The Power of Fantasy

The worlds of Middle Earth, Hogwarts, Narnia and Forks have a strange power.  They have the power to make us believe the impossible and feel at home in an improbable world.  Fantasy literature provides a unique mythology, an allegory that echoes human history, an example of courage and endurance, and a vacation from the ordinary.  Fantasy has the power to make us believe that good will win after a long, nearly impossible struggle.

Fantasy literature has some common elements.

• Supernatural Creatures: Elves, dragons, dwarves, enchanted plants, vampires, werewolves and talking animals. The right combination of these, alongside a few lowly humans, creates an essential dynamic between the real and the surreal.

• Magic, or a lack thereof : Characters have to be able to perform some form of magic. Most often the hero or heroine possesses a very strong magical ability that they don’t initially have, or don’t know they have, and learn to develop.

• Love: Although the love factor must remain on the PG-rated side, a love interest exists in order to pull at the heart strings of readers. Usually the love interest of the main character is unattainable. It helps if they are not of the same genetic make-up (i.e. Human and Vampire, Human and Elf, Werewolf and Vampire, etc.)

• The Villain: The Villain must be extraordinary and not easily defeated. The villain is often not revealed in person until the end of the story, in order to create the most impact.

• A Great Battle: Without an epic battle in which the hero is nearly defeated, ultimate victory would not be so sweet.

• The Weapon: Harry Potter has his wand, Eragon has his sword and Bella has her ability to hide her mind from others. Whatever the weapon, it has to be special in not only its capabilities, but also in the reason behind its existence.

• The Setting: From Middle-earth, to Narnia, Alagaesia, Hogwarts, and even Forks, the setting is another character in the story. It is the unique quality of the landscape that allows for most of the events in the story to take place.

• Language: Whether it’s a fabricated language, such as the Elvish speak in Tolkien’s works, or it’s the manipulation of how an existing language is spoken, common vernacular won’t do. The inclusion of a fantasy language heightens the reader’s ability to transport themselves into a different world.

Archetype Characters of Sinister Shadow

I have been working on my second fantasy novel, Sinister Shadow.  Hence my hiatus from posting on this blog.

My characters in Sinister Shadow fall under certain archetypes.

Hero -  The hero is a protagonist character who fulfills a task and restores balance to the community. He/she is a born leader, whether they know it or not. He/she is a real survivor who has faith in good. Others are willing to believe in this hero and will follow him/her.

 Mentors – Mentors are the teachers who counsel initiates almost the way a parent does. They show examples, sometimes magical, to teach the initiate skills and information. 

Loyal Companions – These loyal peers are there to protect the hero at all costs. They are willing to face hardships and dangers and even death either because they believe in the hero, or the cause.

The Fool – This character is always optimistic that things will turn out well. He/she is symbolic of blind hope and always has time for silly things and always sees the best in people. 

The Traitor – A character who uses words carefully, he/she weaves elaborate plots in order to trap heroes. Most others don’t realize how dangerous or manipulative this person is.

 The Creature – This character is reminiscent of a wild animal. It plays on our deepest fears of being eaten by something we never quite saw. 

The Professor – The professor is usually cool and intellectual. He is a thinker, logical, honest and faithful. He has a tendency to not be flexible. 

So here is a short plot summary of Sinister Shadow using the archetypal character types.

Tom is on a journey with his parents when they are killed by an evil creature.  He is saved from harm and  taken to a safe place where he is nurtured and protected.  He finds loyal companions there, including a foolish companion.  He learns about the evil creature from several sources, including a wise intellectual character and his mentors. He risks his own safety for one of his companions and becomes an accepted member of their society.  In return, the companion agrees to help him find and defeat the evil creature. Along the way, Tom discovers that one of his mentors is a traitor, and he is in jeopardy of losing his place in society and losing his life to the creature.

Stories Have Rules

So many stories are about someone who knew the rules, willfully disobeyed the rules, and suffered the consequences.

