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Nebulous/Esoteric or Familiar Titles?

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TroublesomeBard
Maker of Mediocre Jokes
Generally, when looking at a title, do you prefer one that is kind of nebulous in meaning, or one that gives you a solid 'at a glance' understanding of what you're about to read?

I ask this because between what I've already published and what I'm currently working on, I realized I have a habit of giving things fairly strange titles. Here are some of the stand outs from my works in progress
"A Story in Which Our Man Becomes The Best of Them" (might not fit if there's a max character length but that's what the document is)
A series titled: "Swords Thrown from a Tower" with chapter titles
"I don't Exist"
"We Have Met The Enemy"
and
"Separation of Unity" (I kind of hate this one, it's subject to change)

However, if it's painfully obvious that people generally don't take a chance on something with a title that only has meaning after the story is read, or sometimes only a thematic relevance, I'll likely change the titles. I like the weird titles, but as a different bard once said, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," or as this bard once said "When I burn CD's for this road trip, I'm going to leave the labels blank," and "titles are stupid."
clum
Clumeleon
The nebulouser, the better.

I don't like titles that are really on the nose, like, "Giving A Reach-Around To My Neighbour's Nephew's Mechanic".

I do want to get through a story and know why it has a particular title though.
Unknown User
Quote by TroublesomeBard
Generally, when looking at a title, do you prefer one that is kind of nebulous in meaning, or one that gives you a solid 'at a glance' understanding of what you're about to read?

I ask this because between what I've already published and what I'm currently working on, I realized I have a habit of giving things fairly strange titles. Here are some of the stand outs from my works in progress
"A Story in Which Our Man Becomes The Best of Them" (might not fit if there's a max character length but that's what the document is)
A series titled: "Swords Thrown from a Tower" with chapter titles
"I don't Exist"
"We Have Met The Enemy"
and
"Separation of Unity" (I kind of hate this one, it's subject to change)

However, if it's painfully obvious that people generally don't take a chance on something with a title that only has meaning after the story is read, or sometimes only a thematic relevance, I'll likely change the titles. I like the weird titles, but as a different bard once said, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," or as this bard once said "When I burn CD's for this road trip, I'm going to leave the labels blank," and "titles are stupid."



I like your titles but am not sure they would entice me to take a peek.

I've tried explicit and nebulous. I find that titles that spell it out are the ones that bring in more readers. But there are some stories it would be a crime to label so coarsely.


From my recent titles:

1. That Time I Fingered My Wife's Best Friend in the Front Seat of Our Car over 5K views.
2. The Call of the Deep just short of 1K views.

Obviously category makes a difference, as does length.
Buz
The Linebacker
Quote by LucaByDesign



I like your titles but am not sure they would entice me to take a peek.

I've tried explicit and nebulous. I find that titles that spell it out are the ones that bring in more readers. But there are some stories it would be a crime to label so coarsely.


From my recent titles:

1. That Time I Fingered My Wife's Best Friend in the Front Seat of Our Car over 5K views.
2. The Call of the Deep just short of 1K views.

Obviously category makes a difference, as does length.


You hit it on the head. I've also found this to be true. I've done both kinds of titles. As far as views, the longer explicit titles really do bring in the views. My six stories that have acquired Legendary status all have explicit titles. But personally, I do enjoy nebulous titles more.
cethpada
Active Ink Slinger
I think that a subtle hint at the content is what attracts me, although sometimes the title has been so out there that I have clicked on it out of curiosity. Not a fan of explicit titles makes it feel cheap even though we are all writing erotic literature. I feel that the category and length of a story has far more impact on how many views a story gets than the actual title.
Unknown User
Quote by LucaByDesign


1. That Time I Fingered My Wife's Best Friend in the Front Seat of Our Car over 5K views.
2. The Call of the Deep just short of 1K views.

Obviously category makes a difference, as does length.


See, of those two, I would look at Call of the Deep first. The first basically tells me exactly what I will find and that's not what I want from a title. In fact, I tend to actively avoid stories with titles like that. I want something that intrigues me and makes want to know what it means.

I mean, to take one of my favorite H. P. Lovecraft horror stories, is the actual title "The Colour Out of Space" better or should it have been called "A Weird Meteor Lands On a Farm and Destroys a Family"? There's no mystery, no questions, nothing to hook you into wondering what it's all about in the second. Given the same story under both titles, I would pick up the one called "The Colour Out of Space". And I think that applies just as much to erotica as horror.
RejectReality
Testing The Waters.
Remember, the description line is right there below the title everywhere it appears. You can have a nebulous or clever title and still call out the salacious details in the description line, thereby getting the best of both worlds.
Unknown User
Quote by seeker4


See, of those two, I would look at Call of the Deep first. The first basically tells me exactly what I will find and that's not what I want from a title. In fact, I tend to actively avoid stories with titles like that. I want something that intrigues me and makes want to know what it means.

I mean, to take one of my favorite H. P. Lovecraft horror stories, is the actual title "The Colour Out of Space" better or should it have been called "A Weird Meteor Lands On a Farm and Destroys a Family"? There's no mystery, no questions, nothing to hook you into wondering what it's all about in the second. Given the same story under both titles, I would pick up the one called "The Colour Out of Space". And I think that applies just as much to erotica as horror.


Oh, I'm with you on this one, would much prefer to have all my Lush stories bannered with an irresistibly intriguing title. But I'll politely differ with you when it comes to erotica posted on sites like lush (as opposed to published in book form, anthologies).

Uncertainty is not appealing for the average quick-fix reader here on Lush. I know you know this already, but I'll say it here for anyone who might not: reader's needs from erotica can be quite specific. Many do not want to invest time in reading a story only to find they've made the wrong choice.

Writers new to the site are best served by choosing explicit titles for their stories. They need to let prospective readers know just what is on offer. When a writer has acquired a reader base, is a known quantity, then he/ she can be true to themselves. It's okay for you. You've been here donkey's years. People know the quality of your writing. You have a following. Everyone on the site sort of knows you from your informative and entertaining forum posts.


It's like you say, if I were writing for a horror readership I would not call my story — Oh, I don't know — That Time I went To the Spooky House and Scared Myself Witless. But explicit titles seem to work for readers of smut.


So, to finish. Hehe. Whenever you, dear readers in general, see one of my stories with a title like the one above — about fingering my wife's friend — try and let your imagination lace it with the irony I intended for it. ?
Unknown User
Quote by LucaByDesign


Uncertainty is not appealing for the average quick-fix reader here on Lush. I know you know this already, but I'll say it here for anyone who might not: reader's needs from erotica can be quite specific. Many do not want to invest time in reading a story only to find they've made the wrong choice.



Which is why we have categories and tags. If people are ignoring those and judging purely on the title, then that is their problem, IMHO. It's like complaining that you got an s-f book from the library by accident because the title didn't make it clear it was s-f, but ignoring the fact that the shelf it was on was explicitly labelled "Science Fiction" and there was a "Science Fiction" sticker on the spine.

That said, I will concede that those sorts of titles are probably fine for "stroke stories" where the sex is the only point of the piece. I don't write those for the most part so I feel no obligation to make my titles fit that pattern.
Rally
Advanced Wordsmith
I like a title that’s playful and not completely direct so that it raises questions as to what it refers to- and makes you want to read on.