Coming up with a title

Temrek · Dec 30, 2009

So after having almost worked three years on a novel it is finally beginning to reach a point where it can be considered complete. Yet I have absolutely no idea what I should give it for title! Do you have any methods for those that you want to share?

LostInReality · Dec 30, 2009

Try to sum up your story with just a handful of words. That might help....or not. I'm one of those people that comes up with the title and MC first. Then, everything just seems to fall into place after that.

jvc · Dec 30, 2009

The title for my book (which will be finished and in the hands of my not-yet-found top agent) just came to my. I've no idea why it did, there certainly wasn't any process or method involved. I'm fairly certain that my agent (the not yet found one) is going to hate it and insist that it be changed. If my agent doesn't insist, when he (or it could be a she, as I say -- not-yet-found) sends it off to a publisher and that publisher spends the best part of a few million quid to aquire it, the publisher will no doubt insist on me changing it. At which point I will of course hold my ground and tell them to shove their stupid million pound deal as I aint changing the title of the book for no one.

tempered_steel · Dec 30, 2009

I wish I could offer help, but I'm in the same boat as you, Temrek. My first novel's name came to me and I built the plot around the title. But now I'm working on another novel, and I am clueless as to what to name it. But maybe you could use a main theme of the book, or an item that comes up often.

I like to look at names of popular books for examples. Like 'Twilight' for example. I've never read it, but already images are in my head from the name. Romance, mystery, between dark and light...those are probably elements of the book and they come together for the name.

Or if the main character has a cool name. (Like Eragon or Artemis Fowl or Harry Potter or Jane Eyre)

Just some ideas.

(BTW, I write mostly MG fantasy, so that's why most of my examples are from that genre. The books that come to mind first are my closest competitors.

)

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 30, 2009

My WIP went through several title changes, named after the character, the character's occupation, an object within the story the featured prominently, a phrase from the novel, and so on.

Fang100 · Dec 30, 2009

I tend to save my stories under a the names of the main character(s) while I write them, so I have something other than just 'story # 45' etc to find them by on my computer! But the actual title tends to just appear while writing part of it one day ... which is very little help to you, sorry.

There's an author who uses song titles for some of her books - Sheila Quigly has done one called 'Living on a prayer' (Bon Jovi anyone?) and some other book song-titled as well. Perhaps try that approach?

Midnight Star · Dec 30, 2009

Try this. It has some helpful tips: http://www.ehow.com/how_2308134_title-novel.html

Jamesaritchie · Dec 30, 2009

Beats me. I have to have a good title before I can write a single word. Having the title in advance also means the story will follow the title, so it doesn't have to be changed later.

I suppose I'd try to take a good line from the book, or from a poem, or try to find a title that described the basic subject matter of the book.

fadeaccompli · Dec 30, 2009

I am horrible at coming up with titles. It's hard not to come up with one that sounds cliche or trite, especially when writing in the standard genres. It's nice if you have a really memorable short phrase in the book that you can use--who can forget a title like Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand? But I think few of us are quite that lucky.

Libbie · Dec 30, 2009

I had a rough time coming up with a title for my book, as well. Titles are always hard for me. During the final draft, I rewrote the MC's dream/religious vision scene and described a goddess standing on a river of light -- I liked the image, so I used that for the title.

Maybe some particularly interesting image from your book will work for a title!

Aschenbach · Dec 30, 2009

I have just taken a look at my bookcase and most of the titles I see tend to have a few things in common;

1) They are short
2) They are evocative, and indicate the tone and subject matter of the book
3) The title is often (but not always) part of a significant phrase or line that appears in the text itself.

Examples; Cocaine Nights (J.G. Ballard), Killing Floor (Lee Child), Porno (Irvine Welsh), Bright Lights, Big City (Jay McInerney).

Some titles manage to summarise the themes of the book and the personality of the main character, e.g. Philip Roth's Sabbath's Theater (sic), a difficult and impressive trick to pull off.

Some are wilfully stark and blunt, like David Peace's quartet; 1974, 1977, 1980, & 1984. They ain't even words. They is just numbers!

Some book titles definitely have the feel of being working titles that just stuck. Ghost Story (Peter Straub) feels like one to me, the sort of vague descriptive label you come up with in the early stages that ends up just feeling like the right choice.

Another tried and tested alternative is to quote someone, a fragment of Shakespeare always adds a spurious air of erudition to a book title, but quoting a more obscure poet would be better.

ChaosTitan · Dec 30, 2009

One trick I use is this: Take a sheet of paper and make three columns. Label these columns Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives. Then fill those columns with words that fit your novel. When you're done, mix and match.

It's how I came up with a few titles.

Kisatchie · Dec 30, 2009

Hmm... Book 1 of my trilogy-plus-1 is about a wonderful genetic mutation. The first human to have it was a fellow named McNutt. Book 1 is called "The McNutt Mutation." We'll see how long that lasts once I submit it to an agent.

Claudia Gray · Dec 30, 2009

Don't fret about your title too much -- as others have said, it's all up to your publisher in the end. If you come up with a phrase that really resonates with you, use it; if not, come up with something workable and rest assured that nobody will reject a great book with a bad title.

