oloriel | If you can't say something nice, do a meme

Fanfic writer titles meme, seen all over my flist.

Look at the most recent 20 fanwork titles on your AO3 account. (I don't have an AO3 account, so SWG will have to do)

- The Embalmer's Apprentice (not actually a recent fanwork, but recently updated)
- All it takes
- Overture
- None might restrain him
- Journey to the Uttermost East
- A half-life, a cursed life
- Out of the Great Sea
- The Good and the Bad
- When in Doriath
- Authority
- Loving Úner
- Loving Uinen
- Exit, Pursued
- By Fate Mastered
- Going Through These Stages
- The Queen Comes to the Mountain
- The Longest Day
- Ashes of the Past
- We were not born in Cuiviénen
- Making the Gift

1. How many are you happy with?

Generously counting, 16.

2. How many are ... not great?

Strictly speaking, seven.
Yes, that computes. I'm reasonably happy with three of the sixteen titles, but I have to admit that they aren't great.

3. How many did you scramble for at the last minute?

Roughly eleven.

4. How many did you know before you started writing/creating, or near the beginning?

Four. "The Embalmer's Apprentice" had a title before it had a story; "Journey to the Uttermost East" offered itself; "Loving Uinen" was written shortly after "Loving Úner", and the title was a deliberate nod to it; and "Going Through These Stages" was the lyric that inspired the story, so it made sense to use it as a title.

5. How many are quotes from songs or poems?

One. Two if you count "Overture" (the prompt for which was Brahms' Academic Festival Overture).

6. How many are other quotes?

Five. Three are Tolkien quotes ("Out of the Great Sea" from Elendil's pledge, "None might restrain him" from Fingolfin's death ride, and "By Fate Mastered" from Túrin's tombstone); one is from Harry Potter ("A half-life, a cursed life"), and "Exit, pursued" is very losely inspired by Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale (Exit, pursued by a bear).
If you want me to be precise, "When in Doriath" is meant to be an allusion to the adage "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". So I suppose it should be six after all.

7. Which best reflects the plot of the story/content of the fanwork?

Probably "We were not born in Cuiviénen", which, shockingly, is about an elf challenging the Cuiviénen origin story.
Runners-up: "Journey to the Uttermost East" and "The Queen comes to the Mountain" (you'll NEVER guess what happens in these!)

8. Which best reflects the theme of the story?

"Going Through These Stages" - Elrond learns of Elros' death and goes through the five stages of grief (excecpt I haven't written the fifth yet).
Runners-up: "Making the Gift" (about the creation of Númenor, the "Land of Gift"); "A half-life, a cursed life" (a discussion of the undesirable side effects of immortality); "Loving Úner" (Tar-Ancalime doesn't love men); "By Fate Mastered" (it's about Túrin, nuff said); "The Longest Day" (bad news on Midsummer Day). And the three from the previous question. Look, I always try to have titles that reflect the theme of the story? That's the whole point. That's why titles are so hard.

9. Which best reflects the character voice of the story/POV of the fanwork?

Well, "The Embalmer's Apprentice" is narrated entirely from the POV of an apprentice embalmer, so... that, I guess?

10. Which is your favourite title?

I am ridiculously fond of "Loving Úner" and "Loving Uinen" as a unit and wish that I had written stronger stories to go with these excellent titles (and also that I could've continued the series with similar titles).