A few years back, I create a list to help with brainstorming titles. Alethea Kontis, Douglas Cohen and John Brown also contributed to the list, which got published in the SF & Fantasy Workshop newsletter. I figured I might as well post it on my blog in case it’s helpful to anyone (and so I can locate it more easily in the future for my own use.)

  1. Person. It could be an actual name (EMMA, JANE EYRE), a nickname, a title or position (SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO), or a description (THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE, THE LAST JUROR, THE THREE MUSKETEERS). The person in question should probably be either the protagonist or the antagonist, although if the person has great “off-stage” importance it can still work (REBECCA.)
  2. Place. It can be a specific place name (MANSFIELD PARK, MAIN STREET, CETAGANDA), more generic (ISLAND, NEUTRON STAR) or a description (THE TWO TOWERS, THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE.)
  3. Thing. (THE SWORD, THE PERFECT STORM)
  4. Event or action. (THE TRIAL, THE RETURN OF THE KING, KILL BILL)
  5. Date, time or period. (1984, 1632, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, TWILIGHT)
  6. Number or measurement (FAHRENHEIT 451)
  7. The Ludlum Method. Follow the pattern used for most Robert Ludlum books: The [Name] [Noun]. (THE BOURNE IDENTITY, THE DA VINCI CODE) [I'm not saying Ludlum wrote THE DA VINCI CODE, I'm saying it follows the pattern.]
  8. Blank and Blank. (ROMEO AND JULIET, WAR AND PEACE, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA)
  9. Blank of/from/to/on/in/for/other-preposition Blank. (A STORM OF SWORDS, THE DEED OF PAKSENARRION, NIGHT OF MADNESS)
  10. Blank’s Blank. (HART’S HOPE, ENDER’S GAME, EXILE’S VALOR)
  11. Quotations or literary allusions, whether well-known or obscure. (SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, TO SAIL BEYOND THE SUNSET, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND)
  12. Plays on words or clichés. (SLEEPING DOGS, MONDAY MOURNING, OPEN RANGE)
  13. Professional or other jargon. (PRESUMED INNOCENT, ABSENCE OF MALICE, BROKEN ARROW)
  14. A word or phrase from your own piece. (CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY; HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS; ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT IN CHROME)
  15. A word or phrase from a particular historical period. (BUFFALO SOLDIERS)
  16. The/A/An Man/Woman/Boy/Girl/Other Who/That Blank. (THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON, THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, THE SHIP WHO SANG, A SHIP THAT BENDS)
  17. The thematic title. (LOVE, SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION)
  18. Edited to add: My father points out that I did not include neologisms as a category (giving “Utopia, Neuromancer, Catch-22, Wyrms, Timestorm, etc.” as examples). Although I didn’t include any examples of neologisms in the list above, I kind of thought that fell under #14: A word or phrase from your own piece. However, it’s certainly possible that one could come up with a good title consisting of a neologism that is not included in the story itself, as long as the meaning of the neologism were relatively obvious.

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