What Should I Name My Work?

Since the thread didn't exist, and since there seems to be a need for it thanks to these posts in the Random Questions Thread, I decided to make it.

This is the first post, so why don't I start?

Premise: The king of a Medieval European Fantasy realm tries to summon a wizard from an old legend to fight against another wizard, but instead gets a twentysomething who works a dead-end job. The locals think confuse his technology with magic, and so he's given the task of protecting the kingdom.

Current Working Title: Our Wizard

edited 3rd Oct '15 5:58:12 PM by AwSamWeston

Award-winning screenwriter. Directed some movies. Trying to earn a Creator page. I do feedback here.

And in the spirit of continuity, here are the posts from the Random Questions Thread that prompted this thread:

edited 3rd Oct '15 5:59:50 PM by AwSamWeston

Award-winning screenwriter. Directed some movies. Trying to earn a Creator page. I do feedback here.

The Legend of the Wrong/Deadbeat Wizard, Not Your Chosen One, and maybe The Wrong Wizard.

Sharysa, I know I said I didn't like sentences, but I thought of these: HEARTLESS: Zero to Hero, The Heartless, The Wonderful Heroes of Oz, maybe Straight Outta Oz because that came to mind for some reason.

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.

I like Our Wizard, maybe you could put a question mark on it to show all is not how it seems. Or misspell wizard.

~~~~~~~~~~

If more than one book comes of my setting I'm thinking of naming the series "Body and Breath" because that's to analogy used to describe how the two worlds interact. But I don't have any working title for the first story: which is about one person slowly becoming an Eldritch Abomination, his best friend taking a piece of and earlier incarnation of said elderich abomination's power, and them fighting over how that power should be used.

edited 4th Oct '15 4:58:42 AM by Novis

You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.

"Straight Outta Oz" is actually pretty awesome. I take it you went off Straight Outta Compton? :D

Also, just throwing in the detail that the cast is heavily Asian-American, but they refuse to do kung-fu or other stereotypical "Asian" stuff. Plus the Tin Man's bi, for even more real-life connections.

edited 4th Oct '15 10:26:26 AM by Sharysa

Given the Tin Man not feeling a thing is his shtick perhaps an asexual would be in order? Not as much as a "natural" asexual but someone who's one out of inability to feel a thing

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

Actually, I'm going on the "claims he has no emotions, but is actually the nicest person in the story" version.

He calls himself the Tin Man because he publicly says that he has no heart, despite being largely witty and polite to people—he claims he's only doing it for good PR (and because being a nice gang-leader freaks people out MORE than if he were a hard-ass), but even in normal life, he has an open relationship with his boyfriend, calls the female protagonist "little sister," and is generally charming and playful to the point where someone on the Nanowrimo forums called his mundane identity a marshmallow.

(He's also the Tin Man because he wears pounds of high-quality jewelry in his gang/hero identity, and his most famous piece is a giant heart pendant.)

Origin story: After his first boyfriend got mugged and shot, the police weren't much help (the ones that wanted to help had nowhere near enough resources, and most of the force didn't really care about two LGBT minorities). Then he attempted to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge but got dragged to safety by a passing driver, and his despair was replaced with anger. So he tracked the mugger down, shot him, and tagged a giant broken-heart plus the name Tin Man on the doorway. Somewhere after that, he got his broken-heart tattoo and started the gang.

My protagonist points out that he's literally acting as a superhero already, because normal street-gangs don't give financially-struggling people the money from their drug farm (with no conditions or expecting to be paid back) or take out hits on the perpetrators of severe hate-crimes. Thanks to bitterness about his first boyfriend, he just snarks that "Asians aren't heroes, we're sidekicks or villains."

Around the midway point, she drags him to see a therapist and he spends the latter half of the story processing several years' worth of unaddressed trauma/grief. So he's not heartless/emotionless, he just really, really wants to be.

Working Title: "The Realm" - dating back to long before I even decided what the planet was going to be called, let alone any place within it.

A group of people from different times and places find themselves mysteriously transported to another planet - breathable atmosphere, local flora and fauna seems to have come from the UK (presumably by the same unknown mechanism), including a number of species that have been extinct in the UK for quite some time (including brown bears and grey wolves).

They all meet up in a vast wilderness and have to work together to survive and, hopefully, locate civilisation.

They are: an ex soldier and frontiersman from 1753, an uptight English banker from 1891, an English Gentleman and diplomat from 1899, a Wehrmacht conscript from 1940, a Cockney motorcycle courier from 1988, a camper/hunter from 2014 and a competitive pistol shooter from 2070.

So its a mixture of wilderness survival, science fiction, portal fantasy.

I might need more info, but "The realm" itself sounds like historical fiction or straight fantasy. Maybe "The Wild Realm" or "The Lost Realm"?

Those are good suggestions.

"The Realm" is what I called the place before I decided that some of the earliest surviving arrivals named the planet "Terra Nova" (Lampshaded by one of the characters as sounding like "bad 60's science fiction" but justified in that, at the time it was named, the only literate people were monks who, naturally, spoke Latin).

Therefore I'd like to get away from "realm".

The story is more about the people and their interactions and how their skills and personalities help (or hinder) their survival, with the location and the Science-Fictionesque aspects relegated to the important supporting roles of giving them a place to be and a way of getting there.

