Was thinking, since I'm writing a series, how much introductory/re-introductory information is it cool to give at the beginning of each book in the series? Based off my own reading of things in the same genre as what I write, I've worked out this much. Animorphs (when I still read it as a kid) I'd outright skip the first 2-3 pages because it was all "Hi my name's Cassie, here's a summary of the entire series so far from start to finish". Harry Potter handled it a bit better although JK always managed to find time to tell us Harry's height, weight, skin tone, eye colour, hair colour, glasses, scar & knobbly knees within the first chapter or so. Also usually a recap although within narration, handled as a gentle recap while Harry was looking around his room or doing something a little more active than blogging about his last battle with Voldemort. On the other hand, Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett never recap plot, although Terry does re-introduce settings like a master so it doesn't even feel like a drag because he's got some funny way of telling it to you all again. DWJ never seems to set anything in the same place twice, though if we do stumble across something to make an avid reader say "Oh!" it often is passed over a bit more lightly than it was the first time she brought it up. On the other hand, reading one of her books like Witch Week, it's all going merrily away for the first 3/4s and then Crestomanci steps out of thin air and fixes it all up with no warning whatsoever. Similarly with Howl randomly showing up in the sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, when for most of the book it honestly felt like the whole thing could happen without Howl there if we just take for granted the world is like it is without him causing it to be that way. Bit better handled in the 3rd book: he's introduced earlier and even if we aren't told who he is we know it's him. If you were picking these books up first you'd think it was terrible writing because you have no idea who Crestomanci or Howl were and it topples the book from the "stand alone" position it held up until that point. I never read them first so I knew exactly what was going on, but I can't lend it to anyone who doesn't read Charmed Life or Howl's Moving Castle first, so I have to make a dedication to lending the books out to people. It can be a bit intimidating to say "I want you to read this book. Read these 3 apparently unrelated books first though" like a homework assignment ANYWAY. My own dilemma then. I'm switching characters Animorphs style, my plots follow on one from another like Harry Potter. I re-use settings for the first 4 books like Terry Pratchett, but I finished a story arc with the 4th book and start from the 5th books a rather more varied approach, with my charaters all split up Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants style. So I'll be writing 4 apparently unrelated novels where at any moment one of the other characters could Crestomanci in to help out, baffling someone who may have picked up the 5th in the series without reading the rest. At the moment I've been largely relying on the descriptions and world-building in the first book to shore up the others, so the world only gets a cursory once over, and by the 3rd/4th books the characters hardly even seem to be looking at it because assuming I'm awesome I only need to say the name of the village for everyone to nod and get what I'm talking about. Obviously from the 5th book onwards I'll be using new settings so I've got a lot more to work with and I won't have to sit around chewing on a pen thinking of a synonym for "village" It's more the plot recap that's bothering me though. Starting a story with a plot already in place is difficult when you're used to starting with a blank slate and building up to it. And the plot I have is very twisty and left-on-cliffhangers. I still try to build up to it, as I go a month or more between events so the character can settle into "normality" again, but things will be weighing on their minds. Leaping right in with "hey so I'm a goddess now and I need to go kill some stuff" is just... Gah. (which is totally the plot of my 3rd book. No stealing! ) So. You've got a series. How do you sum up the previous books, or do you?
This really bothered me in the Southern Vampire Mysteries (aka Sookie Stackhouse novels, True Blood series) which I recently finished (until next year when the new one comes). The start of every one of them was basically, "I'm a blonde girl and I work at Merlotte's, and vampires exist, and so do some other things. Oh yeah, I have big boobs, but people think I'm weird because - guess what - I'm a telepath!" Minor recapping is all I'd like to see, you know? When you re-introduce a character, use a maximum of maybe two sentences if its been a while since we saw them last, just to jog people's memories. But in a series, like Harry Potter for example, where there's a reading order, it shits me to tears when there's a recap at the beginning of every piece. We already know he's a wizard, you don't have to keep reminding us. /rant.
I agree with Steerpike, don't worry about it until the books done. But that didn't stop me from trying to title my book while writing it. I titled my book just as I started writing it and the title changed 3 or 4 times over the course of writing the book.
