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Does titling your book bug you? Do you have problems conjuring titles for your books?
Titles can be woes or wows, depending on your mindset.
Over the years I’ve heard such complaints from scores of authors. Their struggles are intriguing. Most of my books are titles in my mind before the first character takes a breath on the page. (Maybe authors like me are aliens.) “You begin a book idea with a title? Ridiculous!” Sorry, that’s the way it works for me.
If you’re one of the thousands having trouble with titles, what can you do to make it less troublesome? Let’s begin by saying you already completed your manuscript. If true, then you have a clear idea in your head what your book is about. Right? If you don’t, if you can’t synopsize your book in the briefest terms, then you’ve got a bigger problem. You’re not fine-tuned with what you’ve written.
The best titles are rendered in one, two or three words. Wordy titles are not often memorable. There are rare exceptions, of course. “Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass comes to mind. He used a four-word title and the book is a must read for all authors. Another exception is a little booklet (shirt pocket size) with a BIG title. “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear” by Stanley Popovich. It’s subtitle is “Using Psychology, Christianity and Non-resistant Methods.”
I can’t always follow this wise edict in my own book titles, but the challenge is to try.
If you must convey more than a word or two, consider adding a subtitle.
Here are some titles that remain memorable to many readers.
Oliver Twist
Moby Dick
Persuasion
Logan’s Run
Silent Running
Harry Potter
DOA
Carrie
In the above examples, it’s easy to understand why such titles stick in our minds. They make perfect sense with the stories they portray. A title isn’t a title for the heck of it. Titles should mean something pertinent to our theme or main character. Now forgive me for using some of my own examples.
Authors, ask yourself what is the gut/heart of your book? What one, two or three words exemplifies the meaning of your story? Can you identify the essence of your book in one word or two? Is a word like The really necessary? Dig for that gold. It’s there.
write by Issac