AI Novel Title Generator | Explanation & Guide

A novel’s title may look like a small detail, but it can have a huge influence on how the story is received. This is even more important for new writers, who need something that will stand out among countless other titles.

There’s no single formula for naming your novel, though there are a few useful principles that can help guide the choice.

If finding the right title feels overwhelming, you can use a tool such as QuillBot’s novel title generator. If you give the tool a little information about your work, it will generate a list of suggestions that you can refine or adapt.

Tips for creating a novel title

Although there are no strict rules, most writers follow a similar process. Some discover the perfect title only after finishing the manuscript, while others know it before they start writing.

Even classic novels went through changes before publication. For example:

• 1984 by George Orwell began life as The Last Man in Europe
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald had several working titles, including On the Road to West Egg
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was originally called First Impressions
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell had working titles such as Bugles Sang True
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was once Go Set a Watchman
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck started out as Something That Happened
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was first called Prometheus Unchained
• Dracula by Bram Stoker was originally The Undead

Let the title reflect the story itself

Your title should hint at the tone, genre, or central theme of the novel. A romance will need something different from a mystery or thriller. Austen’s working title First Impressions was accurate, but Pride and Prejudice expresses the book’s key theme in a more memorable way.

Quotations and aphorisms are a good starting point

Many titles are drawn from existing texts or familiar phrases. The Bible, Shakespeare, and well-known proverbs have all provided inspiration. Some examples:

• The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene (from the Bible)
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (from The Tempest)
• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (from Macbeth)
• All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare (from a proverb of the time)
• The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth (from Julius Caesar)
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck (from Genesis)
• Through a Glass Darkly by Donna Leon (from the Bible)
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (from Ecclesiastes)
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey (from a nursery rhyme)

Share and test your ideas

Ask friends, writing groups, or family which potential titles catch their interest. You can also run a few options past QuillBot’s AI Chat for quick feedback.

Using an AI novel title generator

If you’d rather skip the trial and error, an AI novel title generator can help spark inspiration in seconds. With QuillBot’s tool, all you need to do is enter details about your story, such as genre, setting, or themes, and the AI will produce a list of original title suggestions.

For example, below you will see the response to a prompt describing the plot of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and the titles suggested by the AI novel title generator.

AI novel title generator example

The tool even added a “context” box to the output to explain its process!

AI context example

Frequently asked questions about AI novel title generator

How to title a novel?

Choosing a title for your novel can be difficult. It needs to catch the eye, intrigue the potential reader, and communicate something about the genre of the novel.

Using snippets of quotations from famous works or books, like the Bible or Shakespeare, is a popular choice, as they can help the reader to infer meaning from the title.

Some examples of this include:

• The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene (from the Bible)
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (from The Tempest)
• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (from Macbeth)
• All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare (from a proverb of the time)
• The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth (from Julius Caesar)
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck (from Genesis)
• Through a Glass Darkly by Donna Leon (from the Bible)

You can also turn to an AI assistant like QuillBot’s AI novel title generator. It’s free and will give you many suggestions based on the details you supply about your novel.

Can AI help me find a title for my novel?

Absolutely! Choosing a title for your novel can be very tricky. There are so many factors to consider that it can seem very daunting.

That’s where an AI assistant like QuillBot’s AI novel title generator can step in to help. Give it information about your novel’s genre, style, action, character, and themes, and it will produce a list (or many lists!) of possible titles.