I like titles. I'll sit with my big book of quotations and thumb through it for what feels like hours. Sure, the titles mean things, and sometimes they don't--at least for me. I remember I was driving one day and came up with a weird title: MY FATHER'S CHINESE WHORE. It wasn't something I was going to stick with, but it came with a story, and I followed it. I ended up changing it. I didn't change it because it was Politically Incorrect, but the story itself changed. There wasn't a Chinese whore. Now I call it: NO SIMPLE REMEDY. I'm putting it up on my page a section at a time. But I like my titles. THE AFRICAN SONGBOOK: A TRAGEDY IN FIVE ACTS; THE BASHFUL COURTESAN; ST. FREDA; IN DAYS OF VAST DARING; A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO TIME TRAVEL; AT THE EDGE OF A LONG LONE LAND; A BUSINESS OF CONSEQUENCE. They're short stories, a novella, a novel...The serial novel I'm writing now is THE SHIELD OF LOCKSLEY. It's not a good one in my opinion. I'm thinking something like THE BEGGAR'S KNAVE might be better. We'll see.
Titles are something that I frequently struggle with myself and generally the last thing I'll work on with a piece. Often I'll just name a piece Untitled <Protagonist Name> and see what comes out of it while I write. Sometimes it's as simple as a phrase that sticks out while I'm writing (one my favorite titles for a work of mine was "Nails Across the Blackboard of Creation"- even if I'm not sure the story lived up to the title) or how it rolls off the tongue ("Rust Belt Revenant" - which I placed in the latest issue of Hoosier Noir is a good example of that). I know my urban fantasy/noir novella was titled "That Old Black Magic" for the longest time.... but it didn't sit right with my beta readers. It eventually became "Bullets and Black Magic" which might be too on the nose... but sometimes that's appealing as well.
I've long been a fan of Joe Abercrombie's titles ("Best Served Cold," "Last Argument of Kings," and "Before They Are Hanged" for example), but even Chandler's "The Big Sleep" or Hammett's "Red Harvets" are simple but evocative titles.
I love simple and evocative best - like the Hammett and Chandler ones you mentioned. But if it rolls off the tongue, I like that too. Nails Across the Blackboard of Creation (Yes!) Rust Belt Revenant (double yes!!)
I went through a phase where I thought using one-word titles for short stories would be my thing. I had published stories with titles Succession and Testing and in the hopper I had Consensus and Structuralism. And then I had one published with the title: "Undelivered letters home from Junior Midshipman Archibald Ponsonby-Cholmondeley, recovered recently in the search for additional remains of the Franklin Expedition"
Surf City Acid Drop is a WONDERFUL title, and it’s one of the reasons I was compelled to read the book. I’d never heard “acid drop” as a surfing term, but your explanation of the phrase in your story told us a ton about your protagonist and the life he lived. Very cool!
My first book--A Troll Walks into a Bar--came pretty easily, since the book begins with a troll walking into a bar. Following that with a subtitle--A Noir Urban Fantasy Novel--pretty much tells you exactly what you’re going to get.
I can't wait to dig into A Troll... You are completely right that the title says it all for that one. I think that's actually hard to pull off. To say it directly, and with some humour - there is a lot going on there.
Book titles are hard. Especially if you Google the thing and realize there's already 50 similar ones across a ton of media. I wanted to call my first Declan Shaw book attempt (this is not a MS that's ever going to be published, not in its current form anyway) "The Honest Liar". It was perfect, but damn, there's some old TV show with that title. Now, I do like Matthew, I pluck a sentence or a fragment I like. "Street Song" (hopefully out soon) is a bit on the nose - it's about a murdered jazz singer who finishes her set with audience requests. The songs must have something to do with streets, roads, avenues, etc... The next book has a much better title "Catch me on a Blue Day".
Catch me on a blue day has that classic vibe. I also really like The Honest Liar.
I never actually look to see if other books are called that. The only time I got stung (somewhat) was when there was another book that shared the same title as my first novel Correction Line. But I found that out much later.
I might go back to the Liar title, it fits so perfectly... and it isn't really used as is. An Honest Liar is a documentary about a magician. So I guess it's fair game. I'll go rewrite that book now!
I can't wait to dig into A Troll... You are completely right that the title says it all for that one. I think that's actually hard to pull off. To say it directly, and with some humour - there is a lot going on there.
I picked up 'Paris Trout' in a used book store thinking I was going to get some fancy schmancy French bistro recipes. Boy, was I surprised!
Ha! Whoops.
Sounds like a nice dish though. I'll have the Paris Trout s'il vous plait.
