What she said. Finish first then name. It's what I'm doing with both novels that I've written the first 1-3 chapters for a template for when I come back to them. Just get it done and the name, as Maia said, will come.
A couple of examples for me are: Mercury Rising Cat on a Hot Tin Roof East of Eden I know Why the Caged Bird Sings I Sing the Body Electric Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep The Sun Also Rises Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Girl Interrupted I know some is personal reaction, but I'm wondering if there aren't any other qualities besides just how it hits a person individually. I can think of some bad qualities easy enough. How closely does it need to relate to the story? I don't think Mercury Rising relates specifically but it does in a general sense and I love the emotion the title evokes. Just wondering if people had any thoughts here.
Many of these challenge you to ponder, from the onset. Especially The Sun Also Rises (also?), East of Eden (Eden evokes something), Mercury Rising (an action), I know Why the Caged Bird Sings (a statement that gets one going) and so on...
It should relate to the story in some way. Whether it's obvious at the start, or becomes revealed to the reader at the end if up to the writer. I feel a good title is one that catches someone's attention in some significant way. For me, my favorite titles are "The Night in Question." "Where I'm Calling From." "The Things They Carried." "Bullet in The Brain." "But Nobody Said Anything." "God knows the truth,but waits." There's many more,but as you see, those titles have something in there that catches some form of intrigue. And in all those stories, the title was relevant to the story's conflict or was a sentence or phrase in the story.
Challenge you to ponder, hmmmm. I still ponder what, I Sing the Body Electric, means even though I know the story. You seem to like little 'hinty' titles, blackstar. That's interesting, definitely a different category than the ones I picked.
Hi, For me a great title is one that catches the imagination and makes you as a reader think. Some of the ones I've found intriguing are: Who Goes Here? The Unpleasant Profession of Johnathon Hoag The Eighty Minute Hour Conditionally Human But I think it is largely a personal choice thing. Cheers, Greg.
Your forum tag reminds me of the title, Psycho, and for some titles I wonder how much is the title alone and how much is the story we know and relate to the title. I left Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and Gone with the Wind off my list for those reasons. I like the titles but can't separate them objectively from the stories. [sidetrack]Do you really live in Rotorua? Love that bubbling mud. )[/sidetrack] I wonder if one used 'rising' with another noun if people would feel it was cliché? New World Rising Gliese Rising
I think titles for me have to be slightly quirky or have a twist - play-on words or a shift in a popular saying. Something that grabs my interest, in all honesty. Having something like "Time Out" on the cover, unless I read the back or know about the book already, it would turn me off big time because it's cliché and boring, all done before with no interesting element to it. Snappier titles seem to grab my attention, but I'll admit that longer titles have a sense of grandeur that does hold readers' attention. One of my favourites is one of yours: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" On first inspection it makes you think, then it makes you laugh, and then you read the blurb. And all because of a title. Never underestimate them.
as you can tell from the list you included, there is no formula, no set of rules that makes a great one... what makes one great is simply how it hits the majority of readers... 'cat on a hot tin roof' for instance, doesn't relate directly to the story/plot, but is a common expression that makes the person seeing that title stop and blink... then wonder what the heck the story can be about, if it has that title... while the 'hitchhiker's guide' is as explicit as can be, making one want to explore that journey...
Formula is not what I was looking for, I'm asking about qualities. The two you list are just that. Thanks.
I'm having a surprising amount of trouble on this one. My current piece is a back story related to the MC of my last work (ex-soldier dealing with PTSD.) In this story she's eighteen years old and it pretty much follows her six weeks of basic training. One of the ideas I had was "Six Weeks In Hell" but it doesn't seem entirely appropriate. While it's true she's bitten off a little more than she can chew, I don't if I'd really call it "hell." Any ideas? It's written in 1st person present if that helps any.
"Fighting through the weeks" ? Sorry I don't really know if I should have answered because I don't know the name of your first story or the name of your main character. The only other thing I could suggest is look for other names for army training camps like boot camp.
well, the basic theory behind military basic training is to change normal people into members of the defence force. This means getting the recruits used to a military way of life. The process that these the military use is breaking the person down and building them back up again. That is why basic training is often perceived to be 'hell', with officers being extremely tough and not nice to the recruits. It is also why they screw the recruits around a lot. So i guess you could get at this in your title. 'Conforming to the System'? 'Meeting Standards'?
don't waste time over a title now... by the time you finish writing the book, one will come to you... and if you hope to have a paying publisher take it on, they may change the title anyway... first person present for anything but YA may turn off most agents/publishers/readers... not a good idea if it's for the adult market, imo...
Back in the '60's I did my "basic training" at Ft. Knox. It is called basic, because it starts at the beginning- like toilet training. Finish the piece and the title will come. "Saving Private Ryan" and "Red Badge of Courage" are good examples.
Truth spoken here. If you personally can't abide writing without a title, then simply choose a working title. Take comfort in the knowledge you can change the title as many times as needed up to the time you submit to publishers -- and possibly even after that. The title is the product branding. Ultimately, it's a marketing decision, which is why publishers reserve the right to override the writer's title choice.
Like, I've said many times before, I don't write for publishers, so their opinion is moot to me. I post my work on independent websites like Blogger and Fictionpress. The reason I went wist 1P/Present is because that's how the ideas are flowing, and you know how it goes: when the words are coming, go with it!
With close to two hundred countries in the world, most with a defence force of some kind, I'd hazard a guess and say that the length of basic training may vary.
When my ex-gf went into the Air Force there was no basic training As an officer, my Dad's in the Navy, was quite different from what enlisted men endured.
Alesia: In the U.S. Army basic training is 8 weeks long. In the Marine Corps its called boot camp or recruit training and it is 13 weeks long.
US Army. Going from my enlistment paperwork, Basic Combat Training is listed as being nine weeks and one day in length. I'm assuming Reception is separate from that. The Army website lists Basic as ten weeks in length, but I'm assuming it rounding up from the one day to make it sound longer. I'm pretty sure there's always been Basic Training. Your father would have gone through Basic Training alongside the grunt, before going to Officer Candidate School.
