I never think about the title once I've purchased the book. It influences my browsing a lot, but after that? It's so far down the list of 'things I consider when deciding how much I like a book' that it's not even on the list.
I always find it interesting when one person thinks of something as very important, but to another it's not so much. The world has many people of different tastes, and that makes it more fun!
That is pretty much my point in the function of a title, catches your attention first and foremost. One word titles can be catchy but a person might not give it a second glance if it isn't readily relatable to what they are interested in. I think that if a book becomes very successful the one or two word titles might make it easier for people to remember and tell others how great it was. So a second almost unrelated function, IMO, can occur with spreading the word, so a complex title or one that is similar to other books might not do as well for that purpose. Personally I generally look for new releases from my favorite authors, the titles only serve to jog my memory whether I have already purchased that book before. However like Elven Candy, I want the title to have some relation to the story, but as you said in the long run it really doesn't matter too much.
I have this short story that takes place in high school. Everything is totally normal (think realistic fiction), but the main character can see the red strings of fate connecting people to their soulmates. This being high school, almost no one there is connected to anyone else there. The story is about her having a massive crush on a guy with whom she is not connected and her decision about whether or not she should ask him to the dance and the consequences of said decision. I need help deciding a title for it. The titles I used to have for it were "Fate, Blink, Obey" and "That Which You Shouldn't See", but they don't sound good.
Read through the story until you find a phrase that resonates. You can also come up with a phrase that sums up your mc's main problem.
I'm just curious how everyone comes up with the titles for their stories? Do they often change? Do you know from the beginning or do you save it to the very end? Personally, I tend to have something fun or lazy to call it in the interim so people know what story I'm talking about till it's officially christened. Official titles come once I feel like I have a complete grasp on the story, whether or not I've fully written it out. There was only once where I named the piece first, and had the story evolve from it's premise. It was called "and Wendy." That story came about from my contemplating how the title for Peter Pan had gone initially from Peter and Wendy to Peter Pan and Wendy to just having Peter. And my story evolved out of the thought of a girl who initially assumed she was special only to find out at the very onset she's average, interchangeable, & insignificant, and that it's not quite so "enchanting" being in a land of myth & magic when you yourself are neither. But generally they come about much later in the writing stage. My last work took 6 months of writing to have the epiphany of Prestige & Glamour, because it was (no surprise) about magic and the cloaked ambition of one character & the projected persona of the other--and I was elated when I recalled that prestige is from the latin praestigium "delusion, illusion" from praestigiae "deception, jugglers tricks" ultimately from praestringere "to bind up or blind." So with "prestige" as a lie coupled with glamour, particularly relating to magic that alters the appearance of things, it seemed like such a beautiful union & picture of the decptive & illusatory nature of the characters. I highly doubt anyone will read so much into it on their own, but I have no plans to spell it out anywhere in the text. My current project, which is not a serious work but is being written as a playful present to my best friend & current platonic love of my life, was named pretty quickly "Half Sick of Shadows" as an allusion to Tennyson's "Lady of Shallott." It's somewhat ironic this project meant only for a singular amusement has the most use of literary devices & techniques than any of my serious works (particularly as it can never be used for publication of any kind). So how do you name your works? How soon do you name them? Feel free to go into as little or as much detail as you'd like I'm endlessly intrigued to see everyone's various methods & experiences〜
There was actually a recent thread about this just over here that you might be interested in reading.
