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What do you do if you can't think of a better title?

So, I have a WIP that I have just been referring to as "duoverse" for as long as I have been working on it (it has two parallel universes). After I worked really hard on polishing it, I knew I needed an actual title. I never intended to actually call it that. So, I decided to call it "Charybda," since the phenomena that allow passes between the universes are called "charybda." I was never crazy about this as a title, but it seemed okay.

After sending the first 10 pages to a publisher and predictably being rejected (it was a good experience because it told me that I still needed to polish it further), I find myself once again reconsidering the title. Obviously, the title probably isn't the reason it was rejected, because I have realized that there are many other problems (ah, the process of removing dross--so much dross). However, I have to wonder: if I'm not crazy about the title, is it possible that others (including publishers) might not be either? It doesn't really seem to be very evocative of the book's plot, even though the charybda are a big deal.

I have no idea what to do about the title. I know I need to primarily focus on the story itself, but it does seem like a good title is pretty crucial--after all, it (along with the cover) is the first thing your prospective reader will see. If it doesn't raise enough curiosity to pick up the book...then it's not good enough.

What do you guys think?
 

Ireth

Myth Weaver
Charybda comes from "Scylla and Charybdis", right? Charybdis is a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily. An alternate title for your book could be Maelstrom or similar.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
I like to use a piece of dialogue for the title. Something spoken, within the story, that sums up the major plot device usually works well.

In reading your own work, is there any place where a character explains this phenomenon to another character? Look there.

Is there any dialogue that offers an insight beyond the main event, the truth behind the story if you will? Look there.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
Usually a title will smack me in the face as the work progresses, evolving out of the themes of the WIP itself. And, to be quite honest, even if you do find a title you love, the publisher may (read: often) come up with a title they love more - and that will be the title that they end up going with.

So, the take away lesson: don't sweat the title so much. Sweat polishing the WIP to a gleaming shine and get it ready for submission.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
If you can't think of a good title, don't worry about it. It's a different skill. It's a marketing skill. Finish your editing and then pass it off to a friend who's pithy that's better with this kind of stuff.

There's also a thread in the showcase forum for workshopping titles.

More general advice, go through the "climax" chapter of your book and make a list of nouns. Then see if you can fill in the blanks:

______ of ______.

Then drop the of and keep tinkering with the words until something leaps out at you.

((edit))

The title thread is actually in the Brainstorming forum.
 
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Charybda comes from "Scylla and Charybdis", right?
Yes, Ireth, that is where I got the idea for calling the passages charybda (singular, charybdon). They are like a whirlpool of energy that passes through the shared core of two worlds. The antagonist controls a dragon named Scylla. I have in fact thought about calling it "Scylla and Charybda." I don't feel like "Maelstrom" would fit the bill.

Tell us what the story is about in one sentence.
I am terrible at this kind of thing, Michael, but here goes:
A young woman discovers a passage to another world, where she is embroiled in an ancient battle that is tied to her own history.

Is there any dialogue that offers an insight beyond the main event, the truth behind the story if you will? Look there.
Well, T, there is an expression they use: "As easily as the dragon eats its twin." I thought about using "Dragon's Twin" but since the young woman actually does turn out to be the twin of the ancient dragon, I thought that would be too much of a spoiler.

So, the take away lesson: don't sweat the title so much. Sweat polishing the WIP to a gleaming shine and get it ready for submission.
Thanks, A. I really needed to hear that. It's so easy to get worked up over too many aspects of one's WIP at a time!

If you can't think of a good title, don't worry about it. It's a different skill. It's a marketing skill. Finish your editing and then pass it off to a friend who's pithy that's better with this kind of stuff.
Thanks, Devor. Being pithy, sadly, is not a skill I have developed. (Except in my poetry--I can manage it there for some reason, but struggle in other aspects. Even then, I can have a terse poem but have no idea what to title it.) I will be sure to look at the workshopping once I have refined the manuscript.
 
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Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
Here's a episode of Writing Excuses that discusses title tricks.

Writing Excuses 8.50: Q&A with Mercedes Lackey » Writing Excuses

Here's one of the tricks Mary described in the episode.

[Mary] I also get them kind of... I have two methods of titling. One is the one that I like, which is that I just get the title in my head as I'm writing, coming up with the idea of the story.
[Howard] I love doing it that way.
[Mary] Yeah. I have no idea how that works. If I could make it happen every time, I would. The other form is where I don't have a title and I don't have a title and I don't have a title. Then I use a trick that Richard or Rick [Boze?] taught me which is you go to a quote database, Shakespeare, like Bartleby's quotes. You type in the major theme of your book. Then you look at all the quotes that come up, and you pick three words out of one of the quotes. For want of a nail, kiss me twice.
 
I imagine something from the story, like a chandelier, then I imagine something about the object(It gives off light) then I think of that quality(the light is red) That makes me think of something else(bullfighting) so I name the story: Bacon
 
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