You don't need to know the title yet, after the first draft is complete you will know all the plot points and themes that can serve as inspiration. Don't get to attached to a name until you google it and confirm it has not been used before. I do understand the frustration, I'm going through the same x)
"The Unclaimed" definitely sounds mysterious. I am only vaguely familiar with V:TM, but as far as I remember, "mysterious" matches it.
Thanks. I would like to feel that when I am speaking about it that I could refer to it by name, but I guess I'll have to be more patient.
Sometimes I have the title first (as with Dark Fire - which is what the lead characters name means in Celtic), sometimes I go looking for it to fit the subject (as with The Darkest Storm - taken from the Giotto di Bondone quote "The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the darkest of storms” I googled quotes about friendship in adversity) and some times i just slap a placeholder title on it so i can refer to it by name (as with both Thief taker and After the Wave) End of the day I wouldn't worry yet, just give it a random name for your own filing reference (particularly if like me you work on more than one thing at once)
You can usually come up with general descriptive titles just to keep your projects straight. Like "Space Love Story" or "Les Mis with PreSchoolers" or "Football Player Goes Bad" or whatever. You can save those files on your computer and know what you're talking about, but you wouldn't want to actually try to market a story with any of those names.
Thanks! This is a big help. Until I do some research I will give it a temporary title. Henceforth, until further notice my novel shall be named: Hats and Daisies
Hats and Daisies is certainly a good placeholder. Makes me wonder if it's entirely random or actually relevant to the story. If it helps, I also have no title for my 45,000 word project. I'm liking the title of the original piece that sparked it all for the actual title, but haven't made my mind up fully and have no other contenders for it. I'm not worrying too much about it for the moment. It'll come to me, and likely to you, just one day when you're doing something completely unrelated to your story. I'd just keep doing what you're doing for now and it'll come upon you one day soon.
Hats and Daisies are actually significant items in the book, so why not? I wanted to be subtle about them, hinting that they are important. Now I think that if I keep that as a title then it's slapping the reader in the face with it. Any suggestions?
I suggest you don' worry about it at this stage... just use H&D to refer to your book until its finished then find a suitable title (which will probably be suggested by something you haven't written yet)
I have to have a working title, just because I need something to call it in my head or with my beta readers. But it doesn't usually keep that title unless it smacked me in this face and screamed "THIS IS MY NAME".
Just finished my first draft and do not have a title. Since there are a number of things that will need to be fleshed out in revision, I'm not worried about it. 10K in, I'd just focus on the story. Good luck.
I have this thriller/ murder mystery under way and it's getting to the plot of who killed who and why. Long story short is about the abduction of the towns triples. Anyway the story is based on the narration of one of the triples boyfriend, it's a make believe town and everything about it it's of the top of my head. well I'm in the middle of finally unmasking the killer and stop adding things and wrap it up. but I cant think of a tittle to save my life. Can I just call it the name of the town or should I name it something different? I really don't know. (Also, I am not a native English speaker)
Is your mystery a cozy or hard-boiled? If it's a cozy, I would follow the genre style and use a pun fitting the story. A dismal example: Murder by Tweet, if birds were used for the heinous act. Another horrible example: Out of Tune and Dead, if musicians or music was a major theme. Silly examples, but you get the idea. If it's hard-boiled, I'd use something more ominous and direct, such as: The Strangler of (locale).
I think we'd need more information about your publishing plan. Title selection has to consider marketing factors. This is where your publisher may have final selection/approval power. It's nice to have a cool title, but if there are 50 more new novels out there in the same language, genre, then you lose search results power in the shopping cart environments and that means fewer sales, readers, &c. A lot of novels have unrecognizeable titles from language to language, because the best translation is already a recognized popular seller by another author. If you're not worried about marketing implications, then I usually recommend identifying a theme, and finding a sentence or object in the book that captures the theme nicely. Tons of examples out there, but one I just used in a discussion with a friend on this exact topic was Dashiell Hammett's novel on the theme of missed opportunities and how bad choices destroy entire futures, that one bad turn can shatter a life: "the Glass Key"
Well, the books is based of the Town of Edenborn. It's a make believe town of a real street name. It's based on the narrative of a 17 year olds point of view. Sleepy town shook by the kidnapping and murder of one of the founding families daughters. But somehow one of the daughters returns and the story begins. She is found disoriented and starved. Anyway the story is told by her boyfriend and the secret relationship they had. Oh, also he is the mayors son. But their relation gets comprised when one of the founding family's granddaughter comes back to town and starts digging. It's a mystery for the town but a thriller for them. They uncover secrets about the family and the daughters state of mind. And it goes from there. But the town is Edenborn. I was thinking of naming it like that. Because the name sounds calm. But I'm worried people might mistake it for a religious book ♀️ I don't know
It's more of a sexy, hard-boiled kind of tale. The name of the town based on is Edenborn. I don't know
Have you finished your story? I think you should deliberate on the title of your book after you finish the first draft. Right now, just use a place holder. Once you finish, you can brainstorm on what other titles you can use. Maybe a theme had emerged during your drafting phase or a villain said something that encapsulates the story.
Do other people using working titles on their projects? I thought it would be fun to share cause I bet there's some funny ones. And not funny ones too, it doesn't really matter. Mine are: Cycles Dead The Whole Time Gone to See Mom Intercalation Nectarine Dream One With the Dead Pennies The Mailman's Family
I have one about cool space pirates called Piradical. And my fantasy romance-deconstruction is Love At First Smite. Most of'em aren't funny because they're only a step above keysmashes, hahah.
Yeah, mine are pretty lame, just enough to remind me which temporarily shelved project to open. Niagara Paranormal Drooling Moonlight Occupancy (although that one might stay)
I usually don't do working titles, but if I did, these would be the following and yes, self-deprecation humor ahoy. ------ "World War I with magic 'n' stuff and there are kitty-people with horns" "Magical People vs. Not-Magical-People, and some Magical-Weilding guy is going all Attila the Hun on the other pplz" "TOTALLY not a ripoff of Naruto and Dragonball Z. Nope, totes not" ------ "Generic murder mystery set in GenericCity, USA and the main character is a white dude. He might also basically be me with a goatee..." ----- "Old German dude solves mysteries in the Wild West" "Blind French kid plays detective in 1700s Massachusetts!" ----- "Star Trek + Mass Effect if the main character was a black woman and she didn't plow half the galaxy."
