In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn have a lot of fun discussing titles, and how important it is to choose the right one.
VIDEO
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Why are titles so important to think about? How do they help with genre targeting, or getting your reader to pick up your book? Should your title say something about your book? And how memorable do you want it to be? We dive into how to explore your title, and where to get started!
What we talked about:
Why are titles important to think about? (0:32)
How titles help with genre targeting. (2:35)
Unpack the meaning behind your title. (8:02)
Should your title tell something about your book? (11:19)
How do you come up with a good title? (14:00)
The importance of making a memorable title. (16:34)
What about titles with meanings that are only accessible to certain people? (17:34)
Look at things that have done really well! (23:45)
The worst thing you can do to your title, and how to fix it! (24:20)
Titles are hard! So how should you approach it? (26:48)
LINKS
Things we mentioned:
Robert Ludlum
How to Get Away with Murder
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
The Expanse by James S. A. Corey
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang
Arrival
Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Sarah J. Maas
Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver