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Untitled
Beginnings are always the toughest for me. It’s the gateway to the whole book. What I say in that first line will set my tone for what’s to come. And what better way to say that then the title.
When I walk into a store, I beeline to the books. It can be Target. It can be Walmart. It can be Hyvee. But I go straight there. Barnes and Noble is heaven for me. I spend a lot of time perusing the library, up on the second floor running my fingers over the thousands of titles. But the single most thing I look for in a book is a title. And the cover. I’m sorry but I’m that person. Tar and feather me if you must but some of the best books I’ve ever read were because I saw them on a shelf, facing out and picked them up for a two-page middle of the book teaser. My mind works like a projector. When I read the words, it plays out like I’m watching it on the screen. The title helps to give me an idea if it might be something I’m interested in. The cover helps me pick it up. I never read a back-cover blurb without reading two pages right in the middle. That’s just the way I am.
Two years ago I was in Phoenix at a Walmart in Peoria right off the 101 Loop. They have the biggest book selection ever. Right in the middle of the store. It stretches as far as the eyes can see. I was in need of another book to read. A two and a half hour flight back to Missouri is rough for someone who doesn’t like to fly and I like to spend my time chewing on my fingernails and reading. I searched the new releases. Nothing caught my eye that I didn’t already own. And I head towards the back section. That’s where I saw it. The cover was beautiful, purpleish with gold tones. The middle was a couple. The guy muscular, tan, his dark hair worn longer and the woman, blonde, petite, her hair was plastered to her. He was leaning into her, her mouth ready to be kissed.
Hard Evidence. (Pamela Clare)
I smiled to myself. A play on words- my kind of book. I picked it up, flipped right to the middle of the book. I can’t repeat the scene. But one might say… uh, um… it was hot. Super hot. Hotter than the Sahara on the most blistering of days. I stood right there in the store fanning myself with this book. My face went flushed. I might’ve sweated a little. I dunno. I was in Phoenix. It was pretty warm.
Let’s just say I snatched that book up faster than a rabbit can destroy a strawberry patch.
I’m not the best titlist. It goes hand in hand with my inability to write beginnings. I can’t title something I don’t know exactly. Double Vision, my WIP, wasn’t always DV, but I can tell you it happened not too long after I established I was going to start my quest for the original. The plot is completely different as well. My heroine started out as an investigative journalist a little over two years ago. Now my heroine is a special agent for the FBI, working in the cyber crimes unit.
This is my first beginning. My working title at the time (which stayed for all of two days, I think. I had to go look up my emails from two years ago. LOL) was Practice Makes Perfect Murder. Just like a headline. Or at least I thought it was in my head. (I’m telling you I suck at titles. I always have. I just happen to have the best titlist in the world as a best girlfriend.)
“I’d always thought that paper and ink smelled a lot like heaven and a little like hell. Let’s just say I was leaning a little more towards the hell part today.
It was Friday and the office at Midwestern Daily had been a cluster of activity up until about three hours ago. I had been at my desk for 12 hours today and hadn’t accomplished one damn thing. Not one word was written on my computer screen and I still had a nasty red-penciled marked article sitting on my desk courtesy of Dave Winton, Editor-in-Chief. But at the moment I was too fed up to really give a flying rat’s ass.”
My beginning now, which is still subject to change since I’ve not finished yet and I always rewrite the beginning after I’ve written “The End” is not much better. But better fitting for the title of Double Vision. I’m still thinking up the perfect first sentence. It has to be something completely smart ass, just like Sadie. I will come up with it after I’ve written the last word. That’s usually how this works for me.
“It’s been four weeks! What do you mean clean-up isn’t taken care of yet?” I tapped my pencil on the desk and the eraser’s momentum carried it higher and higher the madder I got. I was speaking to my superior, James Davenport of the Washington D.C. FBI office and I tried to keep my voice down to a whisper but I was fighting a losing battle with my temper. “By now Ivan Petrenkov’s whole operation could be shut down!”
Double Vision is reflective of my plot. There is a lot that can be said for double vision. It can remind you of being drunk in a bar, weaving through the tables as you make your way outside. You vision so blurry you can’t make out which one is real and which one is the fake. It can be the mirror image of my heroine with her twin. The twin is not the main plot. Only the background. Things get very interesting for Sadie when she returns home to Missouri. Practice Makes Perfect Murder wouldn’t fit for this story anymore. To even write that is just silly for me. Bad, bad title. Shame on me. That’s like having a mullet and air-guitaring to Stairway to Heaven.
