posted
How do you guys come up with yours? Sometimes, I have to think long and hard, while other times, they just come to me in one great stroke of luck/genius.
Chris
Note--I had this really long, kind of funny and poignant post all ready and done with, but I had the characters < and > in the subject, and apparently thats not allowed.
PS--Did you know you can't edit the subject line? Dang.
[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited September 17, 2003).]
posted
Yeah, titles are tricky. I really struggled with one for my book, and posted the question on a disscussion board. I told them in about two sentences what it was about. Three posts later the perfect title, was there. It jumped off the page at me. So in my case somebody else helped me with it. The board allowed for a brainstorming session and people were throwing out all sorts of titles with no inhibitions. It worked well in my case.
posted
Yes, I too found out the hard way that you can't edit subject lines. You also can't change your mind about starting up a thread once it's posted.
On to the subject at hand....titles. They're so important because I have read books on no better information than it had an interesting title. Many times I have found that the author's primary talent seems to be in title generation and the rest of the book is pretty bad. I often want to hire these people to come up with titles for my stories.
I come up with good titles, but then I never come up with good stories to fit them. I come up with good stories, but I never come up with titles to fit them. I was told that waiting until the end of the story to figure out the title is a good idea because then you completely know where it's going. Well, I've just about finished the first draft of my first novel and the title is still eluding me.
Did I just write an entire post to say I completely agree with you and would also like help on this topic? I think I did.
posted
I'm with you folks. I have a terrible time thinking of titles. I also will buy a book because the title is clever. I marvel at the author's cleverness more than the quality of writing. If there is some secret to coming up with good titles I sure would like to know it.
Some titles I like: Nobody Gets the Girl(great title!) To Say Nothing of the Dog Ellen Minnow Pea (Alphabet story) Time Enough for Love Mother Was a Lovely Beast(P.J.Farmer Tarzan story)
posted
So no one else just grabs an idea in the story and throws it in for a title?
Well, I guess I do put a touch more effort than that, but titles at this stage in my writing are more of a file name than a real title. Maybe when I actually reach the point I feel my writing is worth trying to sell then I might be more concerned.
I have read quite a few books and it appears that most authors either name it after a major concept or theme of the book. I'll throw in a few examples...
Ender's Game - I doubt I need to explain this one.
Ringworld - the whole point of the book.
Iron Cage (Andre Norton) - this was more of a concept title than a major part of the book. Although cages were part of the book in areas, it we the concept of the mental cage and limited thinking of people that was the real cage.
Madness Season - This was another one derived from the end event of the book. Never actually mentioned in those words in the book that I can remember.
The Forever War - which was the point of the story, a war that ran for 3,000 years.
A Breed to Come - A story from the viewpoint of highly evolved cats who were similar to primitive humans.
The Fellowship of the Ring - shouldn't need explination.
So my suggestion is take the major subject of the book or the concept of the book and use that.
For me the cover art sells me more books than the title. I figure that if the publisher spent more $$$ on better artwork then maybe it is worth reading. Yes, I've been burned a few times by that thinking.
quote:For me the cover art sells me more books than the title. I figure that if the publisher spent more $$$ on better artwork then maybe it is worth reading
I know they say Don't judge a book by its cover, but the truth is, I can't count the times I've walked up and down the scifi/fantasy section of the library, picking and discarding books on the basis of the covers alone. heh heh. Oops.
[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited September 17, 2003).]
posted
Hey, thanks Marianne for mentioning "Nobody Gets the Girl." In hindsight, it seems like such an obvious title for the book, but when I wrote it I had maybe a half dozen potential titles. I polled my e-mail critique groups and "Nobody Gets the Girl" was the clear favorite.
To me, putting a good title on a story makes the same sort of sense as combing your hair before you go on a date. It's all about making a good first impression.
