I just finished the first draft of another Klepto Cat Mystery novel. It took me about two months to write the book and an additional two weeks to settle on a title\u2026maybe. I mean, I have a title I think works\u2014but the book isn\u2019t published yet, so the title could change AGAIN.<\/p>\n
Why is it so easy to write fifty-thousand words and so dang difficult to come up with a title? Maybe because the title is so important. And, someone who needs fifty-thousand words to tell a story probably isn\u2019t very good at condensing that story into a few meaningful words.<\/p>\n
When choosing a title, you want it to reflect the story (or the scope and purpose of a nonfiction book). For a novel, you might want a provocative title\u2014one that attracts readers of cozy mysteries, crime stories, thrillers, etc. If the title is memorable, all the better. You want people talking about your book and referring to it by the title.<\/p>\n
Some authors go for catchy titles or they rely on clich\u00e9s. Some titles are downright descriptive\u2014even for novels. And some are just plain confusing and seem to have nothing to do with the content of the story or nonfiction book.<\/p>\n
How do you choose a title? I never had much trouble when I wrote only nonfiction. I always thought first of my readers. I wanted them to know exactly what the book featured or focused on so they were getting what they wanted\/needed. Some of my nonfiction titles are, \u201cThe Mainland Luau, How to Capture the Flavor of Hawaii in Your Own Backyard,\u201d \u201cPublish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author,\u201d and \u201cCreative Grandparenting Across the Miles.\u201d Those titles are fairly succinct, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n
Fiction is a whole different animal. For some of the books in my Klepto Cat Mystery series, I created the title even before writing the book. I kind of like doing that because I, then, make sure to write the story to fit the promise of the title. For some of the other books, I struggled with the title after writing it. One technique, if a title doesn\u2019t come easily, is to jot down words reflecting things in the story. Robber, burglary, stalker, rage, attack, lending a helping hand, a rescue, solving a puzzle, resolving a long-standing disagreement, cupcakes, a misunderstanding, a celebration, etc. Okay, so all of these things were part of your story, but what was the main theme? Perhaps, a rift in a family and the slow healing and reconciliation. A side-story might be that one of the family members has been targeted for some reason and is in danger. The estranged family member comes to his\/her rescue and that\u2019s how they reunite. If this is the core of the story, you\u2019d want to create a title around this theme\u2014\u201cFamily Hate,\u201d for example. Now take the word \u201chate\u201d and run it through your thesaurus\u2014what other intriguing word could you use in place of \u201chate?\u201d or \u201crage?\u201d How about \u201cFury?\u201d or \u201cStormy.\u201d Perhaps one of these words could be worked into a title with the term \u201cFamily\u201d or \u201cFamilia\u201d or \u201cKinship.\u201d Maybe the healing of the relationship came through an unusual means, such as baking. Consider \u201cThe Cupcake Resolution,\u201d or \u201cA Peace of Peach Pie.\u201d These titles might work for a light story. For a serious crime story or thriller, you\u2019d go with something more terrifying and shocking.<\/p>\n
Choosing titles is an interesting part of authorship and publishing. I\u2019d love to hear some of your techniques.<\/p>\n
Klepto Cat Mystery Update<\/b><\/p>\n
The blog tour starts Monday at Catscapades\u2014my own blog site. Be sure to stop in and get your invitation and map to the other blog stopovers for the rest of the week. It\u2019s going to be a fun and revealing tour. Don\u2019t miss a day of it. Oh, and there will be giveaways. Be sure to sign up at the designated stops. The entire calendar is posted at Catscapades in my March 3, 2015 post. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I just finished the first draft of another Klepto Cat Mystery novel. It took me about two months to write the book and an additional two weeks to settle on a title\u2026maybe. I mean, I have a title I think works\u2014but the book isn\u2019t published yet, so the title could change AGAIN. Why is it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t