Monday, December 7, 2009

Novel Titles

A recent Writer's Digest ezine included a link to this interesting article:

7 Tips to Land the Perfect Title for Your Novel


Author Jacob M. Appel offers great tips for choosing the right title. Mr. Appel notes common pitfalls and encourages writers to think outside the box. In doing so, a title stands out and avoids the editor's reject pile. I'm all for standing out, in this respect, anyway. He also points out that our books are judged by the title, at first at least, so why not spend time making it great?

These tips are fabulous for book titles, but I think that they apply to articles too. Who isn't in need of a snappy title for that next article query or draft? I say we take advantage of things like this, no matter what we write. What fabulous titles have you come up with recently? Share your thoughts on how you find great titles. We're all ears!

Blessings to you, and Happy Writing:)

20 comments :

  1. Thanks for the link! I'll definitely have to swing by, because titles aren't my strong suit. I do the most obvious titles, nothing snappy enough.

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  2. My favorite tip listed was the two meanings one. I enjoy finding titles that have deeper meaning.

    ~ Wendy

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  3. Tamika,
    You are welcome! I'm kind of hit or miss with titles, so this was a help to me. Blessings!

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  4. Wendy,
    I agree; that's always an interesting way to go. Can be eye catching, too. Thanks for stopping by! :)

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  5. I stink at titles, so I'm definitely going to check this out. Thanks, Karen!

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  6. Hi Kristen,
    We can probably all use a little help in this department. Glad it will be helpful! :)

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  7. Thanks for the link, Karen. I'm thinking about a title for my next venture, so this is timely. :)

    Blessings,
    Susan

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  8. Hi Susan,
    Glad this will be helpful and timely. I think that your novel will be an epic, so the title will have to fit, won't it? No pressure! Blessings:)

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  9. I've never had trouble finding titles until this YA book I'm writing. I have it listed in my documents as THE SECRET, because I needed to refer to it as something. I JUST can't seem to think of one. I might have a title contest on my blog. And the three that I like the best, have the bloggers vote. The winner gets an Amazon gift card or something like that.

    These are great tips, but I'm still stuck! :)

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  10. Robyn,
    I'm no expert, but I don't think that the title 'The Secret' is all that bad. Readers would be drawn in, wanting to know what the secret is. I think the blog contest idea is a great one! Thanks for stopping by:)

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  11. A catchy title is important. A few of mine are The Seasons of Lydia Frost and Hope Springs Eternal.

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  12. I like those, Carla! Maybe we should have you give title advice here:) Thanks for stopping!

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  13. Thanks for the link. I agree with Wendy, above. I love a title that has one meaning on the surface, and a deeper meaning once you're reading the book.

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  14. Me too, Heather. Thanks so much for stopping by:) Blessings!

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  15. Hi Karen,

    I listed that link in a recent blog post too! I found the article incredibly helpful. The longer I blog, the more I'm realizing how important even our blog titles are!

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  16. Hi Jody,
    I had no idea; I did this post a while ago and scheduled it for now. Well, great minds think alike:) You make a good point about blog titles - didn't even think of that! Blessings! :)

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  17. You're getting some great comments here! Another important thing about blog post titles is that they can help you with SEO (search engine optimization), so the more descriptive and specific they are, the better.

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  18. Great point, Barbara! Thanks for dropping in:)

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  19. I'll have to check this link out when I have some more time. I don't think I put near enough energy into titling my books.

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  20. Hi Eileen,
    I think even if you are a genius at titles (which you probably are:) we can all use a little help and inspiration sometimes. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. Have a blessed day!