Giving Work A Title

I don't start writing unless I have at least one title that would fit the piece. It doesn't have to be amazing at that point, just something reasonable. Have you read the AbsoluteWrite articles about titling stories?

NikkiR said:

Hi,

I'm working on a novel at the moment but I have no idea what to call it.

I'm just wondering how everyone comes up with titles because all other working documents have them.

Nikki

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Initially, I just called my work Book1WIP, and I planned to wait until I'd written the first draft before I named it. By the time I was half way through Chapter 2, I felt like I wanted a title to work with. So I spent a day just plain brainstorming titles, looking at titles on Amazon from books in my genre, and just scribbling down things that came to me. I couldn't decide though, so what I did was just sit down and identify the things that I wanted my title to say. I wanted to communicate that it was:

1. YA.
2. Fantasy.
3. Revolved around a rebellion.
4. Could be a potential crossover from YA to adult.

After I'd done that, I just kept thinking of words and trying to mash them into a title that encompassed all these themes, and thus, "Coup of the Young and Gifted" was born. I think using "Coup" is quite nice, as it has more adult connotations (all the hubub in Africa) that might intrigue adult audiences. Of course, it may get changed, but for now I quite like it and I think it will do the job of catching an agent's attention.

Once in a while, I have a title before I begin the novel. Rarely, but it happens.

Usually I give it a working title that has something to do with the story or a character or theme. Eventually the title comes out, and it gets renamed.

For years, I had a title in mind for my fantasy series. Then the title was changed, anyway! Titles are important, obviously, but don't cling too tight. It's great to have one up front, and sometimes they're so clever they'll go the distance. But other times the title might not come to you until after you're done.

If I don't have a title, I don't worry about it. As I write, eventually something will stand out in the story and then I've got my title.

While it's a WIP, most often I use the main character's name as the working title. Right now, I'm working on Maureen-draft2. That's just a title to save it under. I don't worry about the real title until it is finished.

If I don't have a title when I start, I, too, use a descriptive phrase. For instance, I have a bunch of notes with titles like "submarinethrillerideas.doc."

There's a good exercise in the "Writer's Brainstorming Kit" by James V Smith which involves writing lists of words that relate to your novel - themes, emotions, weather, people, all sorts of things. The theory is that sooner or later one of them will chime with you.

I did it and got nothing usable. Then about half an hour later a title popped into my head "out of the blue". Absolutely nothing to do with my word-lists, and yet it was just right. Funny how the right-brain works sometimes...

My second novel title was accidental. I recommend looking at things in a different way... i.e. I had an idea for my 2nd but didn't know what to call it. One day as I was getting out of the shower and I was watching the water drip from my hair and thought that would be a neat title. LOL

I'd just call it Workinprogress for now, a great title may come to you when you're writing it, or at the oddest times. I had a title come to me once when I tripped over in the street.

Not a problem. Get the bonus pack from Acme Titles Company of Passaic New Jersey and put on the one that fits.

Oddly, a pianist hit me with the same question yesterday on the street...I consider it an odd question. He'd just recorded and album of instrumental tunes and didn't have titles for them. I told him about a program I have called "Band in the Box" that generates music for backup. One thing it has is a generator that creates titles for songs you make up yourself. You can just scroll through a never-ending list of titles like "Adrift in Purple" or "Emily in New York" or "Too Quizical". So if you really can't come up with a title, there's a possiblity.
I generally find that titles appear when the time is right. If not, hunt them down and kill them.