Sunday, November 10, 2013

Book Titles

I'm pretty new to this writing thing, and while I'm extremely proud of Blue on the Horizon, I made a few rookie boo-boos.(Is any author ever 100% pleased with the final draft?) The one that bothers me more than the others: I didn't wait to title the book.

Blue on the Horizon is a great name, and it applies in a very appropriate way to my first novel, but later, I thought of a different, stronger title. Damn. Too late to change now.

This time I'm being very careful to refer to the next book as Book Two. That's it, Book Two in both my writing and mind. Why? Because as I write, key phrases or powerful images bang into each other in my imagination, each a better title than the last. I like this approach. I have no preconceived ideas to force the novel into a box, and today I proved that this works better, for me.

I was writing a scene. Something needed to happen to my protagonist, and he/she (no hints) needed to respond to it. Simply put, that is all any book is, but because I have not boxed myself in, this simple scene morphed into something quite profound. I didn't know it was going there, I didn't plan it that way, but just like "THAT WORD" from earlier this summer, this scene has changed how I think about Book Two.

I can't wait for my next flash of inspiration.


Read about my first flash of inspiration regarding Book Two

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