To me the title is the bread and butter of the cover. It is what will attract a lot of people. It is what will ring in their ears long after they’ve forgotten what the cover looked like. It’s hard to come up with something catchy. And for us writing series’, it’s hard to find something you can use over and over again without it becoming stale. It’s like the perfect accessory. Almost as important as the right shoe for the trouser jeans you love to wear. Without a title, your book would be just another untitled good sitting on the shelf waiting to be picked up, begging to be read.
I know our writing pirate wenches out there have something to share. Give me your best first title and how it’s changed since you’ve began. Do you think a short or a long title is better? For our readers, do you base your reading off title, cover, blurb or a little of everything? What’s the best title you’ve read for a book that seemed to fit perfectly?
Books by the Crew
40 comments:
I suck at titles too. And don't feel shallow about picking books up by cover and title. I found a few authors that way... Louisa Burton, she had the prettiest cover I had ever seen on, House of Dark Delights.
In The Night only got it's name from Terri, I called it Lupiscoeur until book one was done in draft form. Untamed Desire sounded right for Nick and Jocey's story (Which came from Janga I believe)
My story now is all about Jinan. So why not just call it Jinan?
Full moon and Midnight Lover are so named because well, isn't it obvious they are paranormal? And relate to werewolves? Both are contemporary.
I suck at titles. I just like a good title. One I can remember. It's hard to remember what book you were talking about when 3000 others have Duke in the title. :)
And Christie, have you ever read the Anne Stuart Contemporaries? They are right up your alley!
I don't have "best" anything! The second book I wrote though was originally called By Chance (because it all happened by a chance encounter) but then I stole a title from myself from a FanLit chapter and changed it to Waking Beauty because I freakin' LOVED that title---which also works, because the hero has to awaken the heroine on all sorts of levels. I'm working on Mistress By Midnight now (mistresses are almost as thick on the ground as dukes now, LOL), but it just says Con and Laurette on the file.
Awesome blog:)
I'm with you, I've choosen a lot of books for the cover art and title. I also suck at beginnings and titles.
My first title for my WIP was Seeds of the Soul, that didn't work for me so I changed it to Picture This because the heroine is a super model. But the premise of the book is how her character evolves and comes into her own over the course of the story so I recently decided on the title of Look at Me Now.
My beginning sentence which is going to change...
Her face graced the cover of the latest issue of Fashion Wear Daily, but no one recognized Bianca Holt as she made her way through the Camden Ohio airport.
My WIP started out as Only Love Matters, but now I want to use the word Bewitching in it. So, right now I just call it Bewitching, though I have been messing with other titles with the word Bewitching in it. His Bewitching Guardian is my new one, but I worry it's too long and too, I don't know, Harlequin sounding.
Everytime I hear the title Double Vision, I get that song stuck in my head. LOL! But I think that's a great title and fitting for the genre in which you write.
I used to be really good at first lines, but lost the ability somewhere in the last several months. It's like losing your mojo. Very annoying. Though I did think I had the best first line in one of my Fanlit entries - So this was Hell. It got attention and the rest of the chapter had lots of hot, fiery, Hellish metaphors.
My Erotic Romance short story started as Heat Wave (because the h/h get together during a heat wave) but by the end a new title came out of the writing. Max (hero) kept using the endearment My Anna. And it just sounded more personal to the story.
The current WIP has pretty much always been called Letting Go. The story is all about letting go of things. Fears, the past, pain, judgements, barriers. I think I toyed with something else, but can't even remember what it was now. Besides, most of the time when a book sells, the editor/publisher changes the title anyway. No sense in getting too attached. :)
First lines, sheesh. I've messed with a bunch, but my current first line is.... "Fate was giving her hunger pains." Might not stay, but it's working for me right now.
My first lines suck. Always. Period. If only people started out reading from the second chapter on. It takes me about 1000 words to get warmed up.
Tiff- I haven't read those contemps. Are they paras?
I agree with the titles though. Just by reading them you know they are paras. I have these pictures of what your book covers would look like in my mind. Verra nice.
No, they aren't para... high action, secret agent stuff...
Maggie-- Ooh, yeesh! I know better than that. You have all sorts of things that are the best.
I love the title Waking Beauty. It just sounds so beautiful and puts this mental picture in your mind.
