Choosing Titles

Inspired by a post made on another blog I thought I’d chat about choosing titles and how I came up with mine.

I believe that the title is crucial to the commercial success of any book. The right word or phrase printed on the cover of you novel will draw a reader like a moth to a flame. Titles can be thought-provoking, or humourous, or sweet, or romantic, or sexy, or fantastical, or so abstract that they make Cubism look like Impressionism (art jokes for the win). Your title should of course relate directly to the story that you’re telling, and (in most cases) be an indicator of genre (I think that with literary fiction this becomes a bit harder, but with genre fiction it’s almost essential). This doesn’t mean that you can’t play with the rules and have a title not typical of the genre that you write in, but I think you have to be very careful not to alienate the reader. On seeing your title they will have certain expectations of what your book might be about, and if your title and the content of your novel don’t correlate then that may throw them.

I like to plot rather loosely when I begin a  novel, but I still have enough of an understanding of my plot that I can generally think of a title for the book before I’ve even started writing Chapter 1. “The Hammer of the Thunder God” came really quickly. I knew that the mystical Norse artefact Mjollnir was going to be crucial to the story (in fact retrieving it is the main objective for the characters), so I knew that I wanted that to be reflected in the title. But calling it “Mjollnir” or “The Quest for Mjollnir” or something along those lines sounded really dull. But I was immediately struck (sorry there’s a mythology joke in there somewhere) by how dramatic “The Hammer of the Thunder God” sounded. I love that title and I think other people will love it as well. It tells you almost everything you need to know. It tells you that this hammer must be crucial to the plot, it tells you that the book must involve mythology, and it also tells you that it must be a fantasy book. Of course it doesn’t scream “young adult” but I always say that it’s harder to show age in book titles, unless you’re writing for really young children. I plan on this book being the first in a series, and because I’ve done loose plots of all the books in the series, then it allows me to choose the titles for them off the bat. In fact, only one of the books doesn’t have a title (because I keep changing the plot), and with another it has three working titles, because I haven’t decided which I like best.

As for my other book, “Valley of Shadows”, I chose that title because it sounds quite ominous. But actually the way I chose that title was different to the others. The Valley of Shadows is a place within the world of that book, a very important place. But I chose it because each book is supposed to represent a different mystical element. So in the case of “Valley of Shadows”, when you picture a valley you see something that is cut into the earth, and Earth is the focal element of that book. Again, as with the other books, I have loosely plotted all the novels in this potential series as well, and each of the books relates to a different element, and so do their titles. I think that “Valley of Shadows” is a little more abstract than THOTTG, but I think you can still get a “supernatural” vibe from it (and as another fantasy book then you’d be right).

Not all authors do things like this, and some wait until the end of a manuscript before they name it. I think it’s important to do what you feel is best for you. I mean, even though I come up with a title at the beginning of the process it doesn’t mean that I won’t change it at the end if I feel it’s necessary. I just think that having a title, even if it’s a rough working title, can help to focus your writing and your plot.

An example of how things can go wrong: is it the women or the horses who are supposed to be lesbians?

I think you have to be very careful with titles though, really think them through. Sometimes people could think they’ve invented a word and it turns out that it’s really offensive in another language, or the way a title is written can be confusing and sometimes unintentionally hilarious. You need to make sure that you check and triple check your title so that it is not unintentionally misread; it needs to say exactly what you want it to say.

Now another important point is that if you get to the publishing stage, chances are that an agent or an editor will suggest other titles to you. Sometimes you may think it’s not as good as yours, or it could turn out to be even better. It’s important to listen though because they know what sells, and they will be basing their title judgements on the marketing potential. However, this doesn’t mean that they are unsympathetic, if you really think that your title is better, then it could be an idea to let your agent know, so that they can tell your editor (in the politest terms possible) how passionate you are about your title. After all this is a collaborative process, so the editor should be working with you and your agent when developing a title (although marketing and sales will be involved as well most likely).*

I find coming up with titles relatively easy, but not every author does. I can’t really offer too much advice other than look at what your book is about, look at what the most crucial plot and character elements are, and draw a title from that. Sometimes, it takes constant re-writing until you get it right, but you will get it right eventually if you just keep in mind the most important aspects of your manuscript. It is a crucial that you have a title when trying to gain representation, as titles can often hook an agent into wanting to actually read your sample chapters/manuscript.

So, hang in there because that perfect title is just around the corner, and hey, if you’re really struggling you could always try the “Random Book Title Generator”.

So how do you come up with your titles? Do you find it easy/difficult? Does the title of a book influence whether you buy it or not?

*This is simply my opinion on how things work based on posts made by editor and agent blogs.