Wednesday, September 28, 2011

A rose by any other name


A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
Juliette, William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette

Can you tell I'm wrangling titles this week? Yeah. Not so easy. Do I go for the blatant, obvious one? Do I try to be crafty? Do I go for a hint of mystery? Do I blubber in the corner?

The edgier the project for me, the more difficult it is to title it. Some books just seemed to fall out of my head, through my fingers and into this computer with characters, plot and title fully formed. Others, I played with a little and settled. Two I have really battled with what to name them. The latest WIP is one of them.

I thought I had it after changing it twice, and my agent nixed them both when I pitched the chapters and synopsis to her. *sigh* So I went back to the Title Drawing Board. I think Thesaurus.com is tired of seeing my ISP after today. Hell, I even called in back up, tapping my adult romance writing beta and my YA writing betas. We finally came upon a name we all like, knowing full-well an editor will most likely change it anyway. *sigh again* So, here's the title: The Dark Before. I'll let y'all ponder the who/what/when/where/why we settled on this one and what type of story it is.

Here are a couple links to help you on your next title quest:
7 Tips to Land the Perfect Title for Your Novel

Title Your Novel in Three Easy Steps!

How to Title Your Book by agent Rachelle Gardener

I hope you don't end up with the headache I did, and have an amazing title for your novel!! If you have any tips for titling, please share! Have a great title, share that too. ^_^

3 comments:

  1. ohhh... I like that title, A.E. I could be dark as in not light outside, or dark as in someone's soul before they have an experience that changes them. It makes me wonder and draws me in.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Jessie! My agent approves. Funny thing is, my dedicated YA reader doesn't >_< Gender gap? Are we as adults writing for teens over thinking? Ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I always go with a reoccurring thought of message. If there a word or phrase or moral your novel overall portrays? A place of great significance? Personally, The Dark Before doesn't offer me enough. The dark before what?

    Write well,
    Robin

    ReplyDelete

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