I thought of titles like "The Disappeared" and "Transported" to give a feel for what's happened to the characters (disappeared from Earth, transported to another world) but they clash with other works and the former has connotations of people who were deliberately "disappeared" by someone.

edited 5th Oct '15 12:07:32 PM by Wolf1066

i think a good name for it would be "departed world" because of the slight double meaning

onto my thing

working titles- universe unbound, -0, or -∞

premise- the year is 2088, a few years ago probes were sent to explore distant star systems, and now they have come back. after running test on a strange artifact brought back from one of the worlds, the entire population of earth is transported to deep space. most do not survive, those that do find that they now have the ability to manipulate the laws of physics to their will. later, it is found out that the artifact that caused all this is actually a sort of cosmic keystone, and will eventually go back in time and create reality itself, they also discover that entire universes are simply ceasing to exist, witch is being caused by an eldritch entity who eats entire realities.

this is my signature, there are many like it, but this one is a ripoff of something else

Reality Unwound? Beyond Known? Infinity None?

I'm resurrecting this because I have a problem myself.

It's a Diesel Punk setting, but like in another world altogether. It's focused around four characters uncovering a government conspiracy that also involves magic, insurgents, and a hidden land full of ample vegetation (the setting is very desert like and arid, btw). A main theme is finding the truth hidden within lies.

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.

Maybe something built around "The Jungle"? "The Jungle Enigma" or "Clearing the Jungle" are the only things that come to mind, since I'm not very strong on the various -punk genres.

As for me, my superhero story wants a working-name change again.

Since my protag spends the majority of the play as a Hurting Hero and he's got a broken-heart tattoo that serves as a major motif, I'm starting to like the sound of calling the script "Takotsubo" or "Broken Heart Syndrome." I especially like the English name for it, because I don't hear it often enough to associate it with medicine. But others might think differently, so that's why I'm checking with you guys.

For "Takotsubo," I'm not worried about it sounding too "Japanese" because a main theme of the story is that the characters are all from a host of Asian and Pacific-Islander ethnicities.

edited 7th Nov '15 11:02:33 PM by Sharysa

Medium: Video Game

(Intended) Gameplay: Exploration, traversal, puzzles, sparse combat

Setting type: High fantasy

Plot:
In the setting of the game, there are two worlds: the world of animals and people, night and day—and a world of magic, from which spell-workers draw their power. This other world is marked by a sky filled with blazing stars, impossible rock formations, and—most saliently—a thick, omnipresent blue mist.

Our protagonist is an adventurer, one who has long had an ardent desire to explore and adventure within the other world. However, that world is known to be accessible only by magic-workers, and magic demands sacrifices, demands that something be given up to attain it. Specifically, it would demand that she sacrifice adventuring, thus defeating the purpose of her gaining access to the other world.

Then she comes to hear a story of a lost city, and in it a gateway that allows direct access to the other world. The meat of the game then follows her search for this city and its gateway, through tombs, ruins, and more.

Working Title: A Door to the Mists

I've gone through a few possible names for this game, and thus far the above is the option that I'm least unhappy with. Nevertheless, I am rather uncertain of it, and could use some feedback, whether regarding the working title itself or offering alternative suggestions.

edited 2nd Jan '16 6:06:00 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

The title itself is pretty cool, but for me it sounds a little bit like The Chronicles Of Narnia. Maybe you could try to incorporate more of the puzzle/adventure feel into the title?

, Unlocking the Mists' Door, maybe?

You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.

Working title-nothing as of yet.

Premise-Basically, its a sort of "slice-of-life" cartoon about a girl named "Mary" (at least until I finalize a name) who is sort of eccentric and has an active imagination, but she's also sarcastic at times. She lives in the suburbs of the city New Harmony, along with her very conservative and business-y mother and pet spider Jupiter. Its only a preliminary at this point, so a lot of the minor details haven't been worked out yet. This is just a rough overview of what I have so far.

This is somewhat late, and perhaps a bit of a silly suggestion, but what about "In Harmony with Jupiter"? Or perhaps "Life in Harmony"?

, Oh wow, I managed to completely miss that there were responses here (and indeed, managed to forget that I had actually posted in this thread)—I'm so sorry! ^^; Thank you both for your responses!

As things stand I've settled on "A Door to the Mists" (note my signature), but if you don't mind, I'd like to pick up the thread of that question: I don't think that it's too late to change the title for a sufficiently strong argument or particularly good alternative, and I'd like to explore your responses a little.

Additionally, I have a new question below my responses, if I may.

In what way? Could you elaborate on that, please?

As to incorporating more of the adventure/puzzle feel, I'm not quite sure of where to go with that at the moment. The word "seeking" comes to mind, and thus "Seeking the Mists", but think that I still prefer "A Door to the Mists". For one thing, "seeking" seems to me to suggest a longer quest than is portrayed here—appropriate to our adventurer's history, but not to the section shown in the game, I feel.

Thank you—that does somewhat encourage me in its favour. ^_^

Hmm... I don't really like the sound of "Mists' Door", but "Unlocking the Door to the Mists" isn't bad—albeit perhaps a bit long. It does give me a bit of a "History Channel" feeling, I'll confess. :/

