Title of a book is very important. While there may be people who will give your story a chance without judging it by the title and cover, there are plenty more people who won't. Sometimes, I am one of those people too. Especially if I don't know anything about the author and I am in a bookshop, then if the title is unappealing then I won't risk wasting my money, but move on to something that seems more promising. Not fair, but that's the way it works. So the title is important.
Some people start with a title, others decide it fairly early on in the book, but in my writing history, titles rarely come at the beginning. In couple of books, I've had titles decided fairly early, but usually all WIPs are known either by the main character's name, or by the place where take place. I do try to think about what the title should be, but not really agonize over them because I feel that until the book is good enough to be ready for submission, it's not really worth worrying about. Worrying about the story will probably pay off better in the long run.
When do you come up with your titles? How do you find them? Do they come easily to you, or do you have to spend a lot of time finding the right title?
I am incapable of naming the book until it is 100% done. I'm not sure why this is. I have only written one book mind you, so maybe this new one I'm starting up will happen differently. My first title did NOT come easy, all the inital ideas I had I felt were super lame. I ended up looking up random definitions on google until I found a word that described what I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Names! AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!
ReplyDelete*Cough*
Sorry.
I put a LOT of stock in names, whether it be the title, the name of a character, or a street address, and because of this it takes me FOREVER to name anything. ;-)
As for when, I don't generally name the book until the end, when I can look at it as a whole.
God help any publisher that decides to rename one of my pieces... (unless their idea is better, of course)
Adam
I've gone through multiple titles as I write. A new idea might pop up that sends the story in a whole new direction and suddenly the title I had chosen no longer works. I agree though, you can't really choose a title until the book is finished.
ReplyDeleteI usually come up with the working title fairly early. We'll have to see whether a publisher keeps it.
ReplyDeleteI think I would agree with most of you that you need to finish the book to be sure you have the right name. You might have found the name earlier, but then the story might change along the way.
ReplyDeleteIt usually comes to me somewhere along the way, usually about halfway through. By then I usually have an idea where it's going or at least where I think it will go or what the point will be. All of that can change, of course, but that's usually when the title comes to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm all over the place when it comes to titles. My first year NaNo I knew the title before I even started and it never changed. Last year's NaNo the title didn't come easily and waited until about halfway through. I've got yet another WIP that had a vague title to start with, has changed twice since, and I probably won't settle on a permanent title until I'm finished.
ReplyDeleteGood questions. It depends on the book when I come up with a title. For Monarch I started with the title. For The Breakaway, I came up with it halfway through. Great question! But yes, focusing on the story is usually the most important thing.
ReplyDeleteSome of them come easy, some don't. I normally pick at least a working title when I decide on the main plot, just for ease of reference. But I'm never too attached to them - they can change anytime.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how different, and yet how generally similar approach we all take to coming up with titles. I still have no clue about the title for my NaNo novel, but as Lauren (Catherine Tate) would say, "I ain't bouvvered"
ReplyDelete