Oh, are we going to start the most cliche titles now. Like The Wicked Duke's Mistress ? ;)
I love books with Mistress or Wicked in the title. That just makes me pick it up faster. LOL
wait... my contemps? or Anne Stuart?
AS is normal..
Tiff is para... the only non para I have is Jinan.
Anne Stuart. I will look for her today. I needed an excuse to spend money.
Tiff- I KNOW your para. Yeesh *smacking forehead* I just had Starbucks. I'm all over the place.
Lisa- Wanna know why it was an awesome blog? Because I'm awesome.
*snorting*
LOL
No more coffee for me. Woo.
I love, love, love, your beginning. I love how just that first couple of sentences sets up the whole rest of the book. I think you've got a winner with a little tweaking.
I love Look At Me Now. You could do Picture Perfect- too. Except I have no idea of the whole story line.
Marn- Hm, I will think on your Bewitching title. We will get you one that is absolutely perfect. Though I was sitting here and smiling at His Bewitching Guardian thinking about them dancing. I so love that scene.
Ter- There is a song called Double Vision? Or maybe I know it and can't think of it. Hm.
Love that fanlit beginning. That would definitely catch your attention quick. And you'll get your mojo back. You just gotta keep the faith. Don't make me sing. "Gotta have faith. Baaaaby." Except I will sing you the Limp Bizkit version and start jumping off the mast and swinging on the sails.
My titles haven't had a change to evolve yet. Unlike the plots, characters, and scenes themselves.
Usually my titles go from "The Adam & Eve Story" to "In the Beginning, Again" (which provided this book was even bought would be changed again, I'm sure.)
I had the ORIGINAL of all ORIGINAL titles for Lucy's story: Redemption. I loved it. I still kinda love it, but do you know how many stories out there are titled Redemption? Yes, too many. Clearly I'm going to need something else if that story was ever snapped up. *pauses as everyone stops laughing* Yeah, I know what you mean.
I was going to go Avon about it and use "Sin" somewhere in the title.
No Ordinary Sin
The Original Sin
Give Me My Sin Again (hey, that's Shakespeare!)
No idea. Absolutely none.
Hell, my other finished one is called Girl on a Grecian Urn. What the devil can I title it? I mean, to me, that's the title.
Leslie Langtry's titles are hilarious. I wish I had title-making skills like that...though my books aren't anything like hers.
I'm guessing my need for the title Redemption comes from reading Julie Garwood. The Secret, Guardian Angel, Mercy...
Sin is an awesome word to put in a title. I mean, if I saw that I'd snatch it up.
I love Redemption for Lucy's story. It's just.. fitting. I can't think of it as anything else. It's just too painful. *stage swooning* And there is my Billy Shakespeare tribute for the day.
I name everything in the beginning whether it sticks or not is a different thing entirely. Like my para is named, All Shadows Eve, and it will stick because of the premise of the very beginning of the book happens on All Hallows Eve. But it takes me a brief outline in my head of what's going to happen before I can title it. And I don't do anything with an idea until I have major thoughts. Then it has to be titled because it will drive me nutso if I don't.
First lines (I suck at these too...am with Sin that people should start reading around page 5 or 10):
GOGU: God hated me.
Redemption: (OLD DRAFT) The time had come to pick a fight.
You know the old Foreigner song, Sin. Look I even found the words to it that sort of fit your characters...
Never do more than I, I really need
My mind is racing, but my body's in the lead
Tonight's the night, I'm gonna push it to the limit
I live all of my years in a single minute
Fill my eyes with that double vision
No disguise for that double vision
Ooh, when it gets through to me, it's always new to me
My double vision always seems to get the best of me, the best of me, yeah-eah eah-eah-hey
Now everyone can have the song stuck in their head. LOL! So we're putting first lines out there. Well, here are my two...
My Anna:
How could something so hard, so powerful, feel so soft to the touch?
Letting Go:
The universe is conspiring against me. It's trying to drive me crazy. Lucky for the universe, it's a short trip.
K, I cheated there and gave three lines. But they are sort of a set and wouldn't make much sense alone.
All the previous titles mentioned sound catchy to me. My first book is FLAME RISING (first because the hero named this female scout Flame Rising then through a process of evolution the title paid tribute to flames rising between h/h. Corny, I know.)
