Names are important things. Names allow us to identify ourselves, other people and things. They are so important. And they are equally important in a book. Especially in the name, or title, of the book itself.
But naming a book can be damned hard! Especially when it comes to finding something unique.
When I named my debut novel The Heir, my publisher frowned. ‘That’s not a good title,’ she said. ‘It’s too generic.’ She was right, so we made the three books all part of the Verindon trilogy to give it a unique angle. (By the way, you can still review The Heir on Amazon. I’m extending the deadline to the end of this month. Check out this blog for more details.)
I had incredible struggles naming my latest manuscript, which I originally wrote in 1998. While I was writing it I couldn’t think of any title that fit. It was three years later, long after I’d shelved the first draft, that I thought of the title How Far Forgive.
Now, in looking at it, I’m wondering if it’s the best title for the book.
This book is certainly different; I’ve only read one other book that bears any similarity to it at all. That one is called Picking Up the Pieces, so I can’t use that (it’s a great title for it too). And therein lies another problem in all this – not only do I need to find a good title for my book I need to find something that hasn’t been used in a similar way (or preferably at all) by someone else in their book.
So I’m stuck trying to work out if my current manuscript needs a better or more descriptive title. In brief, it’s the story of a girl who is a victim of a violent crime and then must find a way to reassemble her life afterwards and forgive the assailants, as she finds it difficult to move on without doing that.
Are you an author? How do you come up with the titles of your books? Are you a reader? What are some of the best book titles you’ve ever seen? Let me know in the comments.
Hi Lynne,
I find choosing book titles extremely difficult, for similar reasons to the ones you’ve mentioned. It reminds me of choosing names for our children, yet we’re told there’s a lot more riding on it.
Yes, we can name our kid something unique or different if we like and it doesn’t really have any effect but we could lose sales if we give our books a poor name.
Lynn,the first thibg to pop into my head when reading that brief description is the pain of forgiving. While forgiving someone for causing you pain or grief definitely removes the weight off your shoulder, it takes an awful lot to get to that point. Not only do you have to relive the event/trauma but you have to tear down your reactions and your emotions. Are you afraid this may happen again? Are you angry you didn’t take a more active role in prevention? Are you ashamed? Have you accepted that it happened or still questioning “Why me?”.
The human mind is amazing at compartmentalizing events without a conscious effort. Your mind will only allow you to process a certain number of things before it begins to protect itself. Have you ever been in an accident or had a “time slowed down” moment? That is how we remember little details of events that happen in the blink of an eye. Our eyes see it all but our brain processes it slower. PTSD is a real thing. It can also be described as survival.
Just my thoughts…I’ll be anxious to read this one.
I know PTSD is real. I’ve suffered from it.
Hi Lynne
Getting the right name can be hard – especially as good titles have often already been used. Sometimes the publisher will change the name anyway but it is good to have a working title.
As far as I can see “How Far Forgives” is unique, intriguing and it does encapsulate the theme of your novel. But if you really don’t like it, perhaps you could draw the name from something said or done in the book – something that can be a metaphor for either the pain or the forgiveness? Or from maybe a biblical allusion to forgiveness (Times Seventy; East of West) or about what needs mending “Little Pieces”, “Shattered Prism”, “Simthereen”, “Crushed Roses”, “Mending the Years”. Yep, it’s hard.
Hm. There are some good suggestions there, Jeanette. I’ll have a think about them.
It must be hard to think of a title that’s unique but at the same time fitting to the story. I have recently come across two self published authors that have later been picked up by a publishing company and had to change the title of their book. One I agreed with, the other I thought the original title better. Imagine if you named your baby and then the powers that be said ” no that names terrible, we’re going to change it”.
Best wishes for your new book baby. 🙂
Yes, it’s a lot like that! Although at least sometimes I know the name I’ve got’s not that great. Still,it can be so hard to think of the right one.