titles

MLE (Emily Cotton) · Post by **MLE (Emily Cotton)** » Fri January 28th, 2011, 6:44 pm

I thought this post was insightful. It's as much about blog post titles as book titles, but apparently the same rules apply to both. But he said fiction was up in the air. What do you think works for historical fiction titles?

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Fri January 28th, 2011, 8:18 pm

It's always seemed to me that titles largely follow trends and fads. For instance, if you go back a century or so titles were much longer and more complex, and often had equally long sub-titles. Over time titles seem to have gotten shorter and simpler, and in recent years the trend has seemed to be towards one-word titles, or, in HF, titles such as "The _________'s Daughter/Wife/Sister."

Of course there are always exceptions, this just seems to be the general rule. I wonder what the next wave in title trends will be?

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Fri January 28th, 2011, 11:22 pm

HF titles have some leeway I think, because history is so diverse, but some titles get more attention than others. For instance, titles that contain any of the following words: Tudor; Boleyn; King; Queen; Knight.

Other good ones are: legacy; betrayal; inheritance; curse; castle; manor; exile. They evoke a sense of romance and create images in the mind.

Alisha Marie Klapheke · Post by **Alisha Marie Klapheke** » Sun January 30th, 2011, 4:51 am

Interesting post, MLE. Thanks for sharing.