I have a sequel, WALKS ALONE, about the heroine's brother, an Army Scout. Then there's LOVE NEVER DIES, PIRATE BY NIGHT and CHASTITY'S DEBT. Here are a few first lines. (Keep in mind, I may not be good at them.)
LND *Stepping out from the safety of the parsonage, Levana hesitated before crossing the threshold into the blistering sun.*
PBN *Shell and shot exploded above rough hewn beams protecting Constance Danbury's head, shaking her small cabin with a deafening roar as the merchantman Octavia fired back, then listed vulnerably as another volley hit the deck.*
CD *Music undulated in the dimly lit room as Chastity Grant focused upon one card player after another, each holding her fate in their hands.*
Kathy you have the best titles!
I SO know that song. Love Foreigner!
Oh but you are awesome Sin. *g*
I have discovered that a WIP is a work of patience. It's like growing a flower garden. You can't have all the perfect blooms at once so you nuture and tend to it until it flowers in stages making you happy with it's progress all the way through.
Hellion- Are we talking about double spaced page numbers *ducking*
Lisa, that's a very good way of looking at it. It's taken me two years to actually start writing something original that I could live with. It takes time. Like everything else.
Great blog! I'm not sure I've ever picked up a book on the title, but I know I remember good titles. There are a lot of books that I enjoyed with so-so titles, that I can only remember by the characters names.
I'm hideous at titles. Not only can I not title my own stuff, I couldn't even title fanfic. I would have to send the story off to a couple people, let them read it, and then start throwing titles at me. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll do the same with this one.
My current WIP is saved "Cole and Shae" on my computer, which is how I think of it. The critique group I'm in required a title, so I said "No Where to Run," which is a terrible title. The first line: "One step to his left and he would have been dead." Vaguely cliche, but seeing as how it is almost blown into little bits in three paragraphs, it fits.
Kathy- Love Never Dies reminds me of James Bond. I can see someone holding the heroine at gun point on a cliff and the hero saves the day by coming to her rescue right at sunset.
You'll think of something absolutely brilliant Hal. All of your titles so far have been really fitting. I have no doubt that when it's all said and done that this one will be even better.
And if not, then I'll help you think of something. Two minds really bad at titling should be able to come up with something. LOL
Oh, Kathy has pirates and a card playing heroine. How cool!
Haleigh - I like No Where to Run. Sounds like it's very fitting to me. LOL!
Sin, thanks for the kudos on my titles. I'm never sure how they hold up.
Actually Love Never Dies is a paranormal romance, strangely enough about a Black Widow, witch, who sucks the life out of her husbands in order to stay alive. She's seeking a stone which will give her the power to live and love forever. My heroine is the keeper of the stone and must keep her hero from falling into the Black Widow's clutches so her lover will not die. (Cliche?)
Terrio, my card playing heroine is actually the prize of said card game. :-)
Oh, that's even better. Nothing like starting in the middle of the action. LOL!
I love this premise for the para Kathy! Nothing better than a black widow witch! I would totally eat that book up!
Sin - none of my titles have ever been mine. Tracy from TBC does all my titling for me. I have a feeling I'm going to be sending her the rough draft, begging for her to read it and come up with a title :) Or I'll use you. I'll use somebody - LOL.
Kathy - what a great premise! I love the creepy vibe the title "love never dies" takes on in light of a black widow. Nice!
Terri - thanks. It gets the point across, I just wanted something a little more.......I don't know. Which of course, is the problem. I have no idea what I'm trying to convey. I like your plan - let an editor figure it out :)
I love the black widow witch premise, Kathy! And No Where to Run is cool too, Hal.
I spend a lot of time thinking it over, though I do admit Ter is probably right and I'm sure that titles are changed more often than not. But, I want the editor/agent/etc who reads my MS to be drawn in any way I can manage it. I think a catchy title can be a good hook.
:-) Thanks for all the positive comments. You've given me a great boost today!
The rub is an editor will change the title even if you really like it. I know few authors who actually get to keep their original titles.
I am loving Kathy's first lines. Anyone who starts off a novel with undulated in the first sentence is a winner in my book. One of my fav words of all time:) I must say in my WIP it's used to describe perpetual motion of the very best kind. *g*
Marn- I can agree with that. A title will do a lot for you if it catches someone's eye. I'm more than willing to take advice on changing it if it gets published.
Lisa- You have a way with words babe.
Kathy- You deserved a boost! And the positive comments were all well deserved!
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