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Saturday, April 23, 2011

T is for Titles...

I don't know how it is for you, but either titles come easy, often before the story, or they are the hardest things to come up with.

Since I like the title to somehow relate to the story, either through characters or theme, sometimes it takes ages to come up with the right one.  I like the title to hint at what you'll find somewhere in the story.  But a very subtle hint.

Sometimes I like to do the "play on words" things.  For example, I'm working on a romance titled Free Fall.  The first scene shows the heroine stuck in a tree, hanging from a parachute.  I'm going to put her into a free fall type romance, head over heals whether she wants to or not.  It's going to be a rush. :-)

A mystery short I titled "Last Laugh" sorta captures the "he who laughs last, laughs loudest" saying.  A fantasy short called "Prey" deals with a wolf-like being hunting a child.  And in "Tyger, Tyger" not only is the main suspect a tiger, my character quotes a line from "The Tiger" by William Blake.

What about you?  Do titles come easy for you?  Do you know the title before the story?  And do you like to connect the title with the theme or some other element of the story?

4 comments:

Malcolm R. Campbell said...

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But it's nice when they tip off the reader overtly or covertly about what is to come.

Malcolm

Jacklyn Cornwell said...

I find titles difficult, but I'm getting better, and some of the books I write the titles come to me and they make sense.

Sue said...

I battle with blog titles, I can't imagine how I'd cope with a story title. Sue@JumpingAground (Alliteration & drabbles)
Sue@traverselife(Workplace bullying)

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