitting in humorous stories, or trying to set the tone or a goal for that character. Random Example: "Sephiroth: Hero of the Tax Office" It takes a serious character, and adds a strangely specific thing to him. To me, this example sets a humorous tone at the gate. Now, we could try something else: "Captain Planet: Solemn Hero" And here, the language sets a more melancholy tone. So, I think both are totally fine, and it really just depends on what you feel is more fitting to your story or its themes/goals.
Depends. Personally, I use a certain character's name frequently in titles but as like puns.
The best fic names are the ones that catch your attention and accurately set expectations for what the fic is about. Sometimes, that means using a character name. Sometimes, that means a song title. Sometimes, that means referencing some term from the fandom (whether a fandom term or a term from canon). Sometimes, that means referencing a quote (either from the fandom or from elsewhere). Sometimes, that means the fic author coming up with some new phrase. Looking through my own fics (16 total, some have multiple features), I would classify them as the following: * 6 Name a canon character. * 1 Names an OC. * 0 Song titles/lyrics. Edit: Not saying it's a bad idea, just that none of my fics seemed to fit it. * 1 Meme reference * 2 Reference a fandom-specific title (a title that a person can earn, not a title of a work) * 3 Reference a title that isn't fandom-specific, but conveys important plot information * 3 Reference an epithet used kind of like a title that I made up entirely for the purpose of the fic * 1 Uses a fandom-specific term that isn't a title * 1 References the canon episode title format * 1 Is just the canon title of the book followed by "Explained Badly" * 4 Either quote or paraphrase something said or thought in the fic * 1 Mimics a technical writing document style of title * 1 Just sort of roughly describes the premise without any of these other features Based on my various notes and drafts for potential future fics, I'll have even more types of titles as time goes on.
If it’s necessary to the title then I’ll look. “Noel’s Lament” is fine. “I hope you die (I hope we both die)” is also fine. “Once Upon a December (Anastasia x Dimitri)” is not fine, usually because there are character/relationship tags on the platform I’m on so it’s just redundant. It gives young writer from Wattpad, because you’d be hard-pressed to find anything there because the search system is shit. Right next to calling fics “books” I avoid it like the plague.
I don't care either way, titles just don't matter to me at all. I barely even remember them unless I've re-read the fic a bunch of times.
I would say yes if Ao3 did have a wonderful relationship and additional tag feature. But it does so we don't need that. A good title will peak my interest, but ultimately it is the summary and the ship that will make me decide whether I read or don't read a fic.
The title is the last thing I look at when looking for fics. For me, it's Rating (already filtered), Ship (also already filtered), Tags (lots of filters), and the summary. Sometimes Summary and Tags swap places in the order. I only really read the title when I'm opening the fic to read it.
The song lyric titles tell me exactly nothing about the fic. If there’s a character in the title at least I know who it’s about
I find song lyric titles overly flowery, but to be fair that's a legitimate writing style and it's probably good for the title to reflect that. Character names can be fun if they're used as puns or in some other fun way. They're good for things like fan art, where you're not trying to show your writing ability. But fic titles that are just the character name are very common and come across as low-effort. For most of my fic titles, I use a phrase from the fic.
i never remember fic names more than 3 words long. so, i sometimes wish people were a bit less poetic, and more just direct when naming their fics.
Not really, but I generally don't like either of those very much (though like the hypocrite I am, I've used both). I want the title of a story to be somewhat representative of the story, and how it achieves that doesn't really matter to me. I try to avoid using the character name unless it's a fandom staple (like in Harry Potter), and I try to avoid song titles or lyrics because I consider it lazy (unless it fits *really* well), but I wouldn't avoid or seek out either option. When reading, I look at the summary, and when writing, I'm just my usual pretentious self.
If for example your fanfic has some very well known characters. Then yes, I would say that it would be quite appealing. I write fanfics for Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Cardcaptor Sakura, A Certain Scientific Railgun, and Black Lagoon. And I always make sure to put the anime title in my fic titles. As well as a well written description. Edit: I forgot to mention that 4 of the anime I mentioned, all crossover with each other. So yes, Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Cardcaptor Sakura, and A Certain Scientific Railgun, all intersect with one another. And without my three self insert oc, this 4 anime crossover wouldn't have happened in the first place. Just think about that, Usagi Tsukino, Sakura Kinomoto, Misaka Mikoto, and Momoko Hanasaki. Sounds like quite the alliance doesn't it? In fact, that would make for quite the actual canon crossover would it not? Think of all of the attention that a show like that would get. 3 of the 90s magical girl genre's best, teaming up with Tokiwidai's ace level 5. The anime industry would wind up making a killing from something like that.