(I accidentally started a thread not realizing this one had been made so recently--I'm just pasting what I shared there here) Personally, I tend to have something fun or lazy to call it in the interim so people know what story I'm talking about till it's officially christened. Sometimes I call it a name of a song that inspired it or has a similiar feeling, or maybe short ridiculous description. Official titles come once I feel like I have a complete grasp on the story, whether or not I've fully written it out. There was only once where I named the piece first, and had the story evolve from it's premise. It was called "and Wendy." That story came about from my contemplating how the title for Peter Pan had gone initially from Peter and Wendy to Peter Pan and Wendy to just having Peter. And my story evolved out of the thought of a girl who initially assumed she was special only to find out at the very onset she's average, interchangeable, & insignificant, and that it's not quite so "enchanting" being in a land of myth & magic when you yourself are neither. But generally they come about much later in the writing stage. My last work took 6 months of writing to have the epiphany of Prestige & Glamour, because it was (no surprise) about magic and the cloaked ambition of one character & the projected persona of the other--and I was elated when I recalled that prestige is from the latin praestigium "delusion, illusion" from praestigiae "deception, jugglers tricks" ultimately from praestringere "to bind up or blind." So with "prestige" as a lie coupled with glamour, particularly relating to magic that alters the appearance of things, it seemed like such a beautiful union & picture of the decptive & illusatory nature of the characters. I highly doubt anyone will read so much into it on their own, but I have no plans to spell it out anywhere in the text. My current project, which is not a serious work but is being written as a playful present to my best friend & current platonic love of my life, was named pretty quickly "Half Sick of Shadows" as an allusion to Tennyson's "Lady of Shallott." It's somewhat ironic this project meant only for a singular amusement has the most use of literary devices & techniques than any of my serious works (particularly as it can never be used for publication of any kind).
I can honestly say I'm horrible at titles. I come up with them, but I always feel like they lack that "Ooh!" quality of an excellently-titled book on a shelf. I've found that I'm usually disappointed with other people's titles in general, though, finding they can't compete with the expectation in my head. Kudos if you can come up with one on the spot, but I usually think of my titles at the end of a piece.
I always have a working title (I start my stories from theme, so a title helps anchor the concepts) but don't get too invested in it, since my editor and publisher will almost always overrule it and suggest alternatives. A complication in 2016 is that promotion for a book can backfire if there's already a book with the same or similar title that comes up higher in search results or rankings. If the goal is to move product, title selection is not just a writers' craft question - it's also a marketing issue. The interesting thing is that my favourite titles are exactly the ones that wouldn't run up against a predecessor: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, for example.
As long as I'm not going to publish (no plans for it either), deciding on a title is the least of my concerns. But, it usually starts with 'The'. For example, 'the green house', 'the cold river', 'the long journey'. Very boring stuff.
I've struggled with titles but ultimately have been happy with the ones I've come up with. I do agree that a title should hook a potential reader as well as relate to what is contained within the covers. I am surprised by some of the immensely vague titles I come across while browsing books. "Two By Two" by Nicholas Sparks. I have no freaking clue what that means. "The Girl On The Train", however, I think is intriguing. Book cover art matters so much more if your title is more vague. My thrillers always depict a girl with a gun because that is what they are about. "Brianna's Reprisal" doesn't really reveal much about the book as a title alone. Its about a girl named Brianna, apparently. Sometimes titles reveal themselves to me easily. Other times I really need to search for the right words. "Reprisal" was one of those. My current WIP is tentatively named after the town it takes place in but I may go for something more descriptive and use the town name to define the series.
My original impulse is always to choose a title that is overly melodramatic. Aargh. Heart of Stone. Flames of Passage. Rip the Velvet Hat. A Difficult Death in the Swamp of Despond. That kind of crap. So I have to back off CONSIDERABLY from whatever my original choice would be. However, that often leads to very simple, matter-of-fact titles. And I'm certainly keeping the title to my first completed novel. It's called, simply, Brothers. It was my working title, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised it was exactly right for my story. The story explores the relationship between actual blood brothers, how an unrelated person can become a brother, how somebody who initially behaves like a brother can become something else in time, and, ultimately asks the question what do brothers owe their sisters and each other? Whether it's intriguing enough to snatch a reader or not, I don't know. It's certainly not a title that will make a person buy the book just because of the title (like Christopher Brookmyre's books.) But maybe a person who is a brother, has a brother, wishes for a brother or who has lost a brother may pick it up, thinking ...well, what's this all about, then?
Simply put I don't. I get so busy fleshing out the characters, the story and the world that I forget the title until I'm done and then I frantically scramble around trying to find a good title or ask someone else to supply a title based on my description of the work.