Have you ever thought of a better title for a story?

I was recently reading though one of my stories when a much more appropriate title for the tale came to me. I think it would cause confusion if I were to ask for the title to be changed but I was wondering if any other authors have had the same experience.

Not exactly, but I often change the title two or three times while I'm working on a story. There have also been times when I've kept the title and changed everything else!

I always start with a core concept and then let the story go where it wants to, which often means some post-rationalisation and the adjusting of names, places and events before the end. In most cases my original title remains, but sometimes that is impossible due to where the story went.

Often, but mostly due a certain set of circumstances. Most of my older stories - those loaded in 2007 (to Bottom Lines) and in 2008, I had written years before for myself and had no titles originally, just short file names. When I first submitted them to another site, the site owner recognized that they needed names and selected them when they were loaded. When flopsy brought them here (with my permission) she kept those names, many of which I didn't particularly like. In some cases, the same stories I also had submitted submitted to yet another site, this time with titles I chose myself, and BOTH versions (same story but different titles) ended up here. When I eventually sorted it out with floppy after joining, we kept the title I preferred (even if it wasn't that much better). For the stories I have written since joining here, I'm generally satisfied with the titles, having given more care to the naming. I'm sure, though, that there have to be a couple of those which i'd now entitle something else.

Personally, I would only change the title if the story has had a major re-write and is fundamentally different to the original. Readers do remember old stories and it would be confusing for them if the title had changed.

I have never changed (or really wanted to change) the title of a published story, but in a few instances I have chosen a new title for the English version of a story originally written in Norwegian – in most cases because the original title had a twist that wouldn't work in English. In general, I would say that the relationship between a story and its title varies a lot. In some cases, the title is part of the very idea of the story, and in other cases the title is an afterthought – something one just has to come up with before the story is submitted. My favorite among my own titles is probably "The Ways of the Lord" which sums up the story without giving anything away.

Me? Nah, Dog, I'm good. "Chiseled in stone" is how they refer to my stories. I write em, and ignore when editors occasionally say "You can't do that!!!"

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Okay, so maybe I lie just a teensie bit. (editors are ALWAYS telling me "You can't do that")
I try to get as many changes out of the way before hand. This is one reason I don't publish that often. I truly agonize over details (this is the reason I made the tread about names, place names, and titles (...man, I should change the title to that thread!)). However, do you want to be looked on as; George (Wait! I have one more change to make it even better!) Lucas?

If you are going to make a change, do it once and put it to rest. However, as Alef said, you might confuse readers, who remember the older title.

In counter-point, do you think a reader will gain something from changing the title and thereby gain a better understanding and appreciation of your story ...or is it to appease your own self?

Choose wisely.

I haven't but some of my titles were changed for publication for one reason or another.

I have only had one single story published, roughly ten years ago. And I have never changed anything in it. Readers have told me that they loved the title of the story. They commented that when they saw the title of the story they just had to read it!

The title of my one and only story in the Library is "My Very Best Wet Dream Ever". (plug)

I'm rubbish at picking titles - I don't think I'll ever be truly 'happy' with a title. I try to just give a basic descriptive title rather than anything funny or punny or clever because I'd rather a simple title that gets the job done than something unintentionally vague or bad. I'm an okay-ish writer, but titling is NOT my forte.