So you’re finally finished writing it – the thing that has taken up all of your free time for the past two years (or more), the monkey on your back that wouldn’t let you sleep, that had you pulling out your pen and paper while on vacation with your family because The Idea came to you…
Well, you’re finished. You want to print it out, slap on a title, and send it off.
Hold up, there partner! Pause, breathe, put the the manuscript down. Easy! There you go….
What’s the big deal with a title?
Everything! It’s the first thing that a potential reader will see, the line that will either catch an editor’s attention or send it straight to the trash can. Just as your name represents you, the title of your book must be representative and catchy for your novel.
The good, the bad, and the ugly…
There are three distinct groups of titles.
The first is the good: the ones that catch attention, make a reader pick the book up, scan the front, turn it over and read the back, and then on to the checkout stand. Examples: Empress, Boiling Point, Crown of Thorns, Slaughterhouse-Five, A Feast for Crows.
The bad: have a hit and miss chance of grabbing a reader, with good enough cover art and some fantastic quotes from the New York Times or Publisher’s Weekly, they may be read. They probably won’t be the first book a reader picks up, but it’s possible. Examples: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, War of the Gods, Secrets of Droon: The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet, Maximum Ride: the Angel Experiment.
Then the ugly: get the response “how did this ever get onto this shelf?” “What was the editor/author thinking?” Examples: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl…
So how do you name it?
Unfortunately, while there is a plethora of baby-name books flooding the market and internet, there is no “novel-name book” for authors. So, you must be creative. Which really shouldn’t be that hard – hell, you wrote a book, didn’t you?
Coming up with the name of your novel should be a process started at the same time you write the firs paragraph, and honestly, will and should go on until you’re done with your final edit. It’s not an easy task – parents may argue and pine over it for nine months – why should your naming process be any different?
Following are several tips to help you come up witht the ideal name for your “baby.” These are merely brainstorming techniques to hopefully help something click in that creative cavity you have sitting between your shoulders:
Make a list
1. the names of your main characters
2. the major places in your book
3. any special talismans/objects that play a specific/important role (ie. The Sword of Shanara)
4. creatures, animals, aliens, names
Your plot
1. what is the point of your book?
2. is there a journey? To where? For why?
3. are you writing about a deeper meaning?
4. can you tie in your book with current events or popular topics? (ie the Davinci Code)
5. what are your characters trying to do?
Google is your best friend
1. search for pictures of a theme, character, creature, place, etc. that you feel represents your book. You’ll come across some cool (and weird) things, and may give you direction.
2. see what others writing about similar topics are using for titles. Make sure your title isn’t too close to another’s.
3. get some more backstory on an item, relic, place, or animal in your story. Again, think muse…
Have fun
1. play up on words and items in your book (ie One of our newest books due out next summer is “Of Quills and Kings,” in which the villan is a demonic and sadistic hedgehog that overthrows the crown…)
2. be witty. You are trying to grab science fiction/fantasy/horror/etc fans, not collegiate professors that enjoy spending all of their waking hours with their pet rock. Uh…
3. be original. You want to stand out, but don’t be too off-beat that you scare people away.
Filed under: Creative Writing, Short Stories, Submitting Tips, characters, publishing, write, writing
I’m starting to feel like a stalker but then I figured what the hell I’ve commented on everything else and I really did enjoy this post. You have a lot of good suggestions here and I’ve got it bookmarked. I tend to suck at naming things so believe me I’ll be referring back to your hints.
Haha,
Well I’m glad you’re enjoying the site, JT. Thanks.
This is really helpful. I have trouble with titles too. When I named my book, I used an observation the main character had which summed up a thread running throughout the book. Is that okay to do?
As long as the “observation” is short and sweet, then it could be fine. The main thing you want to consider is immediate attention and whether the title is memorable. You want readers to go to the bookstore and be able to ask for help finding your title, rather than “it’s something about something, but I don’t remember the name of it…”
Keep it short, that’s the biggest thing.
Great, thank you, think it’ll work.
This is some really good advice. But it’s still not helping. The thing is: I have a four part series in the works and I have all of the books named…except the first one, the one I’ve actually started. It’s so frustrating! Hopefully your tips will help eventually. thanks so much!!!!
Good article. Very helpfull, thanks alot.
[...] brainstorming list of information to gather when you’re trying to dream up that just-right novel [...]
[...] What’s in a name? – Titles for your novel. « Take that book and… [...]
молнии антимаулнетизм во антимаулнетизм
i usually try to do short one- or two-word titles that sum up the book, or a recurrent theme of the book. is that a good formula?
It does–but it also depends on the novel. You want something that will attract attention, but isn’t cliche or too formulaic. One or two word titles can be hard to pull off sometimes, but in my book shorter is definitely better…
[...] Apache/1.3.33 Server at http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com Port 80 Sites you may be interested in What’s in a name? – Titles for your novel. Take that book and…The Maybe Flower – What Maybe Does to Your Writingromance novel blogsAn Excerpt from Through Bended [...]
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
[...] But novels need titles, as mentioned in a post I found today over at the news blog of Leucrota Press Take That Book And… [...]
If you ever want to hear a reader’s feedback
, I rate this post for 4/5. Decent info, but I have to go to that damn google to find the missed bits. Thanks, anyway!