Since my brain is fizzled this morning, I decided to do one of the topics I proposed in my last blog post because it would be interesting to read how I choose my titles versus how someone else does.
When Stars Die actually went through four title changes. The first time it was Croix Infernal because I had an evil cross in the book and my characters were French, but neither of those things exists anymore, so the title had to be scrapped. The second title was Lady Tourniquet because the sequel was Witch Tourniquet. Lady Tourniquet could still make sense, but the theme in When Stars Die isn’t about suffering or bleeding for anyone or being a sacrifice like it is in the sequel. So while the title was nice it, too, had to be axed. Then I came up with When Silence Screams because MC Amelia feels trapped in her mind most of the time since she has to bear a burdensome secret no one else can know, but that didn’t fit the main theme of the book well, so I knew I wanted to change the title.
I just couldn’t think of what to change it to.
So I just flipped through my book and stumbled across the most meaningful passage that neatly wrapped up the entire theme of the book. Amelia is talking about stars and how when they die they leave a lasting impact. The stars we see today might not even exist today or only appear as they were centuries ago. So Amelia contemplates this, wondering if witches will leave behind such an impact, or if they wither away, leaving nothing behind.
This made me realize the main theme of my book involved what one leaves behind after one dies because Amelia tries so hard to find some meaningful way to live her life while also appealing to her god Deus. She wants to leave something behind
but is terrified that she can’t. However, she is determined. Thus, I came up with the title When Stars Die.
So when I choose my book titles, I choose them based off the main theme, which can be difficult to find in the first draft. However, Stolentime, my newest book, will likely stay because the little town called Stolentime is where everything happens for Gene, where he changes and grows. Stolentime is separate from his world, so it allows Gene to develop a new perspective on life, a perspective he can’t receive being at home since he is coddled due to his illness.
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Uh-oh. I feel pressure. 😉 It’s funny how book titles rarely stick around from the beginning of a project.
Seriously, especially because I had its sequel’s title for seven years. But that’s likely changing to When Stars Rise instead of Witch Tourniquet.
The opposite happened with me. Beginning of a Hero is the only title that stayed the same. All the others got changed at least once.
At least you had working titles. I had NOTHING for the first year I was working on Bound. Then I realized that one word summed up the main plot, a few subplots and several character relationships, and nearly rammed my palm through my forehead with the force of my “DUH!” moment. I’m not so good with the title thing.
I like to have a title because it just feels more official to me. And ramming your palm through your forehead sounds extremely painful.
That is a great title! I chose a title, but I wonder if it will change once it is acquired. A friend of mine had three different titles for her book. The editor changed her book title twice.