Harlan Ellison wrote an article back in the 70's about the importance of good titles. If you have a story in an anthology or magazine, sometimes the only thing that will sway a reader to pick out your story to read first is the title. I like titles that serve a double purpose. First, they should intrigue the reader, second, at some point in the story the reader should suddenly understand the title within the context of the story. The title is like a promise and when you keep the promise within the story, readers will appreciate it.
Some of my favorite titles: The Sum of All Fears--Tom Clancey I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream--Harlan Ellison Hitler Painted Roses--Harlan Ellison Repent, Harlequin, Said the Tick Tock Man--Harlan Ellison (OKAY! No more Harlan. His titles are always so good I could make the list just him.) Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown--Matt Rotundo
Also, some titles serve as brand names. All Robert Asprin titles, for instance, have a pun on the word "Myth" in them. So if you see a book titled "Another Fine Myth" or "Hit or Myth" or "Myth Taken Identity," you instantly know it's one of his books. I'm 99% sure the last one isn't one of his books, but if it ever appeared on a bookshelf, people would instantly think he wrote it.
posted
With my one and only story, I started out with the main theme type title until something else appropriate jumped out at me. I guess my method is to come up with a title, any title, from the very start and live with it. Johnny Cash just died and I was watching his last Larry King interview. Larry asked him which song he hated that did well. He answered "I tow the Line" which went on to be a #1 hit three times in his life. When he first heard it on the radio he asked his agent to make sure it was never played again. The song he liked the most, people hated. There is no accounting for the publics's taste and probably more important as an artist is to put out the best product you are able, than to worry too much about how it will be received. Also think Van Gogh (impoverish and a genius) and again Philip Dick (impoverish and maybe a genius too).
My favorite titles: Recombinant Drill Down Giggles (not to be confused with Gigli)
Also just a random thought, maybe checking Google / Amazon a good idea. Wouldn't due to accidentally come up with the name of an already famous book.
posted
Nobody Gets the Girl is a great title, James. When I read the promos for your book and what the title meant, I had to laugh. Although, strangely, in my first unpublished novel I have a dog named Nobody. (Sheesh. First Rena. Then Nobody. I'd wonder if someone on this site is hacked into my computer, but my first novel is so old it predates my computer. )
quote:The title is like a promise and when you keep the promise within the story, readers will appreciate it.
That says it exactly. A couple of my favorites in that regard are Waikiki Beachnik and Atlas Shrugged. I also very much like O Jerusalem and The Icarus Hunt, although they, like Atlas, take a chance on the reader "getting" the reference. Also, as with Icarus, on the pronunciation. Then, who wouldn't love, Snoopy and "It Was A Dark and Stormy Night"?
[This message has been edited by Kolona (edited September 18, 2003).]
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Lordy, you read Iron Cage? I read that when I was so little, I didn't know the correct way to pronounce cage. Or at least it was on the same shelf from that age up until my sister tried to get me to read it. Hmm. If my sister were on Hatrack, her ID would probably be Comrade or Citoyenne. Hmm. I just checked on google, and that's a word, but I still don't know what it means. I just thought it was connected to the French revolution.
Oh, yeah, titles. I never figured it would be a big deal if I finally do write a book. I recall reading that "A time to kill" was submitted with the title "Deathknell". And it was his first book, too.
As a teenager I thought about songwriting and thought success was a matter of the elusive perfect title. But like soulmates, they don't really exist.
[This message has been edited by pooka (edited September 18, 2003).]
posted
I'm just glad it wasn't changed from "Death Knell" to "Death Kennel". A story about a veterinarian Dr. Kevorkian?
Posts: 334 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I still have a pretty good collection of andre norton's books. Even though she is probably best known for her witchworld series, she has quite a few books that cover space, time trave, and other off the wall ideas. Star Rangers was the first sci-fi book I ever read. So she is the one that got my interest.
Iron Cage was one I went back and read again not so long ago. Still is a good book.
[This message has been edited by Lord Darkstorm (edited September 18, 2003).]
posted
I'm with Marianne, and like NOBODY GETS THE GIRL. Just viewed the Web site and enjoyed the responses to the letters...and Rail Blade, what a neat character name! (Note to JAM - Will be buying the book. Congrats on the sale. May you have many more!)
