title suggestions

[Caged Maiden]

Hey folks. I hate naming things, because I'm no good at it. So I have a trilogy, and I want to tie their titles together, but I'm sort of stuck.

I was thinking: Unseen Wisdom, Unheard Truths, Unwritten Words....

But then I considered: The Silk Scarf, The Satin Dress, and The Velvet Chopine...

And finally: The Sage Scarf, The Rose Dress, and The Black Slipper...

The books are already written (except the last which is only outlined) and I just can't make up my mind because I am really really bad at naming things. Any thoughts?

I don't know if the title ought to reflect more of the stories or whether I just am trying to connect the three a little too much. Any suggestion would be helpful. I'm tired of calling them #4, #5, and #6.....

 

[JCFarnham]

I think you're choices are pretty good really. They all gel well. The only real question is what do you think better reflects your novels?

Purely based on sound alone I quite like: The Silk Scarf, The Satin Dress, and The Velvet Chopine

Unseen, Unheard, Unwritten.. well that kind of contradictory statement is quite overdone in titles from my experience, or at the very least rings a bit cliche to me.

The most important thing is that the titles hook potential readers, and second to that they need to make sense once the reader is hooked.

One of my titles is Blitz. That book is at the moment the first part of a two part space opera, and I'm thinking of going with a short one word title of a similar feel for the next. Like ... desperado or something. I do have a proper series I've planned, but I don't have titles for those yet not as such. Bit more difficult.

I'm a great believer in not forcing a name onto something. At some point I find a project "begs" to be called something. Like how Faebound just made sense to me. Don't know where it came from though.

Good luck Ani

 

[Ghost]

It would help to know a tiny bit about each book. Are the objects important? If you like "The Adjective Noun" types of titles, maybe you could brainstorm a large set of ones that relate to your novels and play mix and match with them. I like that Sayan Soul, Dragon's Blood, and Warrior's Heart match, but perhaps you don't need to do that this time around.

I like mixing the adjectives and nouns from different lists of yours, like Silk Wisdom, The Satin Truth, and Velvet Words. I wonder if that's too weird.

Actually, I like Unheard Slipper too, but Unseen Scarf sounds silly and Unseen Dress sounds pervy. :cool2:

 

[virtualmayham]

Well, I tend to write fantasy that sort of encompasses not just the story of one character, but of the history of a world, so I really like the one word sorta titles, then with a : then the book/part, then a new line and the title of that novel.

Example

Chronicle: Part I
Sin's of the Old
I can't really help to much more without knowing what the book is about. Just try to sum up the central theme of the novel/series in a few words. Good luck

 

[shangrila]

Personally, I'd have to know a little more about the stories to give any feedback on a title. Care to share, or is it all hush-hush?

 

[Caged Maiden]

Not hush hush at all... just didn't want to be a bore.

The three books are each written from a male MC perspective... and the three book titles are representative of women in the books actually. In the first, it's about a young knight who feels a holy calling to be a paladin... he meets a seer who opens his eyes to the truth of the world and its spiritual perspective... but she is blind and wears a silk scarf over her eyes.
The second is about a young man who is a werewolf and is framed for a crime which puts him on death row... he is broken out of prison by a naive young girl (daughter of the provost) and finds himself unwilling to abandon his unlikely charge to her own fate.
The third is about an elf king who goes on a quest to find some lost history, and gets drawn into the affairs of humans and the world of the fae, which threatens to derail his quest, the woman in this novel is a thief.

The three garments are sort of critical to the stories, and that's why I thought of the titles, but that's how they relate to the people anyways.....

Technically, the novels are stand-alone, set in the same world, and in a later story the characters interact. My main concern is that I don't want the titles to turn readers off, but the women in the novels are important to the stories and the characters learning about the world and themselves.... so I don't know, I just thought basing the titles somehow off them fit. I have written ten novels in this world, and the first three are about the same three main characters... then I have these three in the middle, and then the last four are a trilogy (Sayan Soul, Dragon's Blood, and Warrior's Heart, with the middle book being divided into two parts..... It just felt weird to leave the three in the middle each on their own... but maybe my thinking is flawed.

 

[Anders Ämting]

Hey folks. I hate naming things, because I'm no good at it.

Well, like all things, getting good at naming takes practice. Hence, we are usually not good at things we hate.

So I have a trilogy, and I want to tie their titles together, but I'm sort of stuck. I was thinking: Unseen Wisdom, Unheard Truths, Unwritten Words....

But then I considered: The Silk Scarf, The Satin Dress, and The Velvet Chopine...

And finally: The Sage Scarf, The Rose Dress, and The Black Slipper...

I like the second set the most in general, except for "The Velvet Chopine", which don't think flows as well as the others, plus many readers probably won't know what a chopine is.

The third set is okay, though you break the theme with the first one since "sage" isn't a color.