The opera Lohengren is about a woman who is falsely accused of murdering her brother.  She dreams of a knight in shining armor coming to rescue her.  He in fact does appear!  A knight arrives on a boat pulled by a beautiful swan.  He defeats the accuser in battle and proves the lady's innocence.  He asks her to marry him and she accepts. The condition for the marriage is that the lady must never ask his name or where he is from.  The wedding is planned and the bride to be is very happy.  But scheming and jealous people tell her lies that make her curious and doubt that her knight is truly noble and good.  The wedding takes place and the couple are very happy until the seeds of doubt become too much for the bride.  She asks her husband to tell her who he is and where he is from.  That is when everything falls apart.  Battles take place and people die.  The knight reveals who he is, the son of one of King Arthur's knights. He tells her he has to return to the temple of the Holy Grail.  She lost her true love because she couldn't obey the rule not to ask.

Strega Nona, a picturebook by Tomie DePaola, is about a witch's assistant who breaks the rules.  Strega Nona has a magic cooking pot that makes pasta when she says certain words.  Her assistant, Big Anthony, tries to do it himself while Strega Nona is away.  He causes a disaster when the pot makes a great sea of pasta!  It makes so much pasta it fills the streets of the village.  Big Anthony did not know about the rules of using the pot.  You must blow three kisses to make it stop.  Strega Nona returns and stops the pasta deluge.  But Big Anthony is required to eat, eat eat until the pasta is cleaned up.

Many classic stories set someone up for great success if they can meet certain conditions.  The story tension comes from breaking those conditions.

Can you think of another story about the consequence of breaking rules?

Fools Serve A Purpose in Stories

April 1st, Fools Day! 

Many stories have a foolish character.  You remember the Mad Hatter from Lewis Carol's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, for example.  These characters serve at least one purpose and are essential to many stories. Foolish characters introduce information to the reader by speaking out of turn.  They move the plot forward by introducing problems.  They act as a foil to the main character, helping the hero figure out the right action to take.  They provide comic relief that breaks up dramatic tension.  They provide an example of what not to do either for other characters or the reader. They may suffer consequences that were intended for the main character, sparing him so he can continue on his journey.

Foolish Characters may display these characteristics:

• make bad decisions
• act impulsively
• are gullible
• take the easy riches but loose everything
• reveal sensitive information
• follow false clues

 

How many foolish characters can you think of?  What would the story be without that character?  Kind of makes you have more respect for the fool, doesn't it?

Stories that Enrich, Enhance, and Expand

·        Stories expand your imagination.

 

·        Stories of myth enrich the soul.

        ·        Stories offer solutions to story problems that may in turn help solve real problems.

 
      ·        Stories allow enriching vicarious experience.

 

·        Stories are windows to other cultures.

 

·        Stories with humor relieve stress, sadness and grief.

 

·        Story characters model skills such as making friends, making decisions, and enduring through hardships.

  

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.” Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.

 

The Many Faces of Cinderella

Cinderella stories are common around the world.  In most versions the protagonist is a noble young woman who is treated badly by a stepmother.  She recieves help from a mystical being adn then meets a wealthy and prominent young man.  He immediately falls in love with her but she leaves suddenly.  He finds an aricle of clothing that belongs to her and uses it to find her.  They marry and the stepmother gets her just rewards.

There is an Algonquin story called the rough-faced girl.  She is mistreated by her older sisters and her father.  She is forced to sit close to the fire and tend it, which leaves her face and arms scarred with burns.  All the young women hope to marry the Invisible Being but they are all passed over.  They cannot see him because of their hard hearts. Because the rough-faced girl is noble and kind, she is the only one who can see the Invisible Being that lives across the lake. They marry and live happily ever after.

A story from China is similar.  Yeh-hsien is good and kind but is treated badly by her stepmother.  She takes care of a fish and is kind to it, but her stepmother kills and eats the fish.  Yeh-hsien is told where to find the bones and how to make a wish.  She marries a King at the end of this tale.