I wrote a novel and thought of a title, but I'm not sure if it's good. what I originally named it was "The Unburied" the theme is pretty much: leave the past alone or it will come back and haunt you. I thought of The Unburied to refer to a past that wasn't buried or closed and kinda just left open. any ideas?
"The Unburied" sounds fine, but this is a decision only you can make, especially since we have so little information. I know the challenge of picking a title, though!
The title is the LAST thing to decide upon, not the first. Write the novel, then settle on the title. Anything you come up with before that should be considered a working title, subject to change at any time.
He did write the novel, according to the OP. @thayamoviete: For the title, can you give us a little more about the story? Where it takes place, character or two, etc.? Like the back cover description, maybe?
I always think it has to invoke a question in us. My story, then we flip over and read the synopsis, It tells us the premise and why we should hear your story. they work together in hooking you and then giving you a taste of the novel and its themes and issues. If 'My story' is about a woman in Vietnam being raped or a man with two wife's different people will relate to each differently. depending on other things like size and cover art other people might pick it up then also, but mainly the title hooks us and then the synopsis has to engage us. I have never read about with reading the synopsis and I don't know anyone who has. ( except the watchmen as it doesn't have one.) 'The unburied' could be zombies, murder mystery, a secret, character development, romance, comedy and or nearly anything from gardening to archeology. Its with the your summary that you must catch me, engage me and set the tone, but not ruin the suspense. Its an art. The title must ask a question. I don't like the 'the' its a wasted word and I feel without it the title is more punchy. The normally insists on ultimately one, like 'the matrix' could not have been 'Matrix' or 'a matrix', because it is The only one, but The unburied is a little melodramatic if its not a horror. Unburied, I don't know feels incomplete, but its just a word.
Titles... FIRST thing I think about is a title... lol, okay it comes after characters, plot, and theme. But titles to be are an important creative element "The Unburied" sounds a little funny.... kind of like say The Blue or The Soft. I guess it's because I know you are trying to use Unburied as a noun, but it can also sound like an adjective..... so the title therefor needs another word, a noun, after Unburied. "The Unburied Past" for instance sounds better grammatically; not to say that your original title isn't grammatically sound. Your title works, and I have only made my comment as a casual observance.
How do people come up with titles? I always have a hard time coming up with exceptional titles for my stories.
The title of a story is almost always the last thing I come up with. The title should fit the story, and usually I find it becomes obvious what a good or the best title for a piece is during the writing of it. Often I find that a particular line or fragment of a line from the story makes a good title, or a simple overview in a few words of what the story is about. If you really can't think of anything that shines, go for something simple, which presents the story as clearly and honestly as possible.
Titles are like clothes. Sometimes, the title's too big for the story at the beginning and it has to grow into it. Sometimes, it's too small once the story starts growing and it needs to get a new one. It's all about eventually getting the right fit the same way you do with clothes. Try them on and look at it to see whether you like it.
I used to be in the habit of thinking of an AWESOME TITLE and then trying to craft a story into it. Really not a good idea. It seemed easy as a kid but it just wasn't good. Banzai's reply is probably the way to go. Ah Banzai, I see you hail from Reading, I'm from near Reading, originally...
I'm actually quite the opposite and in the same boat as CrystalWriter. When I plotted out my series, I literally had simple titles of Book 1, Book 2, and so forth. Once they were all planned out, coming up with working titles just about killed me. A title is one of the first impressions potential readers will have. I knew they had to have impact and style in order to not only draw attention but also convey a bit of intrigue and draw the reader in. The main thing I shot for with my titles was to be different. I didn't want something that people would instantly recognize or immediately know what it is. I wanted my titles to have a bit of mystery to the reader at first but make perfect sense once the book is complete, like To Kill a Mocking Bird. It's all about finding out what fits best instead of drawing attention. Having a title that is misleading may not be in your best interest if all you want to do is draw attention. It won't take them long to see through it and in the end, you'll be the one to suffer. So far, I've come up with 1 solid title and 5 working titles to which I'm very pleased with. My best piece of advice is not worry about a title too much and give your book a working title for the time being. That way you are no longer bothered/stressed with figuring one out and maybe after completing your book, you'll find a title that suits it better. I nearly killed myself trying to find a fitting title for one of the potential books in my series. My fiance was the one to snap me back into reality when she told me "If I were you, I'd worry more about making your first book perfect than trying to figure out the rest before they're even written".
