THE GIRL IN THE ROOM ON THE TRAIN WHO COULD NOT TITLE HER NOVEL

Is your title doing all the lifting it can do?

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A title is personal—as personal as how you name your child or your pet. While editing at Joyland, I learned that if I didn’t suggest a title change to an author, editorial would run a lot smoother on our tight deadlines. Publishers of novels and books will, however, have lots of ideas about titles. Twice I had editors suggest title changes for my books: I fought against one; the other I accepted quickly. I’ll reveal which one sold better in a few paragraphs.

The best titles come from inside the work itself. During the writing of a film called Star Beast someone noticed the word “Alien” appeared often in the script and the better title won out. You can also impose a title onto your book with a reference or poetic turn of phrase. With Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead we all immediately get the Elizabethan setting and it tells us who the characters are and also something of their absurd fate of having to prove their worth to the story. R.I.P. Tom Stoppard.

Of course, naming a project while you’re still in it, or even early in the planning, can be tough! At the same time, having a title can help solidify the idea for you and even draw you further in, giving you that sense of urgency that you must complete it. When I came up with The Blondes, I knew I wanted to write that book and I never wavered.

Recently, while struggling with a quest for the perfect novel title for a new and still shaky-legged project, I came across this video lecture by Diane Callahan. Even though I’ve written many books and also taught in the past, I found so much here to think about! Character, setting, themes, the central conflict, small details or even a piece of stolen dialogue can all morph their way into a title. A whole sheet of brainstormed ideas later, I now have a working title.