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[nerakrose]

if you follow my tumblr you probably know it's mainly me flailing about cap2

but sometimes i do cool stuff too, like this post about fanfic titles (and why we never see them irl)

there's more discussion if you click through the notes, but tbh it could do with more? i'd like more input anyway. :D

Comments

[huldrejenta.livejournal.com]

Goodness, this is such a cool topic! I thought about doing a study on book titles for my Masters Thesis, but changed my mind when realising that I probably couldn't make it extensive enough.
I'm really off to bed now, but had to have a look at your post.

Your point about target audience is a very valid one. Fandom takes for granted that those who read/look for fics to read, already have at least some basic knowledge about the characters, plot, genre; as well as some knowledge about fanfiction itself. This gives the writer quite a lot of freedom.

I had some thoughts about traditions developing in fandom; whether there're statistically significant differences between titles chosen when you've just entered fandom and when you've stayed a while, and whether there're different styles/traditions from one fandom to another (or even from one pairing to another)
- but I'm way too tired to be even remotely coherent now.

ETA: html and being very tired don't mix well - sorry for the edits!!

[nerakrose]

heeeeh! what were your thoughts in regards to your thesis? :D

I had some thoughts about traditions developing in fandom; whether there're statistically significant differences between titles chosen when you've just entered fandom and when you've stayed a while, and whether there're different styles/traditions from one fandom to another (or even from one pairing to another)

i thought about this too! mainly because this is a change i noticed in myself but also because when i look across my fandoms, the types of titles there are significantly different, and when you pick out specific writers and look at their fandom history, you can often see a clear development. and ofc there's the influence writers have on each other. somebody you look up to may choose titles in a certain way that's appealing and inspiring to you, or maybe you bounce titles off your close fandom friends and the act of selecting a title becomes a group effort. and so on.

[huldrejenta.livejournal.com]

I thought about studying various trends in book titles - variations between title choices in different genres, eras, different publishers and so on. I think it would have been a lot of fun, but probably better for a small paper than an extensive thesis :)

It's interesting to see if there're differences between title choices in various fandoms/pairings! I do have a feeling that some of the titles you mentioned (like 500 miles (i’m coming home to you) or long live living (if living can be this)) are slightly more common in Marauder fics than for instance H/D fics? And I wonder if het fics (at least canon het fics) often have titles more similar to the book tradition?

I do think that more books could choose titles more similar to fanfic titles :) Maybe editors are too conseravtive? I recently read Buzz Aldrin, hvor ble det av deg i alt mylderet, which I pretty much picked up because the title intrigued me.

Then again it's also quite possible that I've read way too much fanfic, and that I'm rambling away :)

[nerakrose]

it sounds interesting enough :D it reminds me of something else, typical author names (pseudonyms) in different genres :D like how sci fic or fantasy authors often use initials and stuff. despite that article and my ingrained stubbornness in doing the exact opposite of what everyone else does, i decided my own pseudonym had to have two initials and a last name. XD because i'd be writing in the scifi/fantasy genre anyway if i ever get any of my original stuff finished.

i don't actually think so, because i've seen parenthesis across a few fandoms. harry/draco, marvel, just to name a few. and i honestly don't know about het fic :( i don't really read het fic.

i think so too :D i always find something much more interesting if the title is a little alternative or stands out from the norm. it makes me think the novel itself is likely to be refreshingly different.

same. XD