RebelGoddess

I'll admit it:

I stink at titleing things.

Papers, novels, people, everything.

I am just horrible with nameing things, and yet I have to have a title for my novel by Friday morning.

Any ideas on how to come up with a title?

Racheal

P.S.

The novel is going to be this first in a 2 or 3 part grouping, so should I make it one of those books that's got a series name with a colon after it and the part's title?

__________________
Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

Xonia

Maybe if you give a short description of it, people might help you?

The only way I think you can improve your "titeling skills" is by 1) doing it a lot 2) reading the titles of other books.

Good luck

journyman161

Setting up for 2 or 3 part novels might be OK for a published author, but I would imagine the publisher may not want to allow it for a 1st time author. They don't know if it's going to sell or whether there'll ever be another in the line.

If the 1st sells & you produce a 2nd, you can always but 'Book 2 in the <title> trilogy' or "Sequel to <Title>

But some indication of content would be necessary to get a title that's meaningful

__________________
*He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
*Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
*Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it - Moses Hadas
*He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know - Abraham Lincoln

Ben

Why do you need it by friday?

And what's your story focussed around? Take a look at that and your title will be in the somewhere

Verago

Hmmm...
Some basic rules to follow:
1. Try to keep it less than four or five words.
2. Don't include difficult words in the title unless its an essay.
3. An option is to use a question as a title like, "Who Killed Roger Rabbit?"
4. Avoid use of exclaimation marks in the title, unless it is, but not only or neccessarily, a humorous piece.
5. If it's fantasy, mystery, or sometime's sci-fi and others, you can always use words like, "Crimson, blood, red, dawn, dusk, blue, indigo, dark, menacing, haunted, disturbed, conspiracy, chronicles..."

RebelGoddess

Where do you all get your title inspiration from?

Do you tend to look more at the characters or the plot? Do you tend to make them descriptive or more factual with regards to the story (as in "Alice's adventure" instead of "Through the rabbit hole")?

Thanks.

Racheal

__________________
Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

RebelGoddess

So my novel is almost finished, yet it doesn't have a title. I wanted to post a synopsis here, just to give ya'll an idea of what it's about.

Synopsis:

Shoes, cars, guys. These are the things important to Candace Hunter. She was just like every other teenage girl until one day she befriended the new girl at her high school. Soon, Candace learns of an ancient prophecy that says she is the quello-puro, the savior of another dimension. Candace must escape a bounty hunter and travel to the unknown world of Ammon-Eshe to learn the truth about her destiny. Once there, she meets the rebels, those who are opposed to the tyrant that seeks to control both Ammon-Eshe and Candace’s own world. She and five others must brave forests, mountains, and creatures she never thought existed so that she can get to the prophet Fausto, the only one who can help her to understand her part in the prophecy. With the aide of her companions, Candace is forced to confront and navigate the strange world that she must risk her life to save.

What do ya'll think?

Racheal

__________________
Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

Dan101

Look into your plot for ideas. Somtimes the title can be a specific event within the story, or even the name of a character.

I tend to look at specific events that occur in my stories to gain inspiration for titles (and even then they really arent all that great). Ive only once come up with a title that I really liked, but oh well lol.

Im not great at titles like I said, but Ill attempt to give you a few...please dont yell cus they are bad...lol:

Prophecy
Odyssey of Candace Hunter
Galaxy Savior (wow thats cheesey...)

Wow those arent that great...hahaha I have no doubt that you will find some good titles, you just have to look within your writing. Good luck ^_^

__________________

Vincent Gray

I mostly like short titles. They're easier to remember. I'd just call your book "Far Prophet" or something. And I don't like titles like "Far Prophet: The Adventures of Candace Hunter" or whatever. The stuff after the main title is just filler and seems to give too much information. Shorter, non-specific titles hint at the story without giving it away. Plus people would just call your book Far Prophet or whatever anyways.

Simple titles just seem classic and timeless to me, like the book could have been written today or it could be a translation of an ancient legend. Modern, long titles just seem cheap.

Another thing you could do is try taking a metaphor from your book and shortening it into a title, if it's not short enough already. Something the reader might not get until they've read the book. It will also make that metaphor seem extremely important when the reader first comes across it in the book, obviously, since it's the title, so choose carefully if you do this. I think it gives your book a nice, connected feel, like when you somehow link the beginning with the end through similar settings, reusing a metaphor, an event, whatever.

RebelGoddess

Dan, I was thinking "The Prophecy" too! hehe, they're not bad titles : ) No yelling here!

Vincent, I definately agree with you about shorter titles. I definitely don't want some long winded title like: "The prophecy of the young Candace Hunter's life" or something crazy.

Short and simple.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Since I no longer need a title by Friday, I'm good. I can take a bit longer to fix everything up.

Racheal

__________________
Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

RebelGoddess

Does 'The Prophecy" sound too 'used' or too bland?

Does anyone else have the problem of originality for their titles?

I don't want mine to be something that gets used a lot and can be discarded, or god forbid confused for another novel.

Any ideas on how to make it original/stand out or how to not worry so much about it?

Racheal

__________________
Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

Verago

That debut novel best-seller called, "The Historian" is about as bland as you can get.

"The Prophecy" sounds excellent.

RebelGoddess

It's not definite yet, I'm still entertaining other ideas.

I want something that soiunds good, is eye (ear?) catching and simple.

Complicated qualifications, I know : ).

Racheal

__________________
Writing is life.

Writers' block doesn't exist. It's actually called work avoidance procrastination.
-Jasper Fforde

ultraviolet

RebelGoddess, I know exactly what you are talking about, I suck at titleing (is that how you spell it? I tried 'titling' but that looked too gross). I would try to help but my efforts would be very pathetic. "The Prophecy" sounds good, I think, but the plot seems too exciting/energetic for it.

Of course, Verago is right about "The Historian," so I don't know.

*sigh* I guess I shouldn't try to tell you "The Prophecy" seems too bland if I can't even come up with anything.

Good luck with this one!

__________________
I can't believe bananas can't make juice...

Hell's Angel

Eh...
Shadow of Omens?
Visions? (series title, maybe)
Light of the Prophet?

Aw, hell, keep it simple, okay? Call me unreliable.

__________________
One-ups, man.