I'm having a hard time coming up with a title...

James81 · May 5, 2008

I'm almost finished the first draft of my current WIP and I have NO IDEA what the heck the title is going to be. lol

Does anybody else have this problem? If so, is there anything special you do to see ideas for a title?

Elaine Margarett · May 5, 2008

James81 said:
I'm almost finished the first draft of my current WIP and I have NO IDEA what the heck the title is going to be. lol

Does anybody else have this problem? If so, is there anything special you do to see ideas for a title?

Honestly, while titles are important to us (the writers) it's probably the least important detail when it comes to selling your work. Sometimes I know my title when I start, other times I leave it alone and hope a line of dialog or a place or event within the story will give me the "Aha moment," and my title.

Keep your title quest in mind as you edit your ms. Ask the people you have as readers/critters to think of possible titles as they read.

Finally, if you still can't come up with something you like you can do one of two things~ simply call it "Untitiled," or slap a title on it and call it your "working title." Either way, it's the story and the writing that will sell your work.

Good luck!
EM

steveg144 · May 5, 2008

James81 said:
I'm almost finished the first draft of my current WIP and I have NO IDEA what the heck the title is going to be. lol

Does anybody else have this problem? If so, is there anything special you do to see ideas for a title?

I've got the opposite problem: more often than not, the title is the first thing that my mind comes up with when preparing to write a new piece.

For what it's worth, assuming you get to the point that someone wants to publish your work, there's a better than even chance they'll want to change the title anyway, so don't obsess over it too much. Just do good work, and the title will sort itself out at some point.

Straka · May 5, 2008

steveg144 said:
I've got the opposite problem: more often than not, the title is the first thing that my mind comes up with when preparing to write a new piece.

That's how I am too. Except this one manuscript I've not thought of a title for the past 2 years. But then again like you say, the publishers will most likely change it anyway.

allenparker · May 5, 2008

James81 said:
I'm almost finished the first draft of my current WIP and I have NO IDEA what the heck the title is going to be. lol

Does anybody else have this problem? If so, is there anything special you do to see ideas for a title?

Never. My books are titled Book Number 1. then there is Book Number 2. Recently, I have been getting pretty fancy with the names, Murder Book. Humor Book. Ultimately, I just use what my wife tell me to use.

Yes Dear.

ACEnders · May 5, 2008

I like to have titles, and it bothers me when I don't right away. I don't know why. I've been told how unimportant it is and how if you get agented and published, many times once it's being edited, they change the title anyway!

I wouldn't stress over it. If it comes to you, great. If not, wait until you let some betas read it and get their input.

BrokenSword · May 6, 2008

titles

For my only novel, the main antagonist is a character larger than life and holds a lot of draw power, so I went with that. Since I'm also a poet, titles come up much more frequently but I think the philosophy would be the same, as I create novel number 2. I generally write the piece and some line, some 'thought' toward what the piece means generally gets the nod toward titleship. I think there should be a resonation that occurs for the reader, something which can be a 'clue' as to what the book is about, but in a way that alludes. Course, most probably want it 'straight between the eyes', but I like to have that same 'aha' that another poster mentioned; I think it deepens the read when I can look back and make such connections. But, that's perhaps just me...

dirtsider · May 6, 2008

My current WIP started with the title I was going to use for it in its original incarnation. But while the plot mutated and grew over time, I found the title from the original fit just as well.

Erin · May 6, 2008

I have to have a title at the outset and it sticks throughout the writing process. When I'm conceiving a novel, I usually come up with a list of relevant words and titles, then run searches on Google and Amazon to make sure it's not overused. Of course, if you sell, it could get stomped on. For the years I wrote, revised to death and tried to sell CHASING SHADOWS, it was called DREAM CHASERS. It took months after the requested change before I could stop calling it by that name.

I already have titles for my next 4 books in 2 different fantasy series!

Willowmound · May 6, 2008

BrokenSword said:
For my only novel, the main antagonist is a character larger than life and holds a lot of draw power, so I went with that.

You called your novel "Larger Than Life And Holds a Lot of Draw Power"?

Unusual.

slcboston · May 6, 2008

allenparker said:
Never. My books are titled Book Number 1. then there is Book Number 2. Recently, I have been getting pretty fancy with the names, Murder Book. Humor Book. Ultimately, I just use what my wife tell me to use.

Yes Dear.

Followed by "Yes Dear the Sequel?"

WendyNYC · May 6, 2008

I always have that problem. My titles change several times before I decide on one. For inspiration, I sometimes whip out the ole Norton Anthology of Poetry and look for interesting phrases or to find the right tone.

Danalynn · May 6, 2008

steveg144 said:
I've got the opposite problem: more often than not, the title is the first thing that my mind comes up with when preparing to write a new piece.

