I'm happy to say I'm on-pace in the word-reduction department, which is a glimmer of good news.
In the titling department, I've taken Rachelle Gardner's fantastic advice and compiled a list of titles in my genre (fantasy) that I find appealing. The common theme: most of them are incomplete phrases. Four in particular struck me, all from the same fantasy series (The First Law) by the same author (Joe Abercrombie): The Blade Itself, Before They are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings, and Best Served Cold. As a matter of fact, I've added Abercrombie's series to my reading pile. If nothing else, the man has a wicked flair for titling.
Also the cover art is pretty rad, and way better than your standard cheesetastic fantasy fare.
Honestly, Best Served Cold is too cliche for my taste, but the idea is the same. Each phrase caught my attention because it begs a question ... or two ... or ten. These titles engage my imagination before I even open the book.
- What kind of blade? A sword, a dagger, a switchblade? Was it stabbing someone? Opening a letter? Rending the universe in twain?
- Who was hanged? Why? What needed to happen before they had their short drop and sudden stop?
- Which kings were arguing? About what? Why was it their last argument?
- And yeah, we all know what's best served cold. Frappucinos!
This exercise has given me a good direction to follow in conjuring a title for my book. I'm going to take Rachelle's second bit of advice this next week and brainstorm words that relate to my theme, characters, etc. The tricky part will be putting those words together in a way that engages a potential reader right off the bat.
For tonight, I'm back to the editing mines.
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1 Witty Rejoinders:
Great insight on titles, a phrase caught my attention in your blog and I thought "A sword, a Dagger, a Switchblade" sounded like a good title! Certainly sounds gruesome. :-)
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