Hi poets,
Let’s talk about titles! Do you usually come up with the title before you write a poem, or does it come to you after the poem is finished? Maybe it changes halfway through?
Some writers need a title as a sort of anchor to guide the piece, while others can’t name a poem until they’ve stepped back and seen the whole thing. Some titles are poetic in themselves, while others are simple and direct.
What’s your process when it comes to titling your poems? Do you have any favourite titles you’ve used—or ones that drove you mad trying to get just right?
I don’t think I can say I never have the title first - but I will say more often the title comes later. Sometimes it easily pops into my head, other times it is a bit more of a struggle. Especially tricky sometimes because the title may change the way the poem is received or, in fact, the meaning of poem. It’s an extra piece of context or perhaps even a line itself at times.