[Runesmith]

The key to getting reads on a story is to have the right title. The title, like a skirt, needs to be short, tantalizing, and appeal to the reader's curiosity. The mistake many writers make is in creating a long, descriptive title, that, like a Kardashian evening gown, is way too long and yet leaves nothing to imagination.

For example, "How Micky lost his virginity during holidays at his grandparents' house to his 16 year old cousin Minnie and had sex in the woods while being watched by a hunter who had sex with them both" is the kind of title that I am talking about. I mean, dude, add a few more sentences and you are done. It was for a reason that the bearded dude named his movie "Star Wars", instead of "How Luke Got His Jedi Powers and Killed His Evil Dad and Almost Had Sex With His Sister Leia on The Moons of Endor".

You could (and probably should) hint about the content of the story in the title, but, like the perfect mini skirt, hint rather than reveal. A title like, "The Riskiest Dare", or "Abducted" is tantalizing, and yet, doesn't give away the plot. When someone reads a title like that, it draws them in with questions in their heads, like "what was that dare?" or "Who was abducted and what was done to them?"

If you are a writer like I am, who starts with a vague concept and evolves the story as you go along, it's important not to set a trap for yourself in the title. Eg. "99 Days of Sodom" would trap you in to describing that entire time period. It would tax your imagination, and probably bore and disappoint your readers (like how the Italian movie with that name probably disappointed a lot of viewers). So before you tap out the title, "My 200 dares", think about whether you can carry out that promise.