After a night out with friends, it’s amazing how your body needs to rest 
. I slept till 11 AM or 12, not sure. I was out late. Hey, even a “wretched writer” like me can party! *ahem* excuse me…’parteeeeeeeeeeh’.
But anyway, so this is a quick post, something that was on my mind and I’ve never discussed. It’s gonna be a quick post because I need to head to work in about 30 minutes.
The subject is ‘titles’. As in titling a work, be it a short story, novel, playwright. Whatever. It’s such an interesting phenomenon, the concept of forming a title that fits your work. Perfectly, even. How do we go about it? What makes the perfect title?
A long time ago, I read a book on creative writing (great stuff, too), and it stated some easy concepts when thinking of a title (especially for marketing purposes). Generally–and this isn’t always the case, as usual–1-word or 2-word titles fit the bill. Think about it. You’ve got Stephenie Meyer with her TWILIGHT, NEW MOON, ECLIPSE, and BREAKING DAWN. 1-word and 2-word titles generally grab you the most.
This isn’t to say, though, that more words don’t work for any book. I’ve seen plenty of titles for extremely good works that covered nearly the whole front of the book. I mean, for crying out loud, read Jen Lancaster’s BITTER IS THE NEW BLACK: CONFESSIONS OF A CONDESCENDING, EGOMANIACAL, SELF-CENTERED SMARTASS, OR, WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER CARRY A PRADA BAG TO THE UNEMPLOYMENT OFFICE (that’s a lot of capitals there). Yes, that is the WHOLE title (capitals, capitals). And (for lack of space, we’ll just call it…) BITTER IS THE NEW BLACK is actually a great read, and Lancaster’s been on a roll with a couple other books following up.
Another point–when do you come with the title? Do you think of it before you write the work? Or does it usually come to you after you’re finished? Do you think of it during the actual writing?
Rule of thumb–your ‘perfect’ title, whatever it may be, comes to you when you’ve FULLY understood what the story is about. At least this is my opinion. For those who outline (raises hand), it’s easy to come up with the title. Because I have the story crystallized in my head, for the most part. For those who don’t, they may use a working title, and then the title changes by the end of the book. It becomes more of a journey of discovery.
So don’t feel pressured to think of a title before you write. Even if you outline, don’t feel pressured to think of a title. Some stories are hard to summarize in one or two words. Even four or five words (or kajillion words like Jen Lancaster).
Just write the work. Let it speak to you.
And maybe you’ll come up with the perfect little love note for all readers to see on the cover. The perfect lure. The perfect title.
