What's in a name? Apparently for me quite the time investment. Whether I'm naming a band, a song, a poem, a story, a blog entry, a short film, my own children, a pet, and even a character in a video game, I sit and contemplate; sometimes for a ridiculous amount of time. I want to come up with the perfect name. I have found the older I get the more I contemplate (or over think) and the longer it takes for the whatchamacallit to receive its name, in particular my stories.
The name has to be subtle, hinting at the story's plot without giving too much away and to be mysterious and intriguing enough that the title makes one wonder what the story is about yet by the end of the story you know exactly what the title is saying. What you don't want is a movie trailer title, and by that I mean no one likes the movie trailer that shows entirely too much of the film leaving you feeling like you no longer want to waste two hours watching said film because it already feels digested.
Just this week I finished my final draft for a story. By the time the draft was done, I still had nothing but a generic working title whose sole purpose was to identify the saved file on my computer from all the rest. The working title alluded to way too much of the story's plot, but again, I knew I would never use it for the final. I wrote approximately 30 titles down on a piece of paper; most were horrible but nevertheless, I wrote them down in hopes of obtaining even more ideas. One by one I gave the titles to my wife letting her chew on them. We went back through the "highlights" of the list and finally I settled on one. The next morning I didn't like it so I changed it slightly keeping the root of the original idea, and if I want to change it again it's too late, as I've already sent it out and submitted it for consideration in another anthology coming out this winter.
Now on to naming this blog entry. This may take a minute.
A note to the reader: I sincerely thank you for taking the time to read my blog. It has meant a lot to find it's getting read and enjoyed with some even anticipating the next entry. Most of my feedback/comments are given in person, Facebook, or email but I also encourage you to leave comments through the blog itself. Again, my sincerest gratitude.
The name has to be subtle, hinting at the story's plot without giving too much away and to be mysterious and intriguing enough that the title makes one wonder what the story is about yet by the end of the story you know exactly what the title is saying. What you don't want is a movie trailer title, and by that I mean no one likes the movie trailer that shows entirely too much of the film leaving you feeling like you no longer want to waste two hours watching said film because it already feels digested.
Just this week I finished my final draft for a story. By the time the draft was done, I still had nothing but a generic working title whose sole purpose was to identify the saved file on my computer from all the rest. The working title alluded to way too much of the story's plot, but again, I knew I would never use it for the final. I wrote approximately 30 titles down on a piece of paper; most were horrible but nevertheless, I wrote them down in hopes of obtaining even more ideas. One by one I gave the titles to my wife letting her chew on them. We went back through the "highlights" of the list and finally I settled on one. The next morning I didn't like it so I changed it slightly keeping the root of the original idea, and if I want to change it again it's too late, as I've already sent it out and submitted it for consideration in another anthology coming out this winter.
Now on to naming this blog entry. This may take a minute.
A note to the reader: I sincerely thank you for taking the time to read my blog. It has meant a lot to find it's getting read and enjoyed with some even anticipating the next entry. Most of my feedback/comments are given in person, Facebook, or email but I also encourage you to leave comments through the blog itself. Again, my sincerest gratitude.
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