~~~~~

My other question:

This is for the same game as above, but in this case I'm looking for a name for the game's prologue/tutorial level. I want to convey that this is a genuinely short, easy level—an introduction to the game's mechanics: I'm a little worried about players encountering something so simple and thinking that the entire game is like that.

The context is that our adventurer has taken a one-off job—contract work, essentially—that would normally be both too easy and too low-paying to be of interest to her. Nevertheless, it gives her the chance to talk with a mage, and that's makes her avid to take it. The events of the level aren't directly connected with the main story, save in perhaps establishing somewhat of how important the character's interest in the Mists is to her.

Physically, the level takes place in and around a small pyramid of dark stone, hidden amidst a thick forest. There's some easy traversal in climbing stone blocks to ascend the pyramid, a little bit of puzzle-solving in an antechamber, a fight within the inner room, and finally the collection of the item that our adventurer has been sent to acquire.

The general pattern for the title would be something like "Prologue: <insert title here>". I've considered wording along the lines of "An Easy Job", but that sort of thing seems to me to suggest the possibility of a twist in which things turn out to be more difficult than expected, the lack of which might disappoint. (I'm not sure that I like the word "job" here, either, for that matter—a little too modern and business-like, perhaps.) I also want to avoid a title that refers to the game itself—so nothing along the lines of "A Brief Tutorial".

So... Any suggestions?

(And I do intend to actually check the thread for responses this time! ^^; )

edited 7th Apr '16 6:53:02 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

Does the tutorial level have He Knows About Timed Hits? If yes, I think being more obvious such as called it "Tutorial" wouldn't hurt.

Besides, if it's the first level, of course it's the easiest and the players would expect more difficult things later on.

Nothing quite so damaging to the fourth wall, I don't intend! If I do have tutorial text (I'm still debating the degree to which I should tutorialise), it will likely be in distinct text-boxes that declare themselves as tutorials, rather than anything put into the mouth of a character.

As to using the term "tutorial" in the title, it just doesn't feel right to me at the moment; perhaps not quite fitting with the tone of the game.