Libbie · Dec 30, 2009

Heh heh...McNutt.

Lady Ice · Dec 31, 2009

Temrek said:
So after having almost worked three years on a novel it is finally beginning to reach a point where it can be considered complete. Yet I have absolutely no idea what I should give it for title! Do you have any methods for those that you want to share?

Read through your novel and see if there's a line or concept that grabs you, such as in 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. It could be a title that doesn't seem to make much sense until you read the book, like 'Catcher in The Rye' or 'Where Angels Fear to Tread'.

If you're a literary buff, you could use Shakespearean, classic or poetic allusions- preferably ones that people would know, such as 'The Sound and The Fury' (from Macbeth). Or perhaps music lyrics.

Abstract nouns are also popular- Vanity,Faith,Lust, Death. You could play around with them in sentences: In Death We Trust, Lust and Faith, Vanity's Child, etc.

Whatever you choose, your title must mean something to you/the reader and should relate to the novel.

LostInReality · Dec 31, 2009

Kisatchie said:
Hmm... Book 1 of my trilogy-plus-1 is about a wonderful genetic mutation. The first human to have it was a fellow named McNutt. Book 1 is called "The McNutt Mutation." We'll see how long that lasts once I submit it to an agent.

heheh....mcnutt....if i was wandering in the bookstore (when am i not?) and saw that title, i'd snatch that book right up just to see what it was all about. nice title

C.M.C. · Dec 31, 2009

If you don't have something in mind, one of my favorite things to do is read through the work, picking out any words of phrases that sound memorable and appropriate. One of them is bound to make a decent title.

DrummerGirl · Dec 31, 2009

Hey, I am having the same dilemma. Am ready to start querying and still don't have a title (sigh).

At the moment am calling it 'Seventeen' - that's the age the protag is, and it's about the year she is seventeen. I liked 'Forever Seventeen' as it's about 2 friends who die (at age 17

) but my friend and fam think it's lame-o. Also was thinking of 'Luminous' as word is used in book, although that really says nothing about the book, but is just a fave word

(yep - everone ditched that one too.

Love all the suggestions in this thread. Thanks guys...

And good luck

Elias Graves · Dec 31, 2009

Titles always seem to appear for me.
My current work, The Book of St Nobody, filtered up after I came up with one of the larger plot events.
The protagonist has been in isolation so long he's forgotten who he is.
But I suppose you'd want something that evokes the theme or subject matter. A truly great title, to me, works well when first seen and works even better after you read the work.

EG

RJK · Dec 31, 2009

You could entitle it TYPAK (Three Years Pounding A Keyboard).
Seriously, I'm still not happy with the title of my current WIP. The bad guys spray a deadly virus into populated areas. I started with Malignant Mist. The first woman who saw that title advised against it. I searched for a replacement and came up with Malefic Mist. I liked it, but had to look up the definition of the word. Nearly everyone else did too. I settled on Deadly Mist, who knows if it will survive to the final (published) stage. I'm still searching for an agent.

Exir · Dec 31, 2009

My current work-in-progress is titled A Butterfly in a Glass Cocoon

dgrintalis · Dec 31, 2009

Titles just come to me, not sure how - a bit of dark magic from the muse, I suspect. The MS I'm trying to find an agent for is called Ink - it's about a guy, the devil, skin, and a griffin tattoo. The WIP I'm currently writing is called Paper Tigers, about a disfigured woman, a haunted photo album, and a nefarious dead guy named George. I like the titles (especially PT which I love), but if an agent/publisher wanted them changed, I'd be perfectly fine with it. Although I suspect in my mind, they'd always have 'my' titles.

Just think about your tale and think of cool phrases or words within your MS. You want something catchy, but poignant, IMO.

S.J. · Dec 31, 2009

Try playing word-association games (with somebody else works best - maybe don't tell them why you're doing it). Alternatively you could use the name of:

An important setting;
An important character;
An important theme;
An important object.

Also, I recommend a trip to the bookshop to study other good titles like Aschenbach has.

Titling anything is so hard - it's practically impossible to encompass the entire theme or feeling of the book in a few words. Not easy.

But good luck!

bonitakale · Dec 31, 2009

RJK said:
Seriously, I'm still not happy with the title of my current WIP. The bad guys spray a deadly virus into populated areas. I started with Malignant Mist. The first woman who saw that title advised against it. I searched for a replacement and came up with Malefic Mist. I liked it, but had to look up the definition of the word. Nearly everyone else did too. I settled on Deadly Mist, who knows if it will survive to the final (published) stage. I'm still searching for an agent.

Ghastly Dew (from Tennyson)

Temrek, you might try hunting through Bartlett's, looking at key words in the index that apply to your book. Might find something striking. Or not, but it's worth a try.

Coming up with a title

Be merciless!

Fearsome Dragon Mod

Writing, fencing, and chocolate!!!

Court Jester

Randomness = amusement

We are once in a lifetime.

here and there again

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

Moral Marjorie

Around

I stop at railroad crossings

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

Makes useful distinctions

Archetype

Capturing the Castle

Unrealistically Optimistic

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

Out of the cradle endlessly rocking

'Tis true, she is a monstergirl

Addict? I can quit whenever I want!