The Forest and the Trees

By J.D. Ray · Feb 29, 2020 · 608 · 2
  1. You know how you get so used to something that you only see it one way?

    I've been working on my WIP, Lives in Time for so long that it didn't strike me that "Lives" is either the plural of the noun "life" (the way I intended it) or the third-person present tense of the verb "live". I was showing my draft cover art to someone today and they asked, "How is that pronounced?"

    It was like I had cold water tossed in my face. The last thing I want to do is bring a shopper to a complete halt on the first word of the title. If they're confused by something that simple, they're not going to want to read the book.

    It was always kind of a working title anyway. Now I need to cogitate on a replacement. "Two people live through a series of adventures across centuries" is too damn long. Now what?
    Foxxx likes this.

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  1. GrahamLewis
    Let me be a bit contrarian here. I like the ambiguity of the title -- you get two meanings for the price of one, kind of a gestalt thing. I'd leave it for now (if a traditional publisher picks it up I'm sure they would suggest a wholly different title).
    GrahamLewis, Mar 1, 2020
      Foxxx and J.D. Ray like this.
  2. jim onion
    Hey now, Hemingway considered “I have committed Fornication but that was In Another Country and Besides the wench is dead" as a title for "A Farewell to Arms".

    By the way, "A Farewell to Arms" is an incredible but simple dual-meaning for a book title if there ever was one. Of course, it's only made so by the story itself.

    I'm with Graham on this one.
    jim onion, Mar 1, 2020
      J.D. Ray likes this.
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