I don't know if the title ought to reflect more of the stories or whether I just am trying to connect the three a little too much. Any suggestion would be helpful. I'm tired of calling them #4, #5, and #6..... How do you choose a title? I've done this for another trilogy which came a little easier: Sayan Soul, Dragon's Blood, and Warrior's Heart.

Titles are important and often tricky - if I don't know the title when I start writing, it can become a problem later on. I once had a whole series of books planned out complete with titles, except I didn't have a title for the very first book. Or rather, I had the perfect title in English, but not in my own language. (Turns out Swedish doesn't have a good word for "memento", go figure.)

The three books are each written from a male MC perspective... and the three book titles are representative of women in the books actually.

They did give me a feminin impression even though I didn't know what they were about, which I think is pretty nifty.

The third is about an elf king who goes on a quest to find some lost history, and gets drawn into the affairs of humans and the world of the fae, which threatens to derail his quest, the woman in this novel is a thief.

I need to ask, is the garmet for this one a chopine or a slipper, and how does it fit into the plot?

 

[Phin Scardaw]

What about just Unseen, Unheard, Unwritten? A bit more punchy.

If this is not a trilogy, but part of a larger series of books, then I don't think that the three titles need to have much relation one to another. I understand the desire to want a common thread (pun intended) but that infers the stories will be more tied together (more punning) than they sound like they will be.

I personally find that references to clothing articles don't make very strong titles. The Silk Scarf is the only one that really hooked me, but the other two seemed weaker for some reason. Maybe because we expect these articles to have MAJOR significance in the story - and how significant can a slipper be? Unless you're Cinderella.

I'd be inclined to pick up a book from a shelf that had a woman depicted wearing a silk scarf with a title emblazoned reading Unseen. And Unheard for a werewolf howling about his alleged innocence has a pleasing irony.

 

[Kenneth Logan Jr.]

Unseen Wisdom, Unheard Truths, Unwritten Words...These titles is going to grab the readers' attention big time, I personally love it and it fits for what you are trying to do.

 

[Caged Maiden]

Hey thanks for all the great suggestions. I see I have some more things to consider....

 

[gowph3ar]

Titles

Since you are aiming for a fantasy series, I would probably use the Third choice, The Sage Scarf, I think it sets the tone nicely and lets your readers know what your overall theme is.

 

[Xanados]

The second choice I preffer over the others. They are a lot more sophisticated and thought-provoking.

 

[Caged Maiden]

AAK! this is exactly the dilemma. I like them all for different reasons, and can't make up my mind. As I read through the posts, I'm like agreeing with what you all are saying, but then I still can't narrow it down because you all like all of them. The last book was the hardest to have a title for because it's only outlined. The title could be any garment of clothing in any color, or it can be an allusion to the book he is supposed to write, and the information he leaves out, hence the unwritten words.....

THANK YOU

 

[kennyc]

What about just Unseen, Unheard, Unwritten? A bit more punchy.

.
...

I'd be inclined to pick up a book from a shelf that had a woman depicted wearing a silk scarf with a title emblazoned reading Unseen. And Unheard for a werewolf howling about his alleged innocence has a pleasing irony.

I like that!

 

[Anders Ämting]

The Silk Scarf is the only one that really hooked me, but the other two seemed weaker for some reason.

Still, if you do read the first book and like it, you're probably not going to pass on the following two just because they titles don't quite grab you.

Unseen Wisdom, Unheard Truths, Unwritten Words...These titles is going to grab the readers' attention big time,

That's very subjective, though - personally I find those titles to be kinda bland and, in all honestly, somewhat pretentious. Like they are trying a bit too hard to sound all deep and profound.

Referencing an item important to the plot is more straightforward and -at least to me- more interesting: Yes, what about the black slipper? Why is it so significant? I find myself wanting to know.

 

[Phin Scardaw]

I like that!

I was thinking of the cover art of the recent young adult fantasy series,Annals of the Western Shore which features single word titles and a picture of the main character. i found this to be very effective.

link:
Amazon.ca: annals western shore

 

[Caged Maiden]

okay just checking back in. I think what I'm hearing is that most people prefer The Silk Scarf, The Satin Dress, and The Velvet Slipper..... and it looks like most of you are male... which surprises me given the feminine sounding titles.... I will have to think about this. I was leaning toward the first set, Unseen Wisdom, Unheard Truths, Unwritten Words, thinking they would appeal more to male readers..... you all have opened my eyes. Thank you for weighing it on this, it gives me a lot to consider. If you have any other insight, I welcome it.

 

[JCFarnham]

You have to remember though that even if we are male, we are writers also. We'll certainly be drawn to certain cadences in titles over others. Though I like to think most are more savvy than to pick a book just because the title sounds masculine. I mean if that weren't true then there'd be hundreds of books called... Oh I don't know ... boobs and explosions.

That being said I know guys who could easily be detered from books if they're called something to do with flowers, or love, or something like. Of course, these kind of people prefer pictures.

Just saying hehe