How about ten words? Consider: Two guys move in together; ones neat the other's a slob. (For those who may not recognize it, (though that would be 'odd') here's a clue. It made a fortune for Neil Simon, Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau, Tony Randall & Jack Klugman ...) And the publisher bought it on that alone!
Yeah as everyone else has said, working title is usually the way I go. Upon commencing writing the story something abstract/meaningful/symbolic may come to you that will be better than the names that just don't feel right. I am writing a WWII Novel at the moment and I still can't think of anything meaningful to call it. Likewise, I have other planned novels that I already have titles for, so there is no exact science. Just keep writing!
sure it does... otherwise it wouldn't be a must for screenplay queries... it's not quite the same as what man of steel used for an example, however... in a logline, no character names are used, unless a major character is a historical figure... the one supplied by wordsmith is a classic... i can only hope so... you can find blurbs on my website, in the 'other works' part of the 'writings' section... i'll be glad to send them either as e-books, or 'real' ones by post... though i can't send the 'mother's guide' in hard copy, as i'm all out and can't afford a second printing till next month... hugs, m
How to come up with the perfect title: Step one: Pick the level of awesomeness you want for your title. Step two: Stay up for three nights wishing on every shooting star that a title of the disired level will come to you. Step three: Set aside a quarter hour every day for seven days dedicated to title pondering, based on the wording of the wishing of the past three nights. Step four: Write a detailed letter to the Title Gods (related to the Tetris Gods, if you were wondering) outlining the results of your title ponderings. Step five: If your are lucky you will receive your title via a dream ten day after you've sent your letter. Step six: If you are unlucky you will receive you title by Express Post 28 business days after you've sent your letter for the reasonable fee of $39.99. Plus shipping. All jokes aside, now. There is no set formula to get the perfect title for any story. Sometimes they come and hit you over the head, other times they sneak around waiting for you to discover them. Titles are tricky little buggers. They aren't something I'd worry too terribly much about. As others have said, some publishers make you change them anyway.
wait until your piece is finished. Go over the poem or if it's a long story, go over the basis in your head and think of something crafty. I like to do a play on words. Like, in college I wrote a report about the suicide increase in women in the 1950s, due to them staying home and The Feminine Mystique. The title was "How was MY day, dear" i also wrote another one about society's views of too skinny models and its affects on the younger generation...it was called Bulimic Barbie. To me, both being effective and already grabbing the audience just with the title. Good luck and I hope you come up with a way that works for you.
In my opinion the 3 elements of a great title is dynamic, meaningful and easy to say. They really just come naturally to me. But I think a way you can come up with a title is to list down all the words that tells about the theme or plot. Maybe some made up concepts from the story. Then see which words can be put together to maximize the 3 elements mentioned above for your story.
Now before you all jump to the conclusion that I'm just a lazy uncreative writer who can’t be bothered coming up with her own titles you'd be wrong. I'm fact I enjoy creating the titles for the little tid-bits I’ve written, it’s challenging to come up with those few words that capture the essence of you story. Annnyyyway I'm currently working on my first major novel but for the life of me I CAN’T THINK OF A GOOD TITLE! Now I'm not gonna sit here and give you a detailed description of what my novel is about because I don’t want you guys to give me actual suggestions because I can see a copy write fiasco right there, lol. I will however tell you this; * It's an adventure/action novel * I will (hopefully) be making in into a trilogy * I'll have a main title and a sub title. The main title will be the same for each book and the sub will change. Right now I have a sub title but not the main! This is where you guys come in please if you have any tips or suggestions about creating titles share them here and I’ll give them a try!
First off, no one will steal your book from a synopsis. Second, the word is copyright. Ideas are not copyrightable. Only completed works (including drafts) are copyrightable. And they are protected by copyright law automatically as soon as you have a completed draft. Titles are not copyrightable either. Now to the main question. Don't worry about it. Just choose a working title for now. It doesn't need to be great. It's just a placeholder, a convenient label whileyou are writing the novel. You don't need a real title until you are nearly ready to submit. By the time your novel is complete, undoubtedly something will stand out for you, some important moment, that will suggest a title for you. Or you have been turning over the storyline of your book in your head so many times that a title will just click into place for you. Focus on getting the story written. The title is one of the last things you will need to nail down.
I usually start with a working title at the beginning. You can even call it "Untitled" and then change it as you write. Anyways, the title is not that important right now. Finish the novel first and then it will be much easier to think of a fitting title.
Good advice thirdwind and Cogito and yes you're right it is copyright my bad, I was actually trying to be funny with that whole thing...I guess I wasn't. I do have a working title at the moment but it bugs me everytime I look at it, lol. I'm also aware that no one is going to steal my idea I just didn't want to waste time posting a plot outline. Thanks!
stop agonizing over the title and concentrate on just finishing the novel!... a title will make itself known eventually, but if you don't get the thing completed, it won't need a title...
Ok, ok it seems like the people have spoken (even if it was only 3) and the consensus is, leave the title till last and focus on writing! So that's what I'm going to do Thanks everyone!
I don't really worry about the title of a story I'm writing. If I don't have one in mind, I'll just temporarily give it the name of my main character. It's easy to get sidetracked with unimportant stuff like this and forget about what's key: getting the story down on paper.
You're worrying about what to call a painting you haven't finished yet. Stop worrying. It will come to you once you get a chance to step back and admire your work.
Yep - just pick something that entertains you. A key early scene in my NaNoWriMo novel for 2009 was something washing down a drain, so I called the whole thing _Coriolis Effect_. There's no telling what I'd actually call the thing if I finished it.
I usually write the story first, and then try to summarize it in just a few words. I've found that if I write a title before the story, I start bending the story to fit the title. Just try to summarize the story in a few words. That's all I can give, sorry.
A title should be short and broad, something that leaves the reader wondering. You don't want to give a hard and factual title, because unlike technical books and manuals and the like, the reader is usually not searching for a very specific topic and will be more drawn to something that is mysterious and does not immediately show what kind of story/novel it is. Something very unusual is also very effective, just because people will wonder it at it more.
From reading book reviews on Amazon, I noticed that very long book series tax some readers' patience - while some wouldn't mind if a particular literary experience continued indefinitely, others get frustrated and want a resolution. Based on your experiences, what do you think is the best length for a series? Two books? A trilogy? Four-five books? How long is too long? On a side note, I'm curious: do you think Harry Potter could have been even better if it had been more concise and less drawn-out? (For example, leaving out sub-plots like Hermione's S.P.E.W. organization.)
I think people read series because they fall in love with the characters, and so long as the characters stay true and the story is entertaining, most people would be happy to read on. Surely Harry Potter could have sold just as well if half a dozen more books came out, don't you think? And if there were 12 books in The Lord of the Rings, I for one would have been happy to read on. BUT, now that I think of it, a staggering 12-volume series might be less popular from the get-go, because of the time it would take to read it.
Any story, whether it be a series or one book, should be no longer than it needs to be. I know that's pretty vague, but every author should know in their heart when their story is over. Continuing beyond that is a bad idea in my opinion. But hey, if it takes twelve books to reach that point, go ahead and write twelve books.
there's no 'best'... any series can be as long as enough people are willing to buy the books... it's nonsensical to try to find an answer to this unanswerable question, imo... even if you think you can write a successful series, you'd still have to get the first stand-alone book taken on by a publisher and have it sell well enough for them to justify taking on any more...
I think the Harry Potter series is a good model. Those books are solid because they can stand alone. With each book there is a separate conflict and each time it's resolved. However, with something like Lord of the Rings you have to plow through all the books to finally see if the ring was destroyed.
