e were no other, a sufficient
reason for making your title as attractive, interesting and
appropriate as you possibly can? True, there are thousands of
picture-play patrons who go to their favorite theatre night after
night, prepared to see anything that may be shown for their
entertainment. But there are also thousands who are _not_ regular
attendants. Many go only when attracted by the title of a picture
based on some well-known book, poem, or play. A great many more are
guided in their selection of moving-picture entertainment by the
attractiveness of the titles displayed on the posters and banners
announcing the regular daily programs. As a means of attracting all
such, the advertising value of the title is important.

[Footnote 8: Evelyn May Albright, _The Short Story_.]

"A good title," Barrett has said[9] "is apt [appropriate, fitting],
specific [concerning itself with, and narrowed down to, something
individual enough to grip the attention], attractive [interesting and
calculated to inspire attention], new [fresh and unhackneyed], and
short." The bracketed comments, of course, are ours.

[Footnote 9: Charles Raymond Barrett, _Short Story Writing_.]

_3. Titles to Avoid_

Judging from the titles of many dozens of scripts that the writers
have seen slipped into the "stamped addressed envelope enclosed" and
sent back to amateur photoplaywrights, one of the greatest mistakes
that the young writer makes in his choice of titles is in making them
commonplace and uninteresting. When an editor takes out a script and
reads the title, "The Sad Story of Ethel Hardy," would he be
altogether to blame if he _did_ put the script back into the return
envelope utterly unread, as so many editors are accused of doing yet
really do not do? To anyone with a sense of humor, there is more cause
for merriment in the titles that adorn the different stories that a
photoplay editor reads in the course of a day than is to be found in a
humorous magazine. Yet it is as easy for some writers to select a
good, attractive title for their stories as it is difficult for
others.

Do not choose a title that will "give away" your plot. The title
should aid in sustaining interest, not dull the spectator's attention
by telling "how it all ends." To quote Mr. Harry Cowell, writing in
_The Magazine Maker_: "A title is a means to an end. The end of a
story should justify the title. If the title gives the story away, the
writer may have to give i