Titles are important. They are also hard to come up with. The title is what usually catches a reader’s eye first. Books are often listed by title on websites like Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. You will see a list of titles. You don’t want a boring title.
You want it to be short and sweet. No one will pick up a book titled: A flight on a plane where people aare aggressive and then the plane crashes. A better title there would be either Aggressive Flight, or Flight to Danger. Those are good titles. They are short and they don’t give the story away. The first was almost a log line, except it’s a bit vague.
The point is that the title should fit the piece without being a full sentence. Short and sweet is much better. Some people start with the title and go from there. The title of my novel, Accidental Colony, came about after I started writing the story. I realized that the characters had started out wanting to learn about another world. That’s the beauty of the title. You kind of know what the book is about, but you don’t know how the plot goes. That’s a good title.
The title should make someone want to read your work. That’s the title’s job, to sell your story. It should make people want to ready the story.
That said, it’s not always easy to come up with a good title. Often a work will have a working title, which may or may not become the actual title. A working title is how you refer to the work while you are writing it. The working title is likely your filenames on your computer or in a file cabinet, if you work on paper. That’s all. It’s often distinct from the final title.
Titling a work can be harder than writing it. Sometimes the ‘perfect’ title isn’t clear. Sometimes, the working title turns out to be the best one for the piece. That’s fine. That’s when it is easiest. Sometimes you come up with a title and write the story to match. That’s when titling a story is easy.
So use the utmost care when you conider tthe title when writing your story. Write the story regardless. If the title comes to you in a flash. Thank the deity of your choice and run with it. It doesn’t always come that easy. Consider your titles with the same care that you write your story.
No matter where you come from in the search for a title, keep in mind that it’s job is to entice readers to read your work. That’s the only job a title has. It’s not only a filename. It has a specific job. Keep that in mind when choosing the title for your work. If you are struggling, remember that’s the norm. Take care in naming your story. It’s important.
I am not one who is comfortable talking about myself but here goes. I enjoy writing, family history, and reading. I decided to do this blog because I wanted to try something new. I decided to make it a weekly blog because I wasn't sure that I could keep up with a daily one, and monthly seemed like I was writing a magazine. I think I did ok with my choices. You'll notice that there are not a lot of graphics on my site. That's because there are graphics plastered everywhere on the Internet and those sites sometimes take forever to load. This blog is a place where you can kick back, relax and be ready to be amused. At least I hope I willbamuse you. This blog is on a variety of subjects from my ficitional cat agency, the FFL, which is monthly, to instructional blogs to editorials, which are my opinions only. I admit that I don't know everything and could be wrong -- I frequently am. Now, stop reading about me and read what I have to say!
Check out my novel, The Accidental Colony — It's the story of a group of scientists fighting for survival.
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