What’s in a Name? How do you title your book? Part 1

What’s in a Name? How do you title your book? Part 1

March 1, 2016

Sometimes the title of a story you’re thinking about writing pops into your brain without invitation. On a good writing day, that idea is a good one, and you use it. When the idea pops in on a bad writing day/week/month, you probably chose not to use that particular option.

Other times, your story sits, with a placeholder name while you write, edit, rewrite and polish. Then, just when you’re seriously considering “Story from June” as the book’s published title, an idea saves the day.

But, often, you probably start with a title and tweak it as you go along. Or, you start with Title A. It is discarded for Title B. You might end up discarding a dozen or more titles that seemed to be the one at one point in your writing process.

This blog is a True Life Adventure. If you’re old enough, you might remember that series of Disney educational films. If you’re not old enough, that’s because you haven’t lived as long as I have.

I wrote dozens of short stories between 1980 and 2011. Most were written because I enjoyed the process. I’ve resurrected several of those stories as part of the content of most of my published books. One such story was a sci-fi story I titled Insecticide.

Insecticide was written in 2005. The short story was 4200 words in length. I’d thought of two different endings for the story. One ending had one “side” winning. The second ending had the “other” side coming out on top.

When I decided to begin writing science fiction for publication, the first story I grew into a novel was Insecticide. If you look at my website, you won’t see a book with that title.

The primary reason for not using Insecticide as the title was my original vision of the novel. In the first iteration, the story was expanded as part of an “academic” volume: The Book of Bafwique – The History of a Planet. I felt that the title conveyed the illusion of a research-based volume of historical significance. Considering that I’d generated Source Documents to support several of my key plot points, I felt that the title was warranted.

Source Document #1 of 30.

What I found out was that my idea for the pseudo-academic tome wasn’t very exciting as a concept to publishers. I refocused the book as a story, the original Insecticide, which became the foundation—titled Interludes—for the backstory. I chose RIFTS – A Science Fiction Thriller as the title because there were four major rifts in the societal fabric of the planet Bafwique. From the book's synopsis:

•  Part 1 begins with the splitting of a bi-lobed planet into two words by a meteorite strike and records the formation of two distinct Clurn cultures. (RIFT #1) The Clurn on the half of the planet now called Narxon, are a militaristic society implement a plan to regain control of what they consider to be “their true home,” the other half of the original planet, still known as Bafwique.
• Part 2 chronicles an invasion of Bafwique by the Narxonians. (RIFT #2) A civil war between invaders and the native Bafwiqueians follows the invasion. (RIFT #3) Part 2 ends with the reconciliation of the two Clurn civilizations.
• Part 3 records events of the two millennia following the reconciliation. Included in this part are the search for, the location of, and the subsequent invasion of the planet designated as the new home of the Clurn. (RIFT #4)

Makes sense, right?

Flash forward.

Since copies of RIFTS – A Science Fiction Thriller, were not flying out of Amazon as print or electronic copies, I decided to search for “RIFTS” and see what came up.

Next Day in the Life of a Science Fiction Writer post: What’s in a Name? How do you title your book? Part 2

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