I'm the same way. . . . I usually know the title FIRST, and then work the story around it. LOL!

Saya · May 6, 2008

I have a hard time coming up with titles too. It's hard sometimes to come up with a title that's catchy yet doesn't sound cliche. I usually wait until I finish writing to think of a title. Then I mull over possible titles. With the last thing I wrote, I didn't know the title until I wrote the final paragraph, at that point the title just hit me and I knew it was perfect.

lute · May 6, 2008

Willowmound said:
You called your novel "Larger Than Life And Holds a Lot of Draw Power"?

Unusual.

You win.

That made me laugh out loud in my small office at work.

For me, I have problems coming up with the title. I'll have a bunch of potential working titles that only really make sense in my mind and although I know there is a much better one out there, I never seem to quite grab it. So I'm stuck with awkward ones. Maybe they'll come with time. :\

soleary · May 6, 2008

As a marketer by profession, I would consider the "grab factor." Imagine your book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble. What compelling message does it deliver in the title that makes readers want to grab it off of the shelf? You book will be in a sea of competitive messages, and you have to figure out what hook you can give your book that delivers on their wants/needs/desires. I'd suggest that you create a list of possible titles, and bounce it of the AWers or friends.
Good luck!
soleary

Madison · May 6, 2008

for my last WIP I had the same problem. I couldn't figure it out for the longest time and I was so frustrated. I wanted to know! Then one day when I was doing edits I came across this phrase that jumped off the page, slapped me in the face, and said Hi! I'm your title!

It was pretty awesome. Problem solved.

For the book before that I didn't have a title for months. Annoying! So I wrote down a list of words/phrases that described my book, fooled around with all sorts of combinations, and finally came up with something. Not the best title ever, but since that novel's trunked, it doesn't really matter.

David I · May 7, 2008

I always have a working title, but it evolves. And then, when I've settled on the perfect title, sometimes my publisher evolves it into something completely different.

Here's three suggestions:

1) Search your book for an arresting or unlikely phrase and see if that will work.

2) Think about an epigraph that would be suitable to open the book. Often a titel can be hiding in the quote you would choose--or in a similar quote, or in a rearrangement of the quote.

3) Grab a working title out of the air and use it until you have something better. My WIP is called Lights Out for the moment, but I'll need something better.

(Plus there's a kazillion books already titled Lights Out. On the other hand, I have a book coming out next year entitled Tomorrowville. There's no other books with that title!)

Bourgeois Nerd · May 7, 2008

David I said:
1) Search your book for an arresting or unlikely phrase and see if that will work.

I agree with this one. Some of my favorite books have a symbolic tie between key dialogue and the title. Meaningful, resonant, very literary.

Judg · May 8, 2008

I went through my gazillion versions of a query letter, pulling out nouns and verbs and combined and recombined them a million ways to find several possibilities. My working title is not much good.

Shakespearean concordances and Biblical concordances can also be helpful for finding arresting phrases with a lot of cultural resonance.

Kalyke · May 8, 2008

I usually get my title ideas while researching. They are usually terms or sayings connected to my subject.

A. J. Luxton · May 9, 2008

If it's at all an uppity book (and sometimes if it's not) you can often get a good title out of a line from Shakespeare or your pre-1923 poet of choice. Though at this point you need obscure Shakespeare if you're doing Shakespeare; same with Eliot.

A line from the book itself can also be decent.

I usually either have a title when I start, or have to struggle at the end, or some combination of both (working title that doesn't really work, etc.) My last novel had a title as soon as I began it, though I needed to make a minor tweak so that the "literary quotient" of the title matched that of the book before I sent it out.

(...I read fanfic, and it's my pet peeve when I see a total fluff story headlined with something like "Precarious Starlight". (Fake example. I have never actually read a fanfic story with this title.) Because I click, and then... ho-hum. It's not quite as bad when I see a more cerebral story headlined with something totally irrelevant, but I usually require a recommendation before I'll read those, because otherwise I fail to notice them.)

I'm having a hard time coming up with a title...

James81

Great Scott Member

Elaine Margarett

High and Dry

steveg144

Crusty Polemicist

Straka

Bored Fanatic

allenparker

Naked Futon Guy

ACEnders

Self-Banned

BrokenSword

keeper of the Flame

dirtsider

Not so new, really

Erin

Listening to my other selves

Willowmound

Lightly salted

slcboston

Pasture-ized

WendyNYC

fiddle-dee-dee

Danalynn

NEVER give up!!!!

Saya

lute

soleary

Madison

summertime...

David I

Bourgeois Nerd

The writer around the corner

Judg

DISENCHANTED coming soon

Kalyke

A. J. Luxton

Wibbly-Wobbly. Timey-Wimey.