Need a new title

[Topcat136]

Hi everyone,
I've been tooling around this site for a couple of weeks now and am in need of some help. I have finished my first novel and it is horribly titled. "Remembering the Past" It's so generic and I hate it. Anyone got any good ideas out there?
The novel is basically about what happens to a family in the mid-west when the father/grandfather dies. It's a true story of what happened to my three aunts and grandmother and how after he died they started fighting and despising one another. It ends well... they all realize they need each other but the road to the last chapter is brutal for them. Any help would be great. Oh and PS they're wouldn't be anyone who could look at my query letter. I think its good and I've asked some people and they agree. I guess I'm just neurotic!

Thanks!

[James D. Macdonald]

Open a copy of Hamlet at random.

Without looking, put your finger on the page.

Take whatever line you're touching as your title.

[gp101]

Past Imperfect

[E.G. Gammon]

Also, you should re-read the first and last few chapters of your book. Any phrase that catches your eye can be a title.

An example:

Let's say your book is a love story and "Sara" falls in love with a stange man.

"Sara, frozen, gazed at the captivating man who stood before her. He spoke words to her she didn't hear. His words didn't matter. It wasn't what he said that made her heart beat faster than it had ever beaten; it was his eyes - his sapphire eyes. From that moment on she knew her heart was his."

Now, I just spit that out in 5 minutes so don't criticize it too much. It's just an example. From THAT passage, the book could easily be called "Sapphire Eyes."

You spent a lot of time on the book. Use the words you wrote and find a title. There's bound to be many phrases in your own book that would be perfect titles.

(I'm not contradicting you, Jim. I'm just providing another option)

[mdin]

Using Jim's method, I came up with your title:

The canker galls the infants of the spring

[maestrowork]

I like "The Canker Galls"

It's perfect.

[aka eraser]

It's only a working title anyway. Odds are, the publisher will change it. I agree the one you have now is a bit blah though.

As for your query, why not post it on the Share Your Work (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=26) forum? Folks there will take a look at it and offer suggestions.

[stormie]

Frank's right, it's only a working title and will probably get changed. But, you do want to catch the attention of the editor or agent.

I vote for EG's idea: look at your first and last chapters and that should give you some ideas. (I also like gp101's Past Imperfect title.)

[Kate Nepveu]

Try The Theory and Practice of Titles (http://www.sfwa.org/bulletin/articles/clough.htm), by Brenda Clough.

[write4details]

It's only a working title anyway. Odds are, the publisher will change it.

This is NOT a good marketing plan or strategy.

Also, this: you spend a lot of time writing a novel. How much time is it worth to work out the right title for it?

[Zolah]

Using Jim's method, I came up with your title:

The canker galls the infants of the spring

I LOVE Infants of the Spring. It seems to fit the premise quite well too. The children of the father/grandfather character are really like infants who can't take care of themselves or their family once he is gone, and the period of the story is like the 'spring' of their family, a new phase that ends in development and growth for their relationships with each other.

[JanaLanier]

Sol Stein in Stein on Writing says that the best titles are metaphors: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Red Badge of Courage, The Grapes of Wrath, The Catcher in the Rye. Is there a central theme or image in your novel that might suggest a metaphorical title, as Zolah suggests?

Or, to use Uncle Jim's method, from the lines:

Which now, the fruit unripe, sticks on the tree,
But fall unshaken when they mellow be

How about The Ripening of Family X?

[Marcusthefish]

It's got three feuding daughters--maybe you can find a good quote in King Lear.

MTF

[Vomaxx]

I recall an anecdote about a new writer asking a famous author for help in titling his work. The author asked if the book had any drums or trumpets in it. When told that it did not, the author said, "Call it No Drums, No Trumpets."

I think that the only important thing about a title is that it is easily remembered by the buying public.

Don't use Remembering the Past unless you want unfavorable comparisons with Proust! :ROFL:

[DreamWeaver]

Open a copy of Hamlet at random.

Without looking, put your finger on the page.

