Savannah Watson

Note: this post relates to episode 3 of my podcast called The Name Game, where I discuss naming characters. You can follow the Spotify link at the bottom of the page to listen to it!

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In the writing process, every writer has things they are good at… and things they are bad at. For me, coming up with the title for my stories is one of my weaker skills.

I find it difficult to capture the full essence of the story in a single word or phrase. I am a very wordy person, so I have a hard time trying to sum up a piece I have written.

My approach to naming my WIPs (works in progress) usually involves me giving it a working title to start – something easy and descriptive, so I know what project it is when I am looking for it in my computer files. After the first draft, I rename it to something closer to a publishable title; this is usually one word or a phrase like “The Blank”. By the second or third draft, I have enough familiarity with my WIP that I have a far easier time giving the piece its “final” title (final is a loose term). During the beta-reading process, I specifically ask my readers for their opinions on the title… and I take this feedback seriously. As the readers, they know if the title actually works or not… so if they say the title is too wordy, unrelated to the story, or just not good, I change it.

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Creating a good title is a critical part of the writing process, as well as the marketing and sales of a piece, so it is an important skill to hone.

When titling a piece, you want your title to pique your reader’s interest while not being misleading… or giving too much away. That is why so many titles are simple, one-word titles, or phrases that follow a genre-specific formula (think of all the fantasy novels that have titles like “The Queen/King/Prince/Princess of BLANK).

A very important thing to keep in mind is that a title has to be catchy, easy to say, and memorable! The last thing you need is for your title to be so complicated that it is difficult to say or remember. That is a surefire way NOT to sell your work. And this becomes even more important if you are self-publishing.

Traditionally published authors have teams of people who do many different things for them, from editing and cover design to writing the book’s title. If you are self-publishing, you are responsible for all of that (you can hire people to do some of these things, of course). You need to make sure your title is marketable and memorable since self-published authors are often in charge of their own marketing. A great way to find out if you have a good title is to ask. Ask friends, family, and beta-readers what they think of your title.

I find creating titles to be a complicated, annoying process. However, it’s very exciting once the title is cemented because it makes a WIP feel one step closer to being complete!

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