Titling

So, this is a problem that I have had with about every single book I write. It's a real bear to title your work, am I the only one that thinks that? I hope not. How would one go about titling a book? I would say that choosing the title in the beginning is not a good idea in most cases. Sometimes it will make you feel like you have to have the book a certain way because of what you titled it in the beginning.

My suggestion is that you always, while your writing the book, think about what you want the title to be. By the time your done with it, it might be super hard to figure a good title. This has happened to me before. I did NaNoWriMo in August this year since I was super busy in November, and I never titled it, and still haven't. But I digress (I love that word!)

I think that you should pick a title that is intriguing, but it should show what the book is about. For short stories and essays, most of the time, titling from the last sentence works, but for novels it doesn't. Imagine if the last sentence it your books was "So Hector learned never to challenge the king." (lame, I know). Then what should your title be? Challenge the King? Heck, no. Challenging the king might only be part of your book, only a chapter or two, only one thread in the rug of thoughts running in your novel. But what should you title it?

I think mostly, longer titles work. Like Lord of the Rings, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Harry Potter and the ____________________. But notice something? These are all parts of series. Stand alone book often have shorter titles, Princess Academy, Tom Sawyer.... So that is one recommendation, for stand alone books, pick shorter titles (or ones that can be nicknames) and for a series pick longer titles. Note: This does not apply to all books.

So, that takes care of the length, but what should you actually call it? Your title should tell you something about the story without giving away the entire plot line. You don't want readers to see the title and feel like they've already read the book. So if your story was about three secret agents who conquer a Icelandic force or villains, while using limited technology and ignoring that fact that they're underage, your title could be something like "Against the Odds," or "Iceland Conquered," or "The Secret Secret Agents."

I think any one of those would work, the agents are against the odds because they are so young. The agents are conquering Iceland, or one part of it, because they are defeating the force of villains, and they are secret secret agents, because they are so young. See? Your title is tell you something about the story without giving it away.

I have one other thing to say before I end this post. I advise that you don't ask other people what you should title it, unless you have a couple options and they say which on they like best. To me, having someone else choose the title feels like cheating.

TTFN

iGirl