(no subject)

[dreamflower]

Gacked from telperion1 and rhapsody11

A good title can make or break a fanfic. List (at least) five recent fanfics you've written. For each one, explain how you came up with the title and what it means.

Five titles, five explanations, behind the cut:

I decided to do my five most recent fics:

Whatever Happened to Rusty Cotton?
Rusty is one of my OCs that people frequently asked me about. She was one of Pippin's childhood friends, appearing in "Pippin the Protector" and "A Sight to Remember". A lot of people wanted to know how she turned out in life, so I decided to oblige them. As you can see, the title is very straightforward. There's not much mystery there, but it does serve to let those interested to know who it's about.

Between Childhood and Coming of Age
When golden1 asked me to write a story about Pippin discovering the opposite sex, I decided to use this phrase from FotR, Book 1, Chapter 1. I thought it felt very appropriate, and I love to use canon quotes for titles.

On Amon Sûl
This Frodo h/c, written for febobe describes the aftermath of the stabbing on Weathertop from Frodo's POV. As you see, I once again went for the obvious--unusual for me, I picked the title before I finished the story--but it helped me to set the parameters of the story: it would all take place while Strider and the hobbits were still there, and would end when they left.

Good King Elessar
Another obvious choice for a fic placing Aragorn in the story of "Good King Wenceslas". The title kind of inspired the story, because I suddenly realized one day that "Good King Elessar" scanned to the words. Actually, I really liked that I was able to give titles to the chapters in this one--I don't usually do that, but with this story, I was able to pull phrases from the song to use as chapter titles.

Yule at Great Smials
Again, not very subtle. *sigh* I was doing a Yule Exchange Fic for pearltook1 at the GFIC Yahoo group. She wanted a setting of Yule at the Great Smials, with little Pippin, and Gandalf in attendance.

One of the reasons I decided to do this meme is that my titles are usually pretty obvious, and a bit lame, actually, for the most part, or someone else helps me think up a good title. I *do* have a few I'm rather proud of: "A New Reckoning", which of course, I took from the Appendices; "It Takes a Took", for my Pippin/Diamond romance; "Pippin's Pack of Pickled Pipers", which I originally tried to give to grey_wonderer till she gave it back to me; "Neither Have I Wings to Fly", for my vignette at the Grey Havens from Merry's POV--it is from a traditional song, "The Water is Wide", that has always reminded me of the Grey Haven; and "Test Results", my drabble about Galadriel's thoughts after she "tested" the hobbits in Lothlorien.

But for all the fics I've written, the majority of the titles are pretty bland.

Comments

[shirebound]

"Pippin's Pack of Pickled Pipers"

Sheer Genius. :)

[dreamflower]

*giggle*

I don't know about genius, but it surely is one of my better ones! LOL!

[elandulin.livejournal.com]

I thought Good King Elessar was very clever. And On Amon Sul was appropriately cryptic!

I only have two titles (*sigh*). In both cases I guess I chose a quote that worked on several levels. 'Left Behind' was Merry's ("I won't be left behind--I won't!") in terms of going to war, but it also applied to the fact that he was left behind in the Houses of Healing when the surviving Fellowship went to the Black Gate. Further, it also worked for Faramir and Eowyn, left in the Houses, and also, in the Stewards flashback, to Boromir and Faramir as children when their mother died. There was also the matter of Pippin's hope, which had, metaphorically speaking, been left behind in Merry's hands when Pippin went to the Black Gate. So it was a fairly good indication of what the story was all about.

'A Secret Gate" is a line from one of Bilbo's songs: 'And round the corner there will wait a new road or a secret gate...' It has multiple meanings as well, referring to the Barway (the gate being built on the Brandywine where it meets the Sea) and to the glowing image in Pippin's near-death dream, and to a couple of other things that haven't come up yet.

Interestingly enough, when I chose these titles, I didn't know they would stand as metaphors for so many things in the stories. It surprised me both times to realize how they pulled the stories together!

[dreamflower]

I love your titles. Both of them are canon quotes, and as you say, have many layers of meaning.

[sophinisba]

Ooh, cool, I think I'll also do this meme because I also struggle with titles.

I like "Neither Have I Wings to Fly" a lot. A while back painless_j did a meta post about how to choose good titles and she said quoting poetry and song lyrics is usually a bad idea because they won't seem as special to other people as they do to you, but I think they often work well, especially with older songs like "The Water Is Wide".

[dreamflower]

That one just seemed *right* to me. From the first time I heard "The Water is Wide", I thought of Frodo. And while the story simply came to me in Merry's POV, I think it would have worked for the others as well.

There are a few of other songs that seem to evoke fic ideas for me--but I haven't been able to actually write them yet. (Except for "Good King Elessar") I'm not one for what most people call "songfic", just that certain songs evoke certain images.

I wish I was better at thinking up titles; between a fourth to a third of my titles were actually thought up by someone else! And the majority of the rest are pretty lame.

[grey-wonderer.livejournal.com]

I will always be very happy that you decided to write "Pippin's Pack of Pickled Pipers". It was such fun and I do think of you when it comes to music-related fictions so this just had to be yours!

Most of the time, my titles are last minute things and I have thought of posting with titles just because I am never quite happy with my choices. I love an aptly named fic for that very reason. To me, it is one of the hardest things about writing. The story will turn up but the title won't always.

[dreamflower]

I *still* think you would have done it funnier!! *grin*

Sometimes I've posted untitled fics, and other people have given me titles. I think Marigold came up with the titles for at least half my Challenge fics! Dana gives me titles; so have several other people.

[garnet-took.livejournal.com]

Speaking of that Yule fic.... I haven't forgot you. I still have the first half of the story written. I just need to finish it. I may see what I can do tomorrow while I'm off work. I have to confess that this job is murder on my hands--they hurt all the time, but I'm sure I'll adjust at some point. Probably about the time the position ends.:)

[dreamflower]

Heavens, don't worry about it! I know you will get it done when you get it done, and it will make a nice surprise.

((((hugs)))) That sort of work is tough. Hang in there.

[obeliamedusa.livejournal.com]

I've always liked your titles! They tend to be both descriptive and clever.

[dreamflower]

I'm glad you think so. That makes me feel more hopeful about them--maybe they aren't as lame as I think they are!

[obeliamedusa.livejournal.com]

We are our own harshest critic, usually. ;)

[lily-the-hobbit.livejournal.com]

I like your titles nontheless. It doesn't always have to be "amazing". I always struggle to find a title - especially since I entitle my chapters as well. Usually it's the title it takes me longest to find (especially in my German story).