How are you guys with titles? How often (if ever) do you change the title of your book? I had a realization today that the title of my WIP might not really be the best title. I kind of even know what I should change it to, but my novel has sort of been based around how the original title ties into the story. It sort of seemed like the glue holding it together. But it's not the glue. The story holds up because of the story. I guess that's a good thing, but now my title feels a bit cliche or just a stupid choice. So, why am I having trouble letting go of something that now seems like it's holding the story back? I also don't know why it took me months to come to this conclusion. I don't know. Does a stupid title mean a stupid story? How creative do you get with titles? And how do you know if you've got a good title or not?
When it comes to titles, I usually pick a word that represents the main idea of the story, whether it be a location or a character's title. However, I title the story as a "project", so to say. For example, if I'm writing a story about a taxi driver in New York, I would title it "Project New York" or "Project Taxi Driver". The project title isn't the final title, but it gives me a reminder of what the story is about. The good thing about titles is that they are not permanent until you say otherwise. It's only natural. The title you first chose represented the story at the time. You don't have to necessarily let it go, but it might help to create a list of possible titles similar to your first. My two cents.
I just pick a title that representes the story to me. I'm sure it will change when/if the books get published. I'm not worried about it. "A Rose by Any Other Name ..."
I think you have to trust your gut - if it doesn't feel right, it's not. I've changed the title for my WIP at least three or four times, even after being 100% sold on the first one. As the story developed and changed, the old title didn't work anymore. I probably spent way too much time thinking about it -- trying out options; googling to see if there were other books with the title, etc., etc. But it seemed important to me that the title be the "right" title for the story I was telling (at least until it changes again). It's also possible that futzing with the title felt like a more acceptable distraction than surfing.
I'm still uncertain about the title of my WIP - Falling-Child-Star. I might not even use it. It was briefly called Fey Green of Moonfall when I was fleshing out the idea but then it was dropped. I'm thinking of just using one of the characters first names even though that feels rather plain to me. I want something memorable. I'm always swapping around titles and no matter what I do I usually settle with a Hitchcock like plainness (an object, simple phrase, character name). Sometimes I have one title and it stays that title forever others though go through many different titles. Even when I think they're settled I start to toy with them again. Novels are the worst usually when I'm doing a short story I can come up with a title that lasts. And maybe that's my problem with my novel it started as a short story and as soon as it turned into a novel it was harder to settle on a title. Could be a genre thing too. The great thing about horror, romance, sci-fi, fantasy is the titles can link to their genre. You can come up with something bouncy or romantic for romance or something magical for sci-fi but general fiction is so broad. You have to come up with something that's going to give the readers a hint of what you're doing.
I had no real title in mind when I started my novel, but my first idea did come pretty quick. It sort of helped me stay on track, I guess. I don't outline so I wasn't really sure where I was going with the story so much. I still love my first title, but it's a bit boring. My new idea for a title is much more catchy, memorable, and perhaps a better fit. My novel is based on a failed short story I tried to write and rewrite several times. I took the first paragraph of one of the versions and stoled a few of my characters, but that's it. It's nothing like any of my attempts to tell this story in short form. I've got a lot of the novel done, though, there is still a ways to go. Funny thing is my new idea for a title was one of the titles I tried on for size when I was writing it as a short story. Actually, since I tried rewriting this as a short story maybe five or so times, I have several titles that could possibly work. But the title I'm thinking of using is from my last attempt at writing this as a short story. I never finished that version, but maybe I needed to try it just to come up with that title. It was about a year later I started writing my novel. Still, the original title of the novel is hard to let go of. I hate when I'm wrong, and I hate when I realize I'm wrong. Thanks for the response.
I'll be more than okay if a publisher buying my book wants to change the title. It's happened to me before when I've sold short stories. Even if I'm not so sure, I want to be easy to work with. I think that's important in the industry. So if a place wants to buy my book, they can call it whatever they want. I don't know why I'm totally fine with that, but changing it on my own feels so difficult.
This is pretty much where I'm at. And I don't know why it seems like it's hard to continue the story without the right title. Why couldn't I just be okay with my title until I finished the book. If I drop my original title I do think it will affect the story. It sort of feels like I'm at a crossroads.
I hear you. And my novel started as a short story too. It was retitled really quickly when I started visioning it and writing it as a novel. But maybe the many titles I tried when it was supposed to be a short story are a better fit. Like all of them would work and probably work better. I didn't even think about changing the title of my novel until recently. I guess this is one of those kill-your-darlings thing.
Agreed. Plus there's a lot to be said for realizing that other people might have more experience and expertise on something like book titles than you do. I want the titles of my WIP series to do two things: at least hint that it's part of a series, and get people to read the blurb on the back. There are probably a lot of people who know more about how to make those things happen than I do, and I'll welcome their help if/when the time comes.
My WIP is called Zombie because the POV is called Zombie. Their name is quite fitting, since they go around almost mindlessly, killing anyone they don’t care about (this is after the apocalypse). I am aware that the title might make readers initially think that the story is about actual zombies, but this is quickly shown to not be the case to anyone who reads the little blurb on the back cover. I’ve had this title since I first came up with the idea for the story, and I honestly don’t think it’ll change. If you ask me, it fits perfectly. My advice to you, @deadrats, would be to try a few (or a bunch of) different titles and see what works best. Maybe it could be a value important to the story/MC, or maybe a character name or catchphrase. I think I’ll have to somewhat agree and somewhat disagree with @peachalulu. I really wouldn’t worry too much about picking the MC’s name for the title, I mean, look at Harry Potter! It could have been called “Happenings at Hogwarts,” but a some of the story doesn’t even take place there. It’s about Harry and his journey, so I think that title fits perfectly. I’ll somewhat agree that using a few words can be bland. However, I think that sometimes a quick little title can be one of the most memorable, hard-hitting ones. For me, it’s really how it’s executed.
I used just on word, in the past. Thinking of using more, but I really like just a single word. Also, been writing on a post-apocalyptic book, titled 2222, as in the year. Might come off as a pretty good idea.
I like a single-word title as well. My novel's title is Brothers. At first it was just a working title, but the concept of 'brothers' became more and more significant as the story developed. Now I wouldn't want my title to be anything else. A four digit number? That might be interesting. How would you say it? Twenty-two twenty-two?
