titles?

i do not even think about it. after i have finished a poem, i just use the word or phrase from the poem that encompasses the major point of the poem

thats an awesome way ofdoing it... i like that way stuh... good stuff

and sometimes I just use the first few words

that doesnt work so much for me

Titles for paintings are hard as well. Often I just settle for Norfolk: December or something - with abstract paintings I sometimes use a fragment of a poem - the words of poetry have a wonderful resonance and flow. I don't always remember where the words came from.

my titles always end up saying the same thing: outline of a hand to look like a turkey

well if I had written this poem, I would automatically name it "let me be the one"...i could do this for any of your poems

thats a great title Stuh... you dont have to come up with my titles but you do do a good job of it

Hmmmm... Talk about retrospective! Excellent subject seed - let me put my spin on it :-) About 30 years ago, I would create a title that best described what I was feeling, and then build from that. That continued until about 20 years ago, during the writing of my second book, Nefarious Pandemonium, when I would pen a phrase or stanza, create a title from that, and then complete the poem. About 17 years ago, during book 3, Still Life's construct, the poems became more fluid and I would usually complete a piece before I named it, but not always. Discipline of Steel, my fourth book, was written during my time in the first Gulf War. Each title in that book came before the poem. Maybe that is one of the reasons I hate that book! Though book 5, Party of One, was absorbed by the Vapours of Promise book (the REAL 5th book), it is pretty easy to tell which poems were written for it because the titles came first. During the main writing of Vapours of Promise, my poetry returned to the kind you see today in this forum (and in the book, for those of you who have it!). A little fluid and a little complex. Because I am attempting to cram so much into typically 20-or-less lines, titles almost always come last. It is kind of neat going back over three decades of hundreds and hundreds of poems and seeing just how integral the title is to each one, and remembering how they came to be. Thanks for the topic, mighty seed!

Interesting. Titles always come last for me...so far

This is my opinion, if the topic comes first then it's easier to write something on it... but on the other hand you have a spontaneous urge to write and then the topic will follow.

If I've written a humorous poem then I use a pun in the title. It normally pops into my head as I'm finishing writing the poem.

With a more serious one, I find words descriptive of the poem but rarely use the obvious.

i find that when im trying to come up with titles is when i get the biggest writers block.. i hate it

I have a posty note on my computer: "Do not force your writing, let it flow from you. Do not neglect it either as time will quickly fade the creativity's moment of passion."

Poems are short journals of our thoughts, our passions, our memories, and our desires all wrapped into a nice neat little bundle. Some of my poems are secretly coded for my thoughts alone, while others are strictly for the readers. Each time I write is different, so each time a poem needs a title, it is attained in a different manner.

Sometimes the title is the beginning of the creative process. Other times, it is the last to be completed. Don't force your writing. If a title does not present itself freely, then put the writing aside with a "temporary" title for storing purposes, then let it rest. When you read your words later, the title may jump out at you.

I have never known a "writer's block" but I certainly have experienced a "lack of time block" which stresses my ability to freely create until mental alertness fades to la la land.