A lot. The name of the main character, as in Jane Eyre or Silas Marner. The theme or underlying message, as in To Kill a Mockingbird or Sense and Sensibility. A description of the action/contents, as in Emily Climbs or Winter Holiday. Or an important element forms the story, as in Miss Buncle's Book or Swallowdale.
How do you choose your titles? Even poems and short stories have them. It might be that you go with the obvious choice, A History of Magic, or a more poetic option, Magic by the Sea, or something nice and simple and vague, like Endings. Titles don't usually take a lot of thought (unless, of course, you have eight people trying to decide upon one).
Do you have any untitled pieces? Try to think of a title. Look at the main character, the theme, the action, the important elements. Or try retitling one of your favorite stories. What's another title for Book of a Thousand Days? Or Fairest? Or The Four Graces? Could AJ's Ireland have a more descriptive nomenclature? Is The Queen of Attolia really what said book is about? Try it.
Good Books:
- Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale
- Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine
- The Four Graces, by DE Stevenson
- AJ'S Ireland (prequel to the AJ series), by Renee Riva
- The Queen of Attolia (2nd in the Queen's Thief series), by Megan Whalen Turner
- Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
- Silas Marner, by George Eliot
- To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
- Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
- Emily Climbs (2nd in the Emily Trilogy), by LM Montgomery
- Winter Holiday (4th in the Swallows and Amazons series), by Arthur Ransome
- Miss Buncle's Book, by DE Stevenson
- Swallowdale (2nd in the Swallows and Amazons series), by Arthur Ransome