Posts: 87 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
My titles tend to be based upon the primary foci of the stories from which they come, whether those are objects, concepts, events, etc. Several of my (as yet) unpublished novels exhibit this:
Battleship Oberon (the center of the mystery/conflict of the story)
Proteus Proved (a follow-on to Battleship which references one of that book's closing lines)
The Overlook Watch (difficult to explain in short, but tied to the concept at the heart of the story)
The Amazing Drake (named for the protagonist)
Out of curiosity, would anyone be willing to tell me what they think of these titles, insofar as the interest they generate story-unknown? I'd greatly appreciate it.
posted
I tend to think of my titles as working titles--then I won't be too upset when a publisher changes them. But, mine usually have a double meaning.
Medicine Man (main character is modern doctor who discovers his shaman past and fixes more things than people)
Hidden Truths--this one goes with, the I hate it--when it was published as a serial people loved it. (all through the story there were little and not so little hidden truths about the characters and situations.)
Birth Right (pretty self explanatory. But again a double meaning right and rite)
The 12th World ( about a group of people living on the 12th world created by their gods. A lot of things in the story are based on 12 as well)
And I have others without a title--
Do I sit and think hard on a title? No. They just are, like my novels and stories are--already there I just tap into them.
posted
I've had a story that I've been working on intermittently for like 10 years. I'll admit that 10 years ago I wasn't exactly the world's best writer. OK, I look back and cringe. It was bad.
I made a big mistake when I started writing that story. The first thing I did was to write the title I had in mind in big bold letters at the top. That title stuck with the story for 9 years, surviving several revisions and one complete rewrite.
The problem was, the title I chose ended up being rather irrelevant to the story. In a sense, it was holding me down to what I thought the story would be about before I actually started writing it, which turned out to be a bad thing.
Earlier this year, I changed the name (to "The War for Eden", which will probably end up being the name of a series, the first volume of which will be called "For Eden Bound", unless I decide to edit it down to a single volume later...). At the same time I've been able to do a lot more work on it (now about 1/4 through the second complete rewrite). I don't know if the two are related, but I think perhaps they are. I have a clearer way of thinking about the story, so progressing it has become easier.
posted
Some time ago, I saved the following from an article by B.W. Clough (I don't have the link, or else I would have posted it).
quote: Characters. These would include not only those titles which are actually names (David Copperfield, Hamlet) but also titles which describe main characters or their attributes (A Wizard of Earthsea, Ringworld Engineers).
Objects. Everything from real items (The Beasts of Tarzan, The Sword in the Stone) to the conceptual (Foundation, A Wrinkle in Time, The Languages of Pao).
Events.Rendezvous With Rama, Star Wars, When Worlds Collide.
Places.Red Mars, Islandia, Lord Valentine's Castle.
Times.2001, The Day After Judgment, 1984.
Themes. The most perfect theme title in the industry is Stranger in a Strange Land. Also Pride and Prejudice, The Iron Dream and The Wind in the Willows.
Gobbet Titles. These are distinguished from theme titles because they are small gobbets of text. A well-chosen gobbet title has an incomparable vigor: "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" is a perfect example. Consider also I See By My Outfit or The King Must Die or Expecting Someone Taller. And in a moment I'll discuss the gobbet title's evil twin, the reverse gobbet.
Miscellaneous Titles is the oddball category, into which I've lumped relatively rare items like twist titles (The Idylls of the Queen), pun titles (many of Piers Anthony's works), and "explanations" ("Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers" comes to mind). And where else could we put Fahrenheit 451, one of the exceedingly rare temperature titles?
This list really helped me get a grip on titles. However, thinking up good titles is both a gift and an art, just like writing good dialogue or good discriptions. In short, it takes practice.
[This message has been edited by Balthasar (edited September 19, 2003).]
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heh heh. Oops.