I like titles. I'll sit with my big book of quotations and thumb through it for what feels like hours. Sure, the titles mean things, and sometimes they don't--at least for me. I remember I was driving one day and came up with a weird title: MY FATHER'S CHINESE WHORE. It wasn't something I was going to stick with, but it came with a story, and I followed it. I ended up changing it. I didn't change it because it was Politically Incorrect, but the story itself changed. There wasn't a Chinese whore. Now I call it: NO SIMPLE REMEDY. I'm putting it up on my page a section at a time. But I like my titles. THE AFRICAN SONGBOOK: A TRAGEDY IN FIVE ACTS; THE BASHFUL COURTESAN; ST. FREDA; IN DAYS OF VAST DARING; A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO TIME TRAVEL; AT THE EDGE OF A LONG LONE LAND; A BUSINESS OF CONSEQUENCE. They're short stories, a novella, a novel...The serial novel I'm writing now is THE SHIELD OF LOCKSLEY. It's not a good one in my opinion. I'm thinking something like THE BEGGAR'S KNAVE might be better. We'll see.
Your titles made me go to your substack, Ben. Wow!
I hope you like them! And welcome aboard.
Those are great titles!
For me, in the process, the title usually comes last.
Sometimes I'll have a title, and then be writing and look at something I've written and say, THAT'S what it should be!
Titles are something that I frequently struggle with myself and generally the last thing I'll work on with a piece. Often I'll just name a piece Untitled <Protagonist Name> and see what comes out of it while I write. Sometimes it's as simple as a phrase that sticks out while I'm writing (one my favorite titles for a work of mine was "Nails Across the Blackboard of Creation"- even if I'm not sure the story lived up to the title) or how it rolls off the tongue ("Rust Belt Revenant" - which I placed in the latest issue of Hoosier Noir is a good example of that). I know my urban fantasy/noir novella was titled "That Old Black Magic" for the longest time.... but it didn't sit right with my beta readers. It eventually became "Bullets and Black Magic" which might be too on the nose... but sometimes that's appealing as well.
I've long been a fan of Joe Abercrombie's titles ("Best Served Cold," "Last Argument of Kings," and "Before They Are Hanged" for example), but even Chandler's "The Big Sleep" or Hammett's "Red Harvets" are simple but evocative titles.
I love simple and evocative best - like the Hammett and Chandler ones you mentioned. But if it rolls off the tongue, I like that too. Nails Across the Blackboard of Creation (Yes!) Rust Belt Revenant (double yes!!)
I went through a phase where I thought using one-word titles for short stories would be my thing. I had published stories with titles Succession and Testing and in the hopper I had Consensus and Structuralism. And then I had one published with the title: "Undelivered letters home from Junior Midshipman Archibald Ponsonby-Cholmondeley, recovered recently in the search for additional remains of the Franklin Expedition"
Ha! I like that last one.
Surf City Acid Drop is a WONDERFUL title, and it’s one of the reasons I was compelled to read the book. I’d never heard “acid drop” as a surfing term, but your explanation of the phrase in your story told us a ton about your protagonist and the life he lived. Very cool!
My first book--A Troll Walks into a Bar--came pretty easily, since the book begins with a troll walking into a bar. Following that with a subtitle--A Noir Urban Fantasy Novel--pretty much tells you exactly what you’re going to get.
Aw, thanks Douglas that is so nice to hear.
I can't wait to dig into A Troll... You are completely right that the title says it all for that one. I think that's actually hard to pull off. To say it directly, and with some humour - there is a lot going on there.
Book titles are hard. Especially if you Google the thing and realize there's already 50 similar ones across a ton of media. I wanted to call my first Declan Shaw book attempt (this is not a MS that's ever going to be published, not in its current form anyway) "The Honest Liar". It was perfect, but damn, there's some old TV show with that title. Now, I do like Matthew, I pluck a sentence or a fragment I like. "Street Song" (hopefully out soon) is a bit on the nose - it's about a murdered jazz singer who finishes her set with audience requests. The songs must have something to do with streets, roads, avenues, etc... The next book has a much better title "Catch me on a Blue Day".
Catch me on a blue day has that classic vibe. I also really like The Honest Liar.
I never actually look to see if other books are called that. The only time I got stung (somewhat) was when there was another book that shared the same title as my first novel Correction Line. But I found that out much later.
I might go back to the Liar title, it fits so perfectly... and it isn't really used as is. An Honest Liar is a documentary about a magician. So I guess it's fair game. I'll go rewrite that book now!
Shouldn’t take you long :)
Morning Over the Waves!
Right?
Aw, thanks Douglas that is so nice to hear.
I can't wait to dig into A Troll... You are completely right that the title says it all for that one. I think that's actually hard to pull off. To say it directly, and with some humour - there is a lot going on there.