Tips and Tricks: Crafting a Paper Title

You've worked really hard on a piece of writing, spending hours agonizing over every little detail, from font size to word choice. Just as you're about to hit send or print, something catches your eye. There's a blank spot on your front page, just between your heading and introduction paragraph... where your title should be!

Before we really dive into it, just remember that it's not a life-or-death type situation. Sure, coming up with a title is a big deal, but over-thinking it is not good. A title needs to tell your reader what to expect and engage them enough so that they actually want to read your work. Think about when you've had to do research on a topic and faced a huge list of titles. Which one are you likely to pick first? Origins of the American Revolution or A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic? They might both be good books, but if you're only faced with titles, I'm willing to bet you'll pick the later to investigate first.

Take a deep breath and get ready to do a little critical thinking, though we're going to keep it pretty light and fun over here.

I'd love to say this used to happen to me when I was in school, but the truth is that it still happens to me now. I experience it at work, while writing casual e-mails and it's already reared its ugly head while working on this blog. However, I've picked up some tips and tricks from some great teachers and my own experiences as a student and an educator.

Wait Until You've Finished Writing 

I often recommend that, when writing an essay, students wait until they've finished writing their body paragraphs before they tackle their introduction. This ensures that the introduction paragraph will not only correspond with the order and content of the body paragraphs but also with the writing styles you've utilized throughout. For example, say you're writing about your favorite television show (we're going to use Gilmore Girls as an example here because it's one of my favorites) and the motivation of one of the lead characters (in this case, we're going to use Paris Geller). When you started writing, the focus of your paper may have been that she wanted to beat her academic best frenemy Rory but as you wrote and explored the topic further, you've changed your mind. By the time you reach your conclusion, you've convinced yourself and your audience that she's more focused on her impending legacy. Sure, starting with an outline would have helped you avoid this problem, but it happens and we'll talk about that some other time. Also, free essay topic, you're welcome.

Preach, Paris. Preach.

Why do I bring this up with titles? Saving them for the end can ensure that your title is both accurate and consistent with the rest of your paper. Topics can change in both direction and importance while writing an essay, so it's important to make sure that your final title is reflective of the paper you're turning in (make sure that thesis statement stays accurate too!).  

Use Your Thesis Statement

Not only does your thesis statement act as your main argument or direction for your essay, but it can also help you come up with an essay title quickly. Just shortening and reformatting your thesis can lead to a title. Let's look at a sample thesis statement and see how we can fashion it into a title.

Thesis statement: The terrain in France is extremely varied. Consisting of flat plains, the mountainous Alps, coastlines and even dormant volcanoes, France is more than just a cultural destination; it also has complex and interesting landscapes that make it a must-see country.

So, for this paper, which is either brochure about why people should visit France or an exploration of the country's regions, the thesis statement can definitely guide the title. There's are a few key words and phrases from this thesis statement that can be used to title the paper. Here's a few that I came up with:

• "Beyond Culture: Exploring the Terrain of France"
• "France's Complex Terrain and Landscapes"
• "The Terrain of France: Flat Plains, Mountains, Coastlines, Dormant Volcanoes and More"  

Reword Your Research Question

Just like using your thesis statement, a research question can also inspire a title. It can be shortened or just a few phrases can be pulled from it (see above). A simplistic answer to your research question can also work as a title. Don't worry, I'll be sure cover thesis statements and research questions in other posts. However, if you've already come up with those for your paper (good job!), they can both be helpful in your titling process.

Use a Subtitle to Your Advantage

I'll use a very different television show for this example, because, well, I love television. How about Breaking Bad? I actually wrote and presented a paper on this show a few years ago, so I want to use what I wish I titled it here. Now, if you know anything about Breaking Bad, you know about chemistry and chemical processes play fairly large roles in both the story and, I would argue, characterization. So, for an essay about this argument, the title may be "Yeah Science!: The Role of Chemistry in Breaking Bad."

In this title format, the simplistic/interesting main title ("Yeah Science!") is explained by a colon and short description of what the paper is about ("The Role of Chemistry in Breaking Bad"). This allowed the title to also be a little humorous while topical. If there was just "Yeah Science!" as a title, not only will your reader not be sure what the heck your paper is about but your teacher may think you've gone a little crazy. Now, what are you going to put in front of the explanatory subtitle. The next tip may help you figure that out.

Nicknames, Quotes and Figures... Oh My!

There are many options for titling a paper in an interesting way beyond the above mentioned. Some of them may need an explanatory subtitle Here are a few of ideas with examples:

• A paper about a historical or contemporary figure can be titled using a nickname of that figure. For example, a paper about Margaret Thatcher could be titled just simply "The Iron Lady" or, more descriptively, "The Iron Lady: The Life and Times of Margaret Thatcher."
• A paper about a historical figure or event can also be titled using a quote from or about that figure or event. This can also work for a television show or another form of media, as shown above.  Just make sure to use the proper punctuation! Two more examples of this method would be "'I Have a Dream': Martin Luther King, Jr." and "'Oh the Humanity!': News Coverage of the Hindenburg Explosion."
• One more idea would be to use a figure from your paper. For example, if your paper was about the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps, a good title might be "43,000 Pairs of Shoes." This is a reference to the number of shoes that were found at the camps upon liberation by the Soviet Union.

The Clues are in the Writing Prompt

While some writing assignment's may be fairly open (such as, "Write a research paper expanding on a topic we covered during this semester"), more often enough, teachers are going to provide detailed writing prompts. The more detailed their writing prompt, the more likely the teacher is trying to direct your paper to answer a specific question or address a particular topic area. A detailed writing prompt also provides opportunities to derive a title for your paper. Looking over the prompt, just like using the thesis statement or research question, there may be phrases that are perfectly suited to title your paper.

Don't Be Boring

Remember those two book titles from the introduction? Yeah... I know, it was a long time ago. The more interesting title made for the more immediately intriguing book. There's a super fine line here though, becoming too flowery or extensive with the language. Save some of the descriptive language for the actual paper and stay away too many adjectives. It shouldn't be so long that your reader is bored just trying to get through the title. Also, your title doesn't need both a title and a subtitle all the time. If the first part of your title makes sense and is descriptive without further explanation, then don't add a subtitle without any real reason.


Alright, that's all I've got for now. Do you have any helpful tips or tricks for titling a paper? Let me know in the comments!