Usually, I'm quite good at thinking up book titles. I have them in my head before I start typing the manuscript for the first time. I scribble all my ideas along with plot and character jottings in my notebook, and then settle on one before I begin the actual manuscript.
A few people have complained to me that they thought Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire was too long a title. But it actually used to be longer than that. You see, the title was supposed to make the reader think of James Hogg's Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. At any rate, the variations on the title which others have offered to me never had the right rhythm, so I stuck with the title as it is.
I don't even recall when I came up with the title Becoming Brigid. It was just so obvious that that is what the story is about: Brigid figures out who she is -- and who she isn't.
And the title for The (Dis)Appearance of Nerissa MacKay popped into my head, whole and complete, as soon as I realized it was a tale about a girl struggling to be seen who accidentally makes herself unseen instead.
And, although the sequel to Nerissa is nothing more than an idea in my head, I've already got the title, as it's a line she speaks near the end of the first story.
But I'm stuck with this new ms. I'm ready to start writing at any moment. I have character names and histories. I have several conflicts and a basic plot outline (which will, of course, change several times before I get to the end of draft #1). But I have no title. At the moment, all I have is a Pages file with the working title of Something Chocolate And Steampunk. While that is an amusing title, I'm really going to have to do better than that. Soon!
Titles can be a pain, but unless you have a wizzo marketing department behind you, your gut instinct is usually best.
ReplyDeleteAnd 'confessions of an average half vampire' ISN'T too long unless you work for a publishers marketing department.