There’s one aspect of writing that I really struggle
with. Well, more than one, but I’m able
to overcome most of the others. But when
it comes to finding the right title to my novels, I usually come up blank.
To be honest, I’m not sure that I pay too much attention to
titles when it’s on other books. The
only time I do is when it something like ‘The Goose Girl,’ which is the same
title as one of my favorite fairy tales.
In fact, most of the time, I forget the title the moment that I set the
book down (which tends to make it difficult to find again.) I’ve had moments where I pick up a random
book at a relative’s house, then forget what it’s called and end up searching for
it for years.
But I digress.
When I’m writing stories, I never start out with a
title. Well, I did once but I never
finished it. Since I organize my stories
by color I call them “the red story” or “white story.” It takes me several drafts to finally get to
something that I feel comfortable with, but I still struggle to find something
that pops.
Do any of you have advice?
How do you come up with good titles that convey the idea of the story
and draw the reader in? What titles have
hooked you?
Girl, a few weeks ago I had a cheery post about how I found the title for my WIP. Time for the happy dance, right? Now, after my first round of editing and a dramatically different ending, the title is void. Back to square one.
ReplyDeleteBut, for a Selfish Moment, I followed a few suggestions I found online. Make lists of phrases, words, that stand for the characters plights, the dilemma, the world she lives in, stuff like that. Then, put the list away, reread the book ( or continue editing) and revisit the list. You'll notice some of the words don't make sense, more are missing, some tenses change, etc. You go through a few rounds until one just sticks. For me, this took almost a month. But once the title hit me, I just knew.
Hope this helps. :-)