What's in a Name?

Here is something about writing titles that I posted on the SCBWI boards a few years back. This helped Jennifer J. Stewart find the title of her book, Close Encounters of a Third-World Kind, which is why it has specific examples. The general "rules," though, should help you come up with a title for any book.

I hope this helps you too.

Shevi
______________________________________________________


Eye grabbing titles tend to follow these rules (although there are many exceptions):
1. Brief (five words and under)
2. Clear (title tells the reader what the book is about)
3. Mood (title makes the mood of the book clear -- humorous or otherwise)
4. Paints a picture in the reader's mind
5. Appeals to the reader's interests

One good way to come up with a title is to sum up a scene, the theme, the conflict, or the main character of your book.

Is there a scene you can describe in very few words? ELEPHANT ATE MY PEANUT BUTTER? HERSHEY KISSES BEAT GOAT KISSES, ANY DAY?

Another thing you can do is free associate. Take some of the elements of your story, and ask yourself what they sound like or make you think of. Nepal, for example, sounds like apple to me, which makes me think of these titles:
THE NEPAL OF MY EYE
AS AMERICAN AS NEPAL PIE
AS DIFFERENT AS NEPAL AND ORANGES

Third world country makes me think of:
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF A THIRD-WORLD KID

So that's my two cents on titles. I hope it helps you, and if I'm too late, I hope I've helped someone else.

Shevi
(Who really ought to put these things on her own site so they're easier to find.)
___________________________________________________

And now I have. :-)

Passing along info on weekend workshop for YA writers (Santa Cruz, CA)

I've been asked to pass along this information, so here it is:

Eighth annual event, held August 20-22, 2010 at Pajaro Dunes’ private beachfront facility near Santa Cruz, CA. Intensive, team-taught seminar for 30 savvy and/or published writers of character-driven youth novels, "active observers," and teen readers and writers.
.
FACULTY: KATE HARRISON (senior editor, Dial Books/Penguin); TED MALAWER (agent, Upstart Crow Literary); and author-consultant LAURA BACKES, publisher of Children’s Book Insider. Teen enrollees led by LIZ GALLAGHER (educator; author of Wendy Lamb/Random House YA novel, The Opposite of Invisible). WEEKEND THEME is "A Novelist’s Toolkit: Architecture, Archetypes, and Arcs." Focus on craft as a marketing tool; 90 percent hands-on. Open critique clinics, aka master classes, are enhanced by interactive pre-workshop assignments. .
DEADLINES: For the most critique options and lowest fees, apply ASAP! (Preferably by May 15, though limited adult and teen enrollment may be open through July.) For details, or to contact Director Nancy Sondel, visit www.childrenswritersworkshop.com.
(Teen pages: www.childrenswritersworkshop.com/pages/program/teenportal/perks.html)