Story Plan Checklist: Working Title

[ladyseishou]

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was originally called Trimalchio in West Egg.

- Elizabeth Richards in "How to Write a Great Book Title"





Today's goal is to write out a preliminary title for your NaNoWriMo novel - the operative word here being "preliminary."

As Ms. Wiesner explains: "All you need here is something to reference the project."

To get started, Elizabeth Richards offers four great tips in her article: How to Write a Great Book Title.

Some writers begin their writing by working from an inspirational title but if you are coming at your novel from the other end of things and would like something more descriptive than "NaNoWriMo Novel 2009," why not try one of these title generators to see if you come across a suggestion that appeals to your muse:

Title Generator - Add in your own words!

Title Generator - from tvtropes.com

Random Title Generator

Fantasy Novel Title Generator

And to "score" your new title (or help you select one when you can't decide between several good choices):

The Lulu Titlescorer

I've decided to go with a one-word working title: "Ensoul" as it relates to the general theme of my novel and fits pretty well on the front cover that I put together this past weekend. My LuLu score (with a little juggling ;-) came out as 60% - not too bad I suppose for a working title.

What title are you going by this year, Nano Writer? Can you beat my score? And come back tomorrow when we'll look at genre! Until then, keep writing!

Comments

[the_wanlorn]

Well, I'm still flipflopping for three different stories (and considering trying to do all three of them at once, because 150,000 words in a month isn't insane at all!).

Gadget Girl and the Dullahan Dilemma gets 45.6%
The Dawn Will Come has a 26.3%, which is proper because it is the worst title ever
The Bodyguard Case has a 35.9%.

God I hate coming up with titles. D:

[ladyseishou]

Just between you and me, coming up with titles for my writing is the part of the process I detest the most.

Wow, three novels! It's certainly a way to deal with creative slumps - when one plot line has you stumped, work on another!

I like your first title - it makes me think of a fun read!

[cheyinka]

Well, if I still go with the Mars story I'm kicking around, something like "The Red Serpent's Children" could work. If the first man-made object to land on Mars actually had a useful name I could go for "After [object name]", but "After Mars 2" sounds like the sequel to "After Mars". ("After Viking" would work fine, but nooooooo the USSR had to beat the US to the surface and give a completely mundane name to their lander no less.) I suppose "The Great Galactic Ghoul", after the supposed reason that Mars missions haven't all gone well, would work as an inspiration...

[ladyseishou]

I think that all three seem like good working titles. "The Great Galactic Ghoul" is intriguing but may have humorous overtones that you might not intend (well for me anyway). "The Red Serpent's Children" is very cool and evocative of sci-fi/fantasy themes (a lot would depend on the cover artwork to define your genre).

[cheyinka]

If I had any skill with photomanipulation, which I don't, I would want a stereotypical Martian landscape with a serpent mound raised in it, even though that particular scene would never be visible in my novel. So maybe just "The Red Serpent" would do. Hmmmmm.

[cheyinka]

I have been inspired with a better working title, after deciding on a bit of information about the (non-Martian) aliens: their visual spectrum is shifted a bit, so that they see some ultraviolet and don't see as much red as we do, and their language is tonal, ergo "Ultraviolet Harmony". :D

[dragonscrawl]

I've at last migrated on from calling my prospective novel "the steampunk thing" (which kinda became inaccurate as I developed the story) to naming it Infinity's Rise, after the airship where much of the action takes place. It's got a 72.5% score, which I'm satisfied with because that's pretty good for a title I'm not crazy about anyway.

[ladyseishou]

Oh, I like your title! And what a great name for an airship!

[aingeal]

My working title is going to be:

Muddied Waters which came up with a score of 69%. Like you said, not bad for a working title. *grin*

(Wow! I thought I posted this yesterday, but it's still here waiting to be posted... *clicks button* lol)

[ladyseishou]

Nice title! And hey, better late than never,right?

[asenathwaite]

Titles are usually the last thing I do, assuming I get far enough to need a title, but if I had to came up with one for the book I have in mind for Nano, it might be "The Worms That Gnaw."

[ladyseishou]

Wow - the imagery wrapped up in your title - *shudders* I say go for it! It's just a working title anyway but this one is very suggestive.

[asenathwaite]

Thanks! It's based on one of my favorite Lovecraft quotations, which kind of inspired my plot. It's also a very literal title, because the book is actually about giant worms.

[angryoldhag]

My working title is No Match for Natural Stupidity.

[ladyseishou]

Funny with a dash of implied irony - it's a good working title!

[angryoldhag]

Thank you!

[lassarina]

Mistwalkers is my current inclination for a title; it's what I've been using for a while now.

Twilight and Mist has some potential as well, although I wasn't planning on using twilight as part of my imagery (and now it has icky, icky, icky sparkling-vampire associations.)

[ladyseishou]

Mistwalkers has great imagery for me, hints at moving/traveling through something/somewhere veiled/hidden whose mysteries are yet to be discovered...

[lassarina]

That's kind of meant to be the idea, yeah :) Although I was afraid it was a bit pedestrian, but you've made it sound much more mysterious. ^_^

[boredsilly]

I'm a little late, but I'll try to catch up quickly.
My working title is 'A Bed to Lie In.'
I took it from the old phrase "You made your bed now lie in it." My main character quickly discovered that she has moved into a soap opera. I can see the title having both literal and figurative conatations.