So, a funny thing happened to me at work today. There I was, walking around, minding my own business, when it suddenly hit me that a) it was already Wednesday, and b) I FORGOT TO WRITE MY BLOG POST!!!! I've come close to forgetting before, but I've never actually forgotten. So now that I am home from work I am scrambling to write it, and hopefully I'll still have some time and energy to get around to some other blogs. (If not, tomorrow's my day off so I'll be playing catch up!)
Anyhoo, since I'm scrambling, this is a perfect opportunity to utilize the IWSG's optional question of month! Which is: What's harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?
This is an easy one for me. BOOK TITLES. *cough* Definitely book titles. Book titles are a serious struggle for me. They can take years. Character names, on the other hand--piece of cake! Most of the time it's like I'm not even naming them at all. It's more like their names just pop into my head, like the characters are telling me the names they already have.
Example time! When I first started writing Uneven Lines, once I figured out an idea of who the characters were, their names pretty much popped into my head instantaneously (clearly Jordan is the type of pushy character who would name himself).
The title on the other hand, took a loooooooooooooooooong time. When it was originally a short story, it was called "Saying Yes," which did work considering some of the elements in that story. But when I started adapting, I changed a lot and that title just didn't work anymore. So it went to titleless. About two years later I came up another title, The Formula. It kinda sorta worked and I did like it but it just didn't feel good enough. It was boring.
About eight months after that I finally settled on my current title, but not without some struggling. The words actually came to me individually. I'd always felt "Uneven" should be in the title, because that's representative of a lot of aspects of my characters' relationships. Then eventually I realized "Lines" was also a good fit, because there's actual math in the book, as well as a hell of a lot of figurative lines (like, lines being crossed in particular). And so I finally had it! And it's been over four years without a change.
So, long story short, I struggle way more with book titles than character names. Shiny New Story is still called Shiny New Story. Pretty much all of my other book ideas are titleless, including the potential sequels for UL. But character names? Usually all I have to do is listen.
Hey, glad you made it this IWSG! :)
ReplyDeleteYou made it!
ReplyDeleteI struggle with titles as well. Character names - piece of cake.
I've been in the scrambling position before. Interesting to see the transition of book titles over time.
ReplyDeleteI've been in that scrambling position before. I think about two months ago and it took me seeing someone else post that reminded me. I like the title you came up with.
ReplyDeleteI like titles that bubble up from deep inside. Definitely worth the wait. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
I think titles do need longer to mature. Honestly, we don't know the central themes of our books often until they're complete, so how could we hope to appropriately name one?
ReplyDeleteTwo simple words that fit great together.
ReplyDeleteI'm fortunate that I always go in knowing the title and the names.
Uneven Lines is a great title. That sounds like the name of a TV show. :)
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate. I've been working on my manuscript for more than a year and still haven't come up with a title.
ReplyDeleteI wish my characters would name themselves more often. Sometimes I come across a name, but I usually have to try out several before I land on one. My upcoming ideas have title names but no character names yet. Heh.
ReplyDeleteI like the title. I would read the blurb just to see what the story is about.
ReplyDeleteI have a file on my computer called Shiny New Idea, so I feel you on how hard titles are.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to come up with character names because whenever I think of a name, I associate it with a person I used to know, especially a person I dislike. So it's hard to write about a character in a positive way if I already associate him or her with someone I don't like.
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