Take whatever line you're touching as your title.Now I like this, but then my custom user title is Shakespearean Fool :). That aside, quite a few books use quotes from Shakespeare as their title. Some of them are classics. So, this method has a pretty good pedigree.

On the other hand, titles from Hamlet might have TOO good a pedigree. I Googled for books titled after quotes from Shakepeare, and found this page. It starts:"The number of titles from Hamlet has grown so large that a single file containing all of them takes forever to load; there are over 150 titles from the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy alone. Therefore, please select an act "

http://www.barbarapaul.com/shake/hamlet.html

Kris

[E.G. Gammon]

I recall an anecdote about a new writer asking a famous author for help in titling his work. The author asked if the book had any drums or trumpets in it. When told that it did not, the author said, "Call it No Drums, No Trumpets."

I just don't see how a book can be given a title that has nothing to do with the story... Is it just me who feels this way? What if that person's book was about a threesome love story between 2 robots and a monkey, that takes place on a space station in 2752? I'm sure "No Drums, No Trumpets" would be a great title to give a novel like that... A phrase can be the most beautiful combination of words in the English language, but if it has nothing to do with the story in the book, I don't see a reason why someone would use it as their title.

[LightShadow]

Hey, Topcat, I say that the Title is the beginning of your book and the first part of it read by an editor or agent, so it is important to have a good one. My book began as "Sara's Rose Garden" which I figured would appeal to the female readers. Then it became "Lights and Shadows" partly because of its dark edge, and partly in memorium of my great grandfather's book. Then, as I was re-reading, I came across a favorite passage in chapter seven that read: Searching for something. A flicker of light. A beacon of hope. A light in the shadow.

Bamm! A Light in the Shadow. It was so perfect, and it was in the text of my book all along. Read your book. Something will leap out at you that is a little less mundane than the current title.

[rich]

"Eyes of Time."

From the little you've fed us.

[LightShadow]

Howabout just: "Remember"

[Nateskate]

"The Beauty of Dandilions"; "Wounds of the Patriarch"; or "Seeds of the Mourning"

Strange metaphorical titles. They may be too strange, but I thought it interesting. Most people see Dandilions as a a nuisance, something they want to rip out, and toss away. In a sense, they're like old cantankorous people, white mane, roots going deep, and unless you have a heart of a child, you want to pluck them all up.

Now, when you look at the beauty of the yellows in the field, and those magical seeds that fly in the wind, you come away with a different perspective. Whether they are beautiful or not, is simply a matter of how you look at them.

In a sense, this is the story of many families. If the patriarch dies, especially in my generation, the rest of the family uproots and move away.

Another title can be "Wounds of the Patriarch", in that the loss of the Patriarch can sometimes be a fatal blow to the family unit. When my grandfather was alive (who was also a father-figure to me and my brothers), my uncles couldn't hold the family together. They were too competative with each other, and bickered at every family gathering, which eventually ended family gatherings.

Or "Seeds of the Mourning", a play on words. "Seeds of the MORNING" sounds hopeful, but Seeds of the "Mourning" sound bitter-sweet. A seed is something that is buried in the ground, and has a period of dormancy. It is difficult for mourning people to see good can come from a loved ones death. Life doesn't seem to go on, and something is hidden away. The hope for all is that there are seeds in "the mourning", when new growth, and new life is birthed from past pain.

[LightShadow]

I like your style, Nateskate, and based on your idea with a little tweak, "Seeds of Dandilions" sounds good.

[Nateskate]

I like your style, Nateskate, and based on your idea with a little tweak, "Seeds of Dandilions" sounds good.

Thanks. I like metaphorical titles that aren't immediately obvious.

[James D. Macdonald]

All that's required of a title is that it be easy to spell and not embarassing to say aloud.

Book titles are generally briefer, so they can appear on the cover in larger type (thus being more visible at a distance).

[Nateskate]

Thanks for the tip. Then using "Dandelions" would be even better.

I'll have to remember your advice when I decide on a title for my book. Thanks again Jim.

Still, I love titles like, "To Kill a Mockingbird"