I always go through a title dilemma once I'm done writing a story or a poem. What I usually do is I try my best to make my own title, then I ask my writer friends if they agree with it or can suggest something else. But most importantly, follow your heart. If you think a certain title is best for your writing, go for it.
As this is my first post on here I'll start by saying Im thankfull to find such a place, this is truly a treasure chest of usefull knowledge as well as motivation. In the near future I plan to post a short story that is pretty close to my heart but that is also extremely simplistic, incomplete and amaturish at best even though it was really fun to write. The reason I like this story so much is that unlike nearly all of my other novels and short stories the title came to me first. I usaully have to figure the title out as the work progresses or is completed. I do ask forgiveness if this is posted in the wrong place. I look forward to contributing and offering any services I may have. JRF
I did that with my current novel. I called it "Devil Waters Rising" and then just started typing random stuff, not knowing who anybody was, except that the devil was there. Later, when I gave the devil a name, I gave him the surname Waters so that it would fit. The story built up on its own after that. I don't particularly see anything wrong with it, to be honest. I mean, whatever works, afaic, is good.
I've recently finished writing a novel but I'm really struggling with coming up with a solid title that I like. I have a couple in mind but I don't know which one is best, or even if any of them are relatively good so I thought I'd try my luck and ask for advice here. Summary: the novel begins when a boy witnesses a girl's manslaughter which is committed by his best friend. Some time later, this boy meets the sister of the girl who was murdered although he doesn't know who she is at first. The novel goes on and this boy and girl get closer and eventually get into a relationship with each other. When the boy realises that his girlfriend is the sister of the girl his best friend killed though, things start turning bad. It becomes harder for him to keep lying to his girlfriend and that along with a number of other things lead him to depression. The novel reaches its climax when the boy attempts suicide but is talked out of it by his girlfriend and it is then he reveals that it was his best friend who killed her sister. The best friend appears, they fight and to cut a long story short, it ends with the death of the boy's best friend. The novel as a whole focuses a lot on the pressure that society gives the youth of today. There are subjects in the novel like death, teenage pregnancy, different forms of violence, suicide, homosexuality, self-harm, depression, smoking, drinking underage e.t.c. The only two titles I'm relatively happy with are Society Killed the Teenager and Society Killed the Innocent. They're both very similar, I know, but I don't know which I prefer. Basically, if anyone has any title suggestions, please do let me know because I'd appreciate it so much. Also, out of the two I mentioned, which one do you find most attractive? If it was a book, which title would you pick up? Sorry for the long post and thanks!
I don't like both the titles you gave. They are too 'documentary sounding' and generic. I usually find my titles from scenes in the story itself. In your story, for example, you have a suicide scene. Is there something in the description of the scene or what the characters say that reflects the end of their innocence? Or, there may be a scene where you have shown the inner turmoil of the MC (bacause this story seems to be about that). If so, how have you shown his turmoil? Did you use a metaphor? Did you use descriptions? If you examine those scenes closely I am sure you will find your title word/phrase. Good luck.
Hi, I'm afraid I don't like either of your titles either, they sound sort of like documentaries as Manav has already said. I'd tend to go with something more emotional. Killing Innocence was good, but not really novel material. But a variation might be 'The Death of Innocence", or 'The End of Innocence.' Alternatively since it seems to me that the entire story is about guilt and secrets "Guilty Secrets" or "The Guilty Secret" might work well too. Also "A Secret to Die For." Cheers.
I'm not keen on your titles. It's a secret that the character keeps and if the novel is about the society that they grow up in, how about Secret Society, or have 'Secret' as part of the title at least. Good luck
The unaged secret? The friendship of innocence? An innocent friendship? Tainted youth? A smile to die for?
