A Title Says it All

In looking through my many resource books on the power of a good title I was amazed to find little advice, or at least few chapters, on the topic. A title is the first thing that catches your reader's eye. It can draw someone in, make them curious about your book, want to read it!

So you need to think long and hard about your title. Sometimes a great title lands in your lap out of the blue, before you've written a word. That's rare. More often a good title bubbles forth from the text as you write. It should encompass the essence of your story. Ask yourself, what is the deeper message of your story?

A great example of a title that encompasses the essence of story is To Kill a Mockingbird. In one scene, Atticus is discussing getting his first gun and his father's advice. His father told him he could shoot all the bluejays he wanted, but it was a sin to kill a mockingbird, because mockingbirds only brought beautiful music to the world. In this way the title captures the core of Tom Robinson's dilemma--as a wrongly accused black man found guilty of rape, he is the mockingbird.

So look for something that pulls up your core themes.

Find impactful words. Titles with the word "heart" in them are cliche. Find words with punch. Words that get the reader's attention. When I titled my first books I searched my synonym finder looking for great words to use, then combined and recombined until I found titles that worked.

Less is better. If you can use one word to capture your book, do it! A short title is so much more memorable for the reader than something long-winded. Ted Dekker's Red and Black are easy to recall. You want readers to be able to pull up your title when they are recommending it to their friends.

Every word matters. Words carry nuance, subtle meaning that can be either positive or negative to the reader. Pay close attention to the nuances of every word you choose. In titling my third book the publisher offered A Fistful of Dandelions. Not bad on the surface, except that fists pull up images of fistfights, anger, and it seemed too close to "A Fistful of Dollars." Hardly the message we wanted to relay. So we settled on Dandelions in a Jelly Jar. It offered that gentle sensibility we needed, and spoke of a child's offering. Much more the essence of the story within. So, pay attention to every word, make sure you aren't sending the wrong message.

Titling a book is hard work. Take your time to get it right before you pitch it to an agent or publisher. They're people too--it will sway their opinion of your book! In fact, always treat your agent and publisher like readers. But that's a topic for another blog.

Happy titling!

Traci