Ha, true! It is, of course, quite possible that I'm worrying for nothing. I can be somewhat... well, worry-prone.

Perhaps it's worth completing the level itself (it's in-progress at the moment), then seeing what reaction it gets...

(I am going to want something for the title of the level—I intend to have the name of each level appear on-screen when the player first enters the level, like a chapter-title. But if I'm worrying for nothing then I'm a little more free in my choice of name, at least.)

My Games & Writing

"A Door to the Mists" sounds like a Portal Fantasy in line with "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

Edit: Oh boy, I forgot about my OWN play's title. I've come up with a fucking poster concept for it by now. :P Keeping in mind what I said earlier, what does the title "TAKOTSUBO" in all-caps make you think of? And for aesthetics, what would you think about seeing this sort of poster around town? (I don't know how long it will take for me to finish the script, but the urban/street aesthetic is definitely going to be kept.)

edited 7th Apr '16 12:29:23 PM by Sharysa

Ah, I see—thank you for the clarification! ^_^

Indeed, that's not the intended impression. :/

(Funnily enough, it's not entirely inappropriate: a portal fantasy is essentially a story in which one or more characters go from one world to another—generally from a mundane world to a magical one. In this case, it's someone going from a magical world to a more magical one (albeit one that's not entirely separate from the "less magical" world), and the crossing is the goal of the story, rather than an early event.)

Before I respond to your questions, I'd like to note that I'm not confident that I'm a good choice of respondent: I'm not sure of how closely my set of cultural information matches the average set held by your intended audience. As a result, I recommend that you increase your intake of sodium during your reading of my response.

Honestly, the word is unfamiliar to me, making it difficult to extract much meaning from it. ^^;

Looking back at your earlier post, I gather that it means "broken heart syndrome"? If so, and if I knew that when reading the word, I suppose that I might take it to imply a dramatic tale of tragic romance. (I think that the use of all-caps in some cases connotes a dramatic approach to my mind.)

I like it! It looks very cool. ^_^

I imagine that, seeing that poster, I would assume that it's a superhero story with a significant East-Asian element, whether in character or setting. I think that I would likely also gather that it has a somewhat urban feel to it.

I have two additional thoughts:

First, since the term "takotsubo" is unfamiliar to me, I think that I might guess from the heart that there's a significant romantic element to the story. Based on a quick look at the page to which you linked, this may be appropriate.

Second, I don't really get much impression of what medium it uses—is this a book, a play, a movie, or something else? The use of the term "story" does at least convey that it's a narrative work, but not much beyond that.

My Games & Writing

Actually, your response is perfect! 1) It's a superhero play/script. 2) It's not specifically dealing with romance, but the loss of a significant other is a major driving theme in the story, as is The Power of Love (and not just romantic kind). And yeah, hearts are a BIG visual symbol. 3) It is heavily Asian-American in subject matter, seeing as this is about a vigilante Asian-American gangster who thinks his only option is to be a gangster because he's barely seen Asian-Americans be important in the media. He spends a long time dealing with self-hate/rage until he finally reclaims the "Asian gangster" stereotype and becomes a superhero.

edited 8th Apr '16 2:40:22 PM by Sharysa

Like Ars Thaumaturgis said, it's not a word I'm familiar with, and the poster doesn't give you much information. You have a lot of negative space in the area where it says, "a story," and that space could be used for a tagline, a translation, information about where you can see the play, etc. This is also a bit of a design nitpick, but I don't think the typewriter font goes with the street aesthetic. Anyways back to the title, it seems a little odd to me that you would use a Japanese word for your work starring a Chinese-American protagonist. The word does fit your themes though, and you seem to be talking about the general Asian-American experience in addition to your specific main character's story, so I think that once people learn what it means it works fine. All together, I think it's a pretty good title that you've obviously put quite a lot of though into, and the poster design is neat.

edited 8th Apr '16 8:45:46 PM by NothingUnusualHere

His fiance was Japanese-American, and the fiance's spirit is a major character in the story. (And THEN my gangster is friends with a lot of South Asians. ) So yeah, definitely not a homogeneous story.

edited 9th Apr '16 12:47:52 AM by Sharysa