In the Russian version, called The Wonderful Birch, the heroine is helped repeatedly by elements of nature, such as a birch tree. The stepmother here is also an actual witch, going back to Russia’s rich history of magical fairy tales. With the Scottish tale of Rashin-Coatie, it is a red calf that helps the heroine, in keeping with the tradition of raising cattle for a living in that country. Finally, in the Irish story Fair, Brown, and Trembling, the heroine is actually a princess, and, as with any good Irish tale, there is a nice amount of combat and royal appearances scattered throughout the story.

Cinderella stories give us hope that inner beauty and kindness will be rewarded.  I hope you will find one and read it today!

A New Story about Giants

by guest blogger Daniel Tracy

Giants! Once believed to be extinct, they have been seen again in this small village in Appalachia.  Everyone in the village knows someone who has gone missing.  Most of them believe their brothers, fathers and cousins were probably eaten by giants. But those disappearances happened long ago.

 Now, everyone feels safe.  They hunt for game in the woods.  They gather mushrooms in the woods.  They tend to their bees and gather their herbs without a second thought about the massive menace from those old stories.  But one day, an old man was walking alone in the woods when it happened.  He felt the ground tremble and heard the birds go silent.  And then he heard screams. Hobbling faster, he came to the edge of a clearing. A huge shadow draped the spring grass and the vegetable patch in blackness. The shadow began at two boulder size feet. His gaze traveled from the feet, up hairy pillar legs, to a leather clad torso, a toothy Cheshire cat grin, and stopped at black pin prick eyes, cold as unlit coal.

Who will be the next victim?  Who will come to defend these peaceful mountain people from the horrible giants?

Massive Menace by Daniel Tracy, published by Glowing Ember Press

Stories About Gold

Leprechauns!

You may have been thinking about leprechauns this week, with Saint Patrick's Day coming up. Most of the stories are about someone trying to catch a leprechaun.  If you catch one you need to be clever, because a leprechaun has many tricks and will do his best to get away.  Never listen to him, because he will try to confuse you. If you can keep him long enough, he will offer three wishes or a gold coin for you to let him go.  In most stories about wishes  the wisher makes terrible decisions.  He may end up insane or completely broke because the language of the wish must be well chosen. So if you catch one, you might do better to accept the gold coin and then cheerfully let the wee man go on his way.

Fairies!

Many years ago the Welsh mountains were full of fairies. People used to go by moonlight to see them dancing, for they knew where they would dance by seeing green rings in the grass.
There was an old man living in those days who used to frequent the fairs that were held across the mountains. One day he was crossing the mountains to a fair, and when he got to a lonely valley he sat down, for he was tired, and he dropped off to sleep, and his bag fell down by his side. When he was sound asleep the fairies came and carried him off, bag and all, and took him under the earth, and when he awoke he found himself in a great palace of gold, full of fairies dancing and singing. And they took him and showed him everything, the splendid gold room and gardens, and they kept dancing round him until he fell asleep. When he was asleep they carried him back to the same spot where they had found him, and when he awoke he thought he had been dreaming, so he looked for his bag, and got hold of it, but he could hardly lift it. When he opened it he found it was nearly filled with gold. He managed to pick it up, and turning round, he went home. When he got home, his wife Kaddy said, "What's to do, why haven't you been to the fair?" "I've got something here," he said, and showed his wife the gold. "Why, where did you get that?" But he wouldn't tell her. Since she was curious, like all women, she kept worrying him all night -- for he'd put the money in a box under the bed -- so he told her about the fairies. Next morning, when he awoke, he thought he'd go to the fair and buy a lot of things, and he went to the box to get some of the gold, but found it full of cockle-shells.

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Fables

Fables are short stories that teach values. Often the characters in fables are animals that can talk but still have their natural animal traits. Through the actions of the animals fables illustrate a behavior that puts them in danger or reveals a weakness. It is easy to see that there is a corresponding human behavior that is not beneficial.  Fables are a gentle way to teach wisdom and good sense. Usually the stories are funny and at one time they were told in social gatherings like a joke is told today.

 

Aesop is the master fable writer. There are hundreds of recorded Aesop fables. Most of them are not familiar to us today. What do you think is the message of this fable?

 

A Lion used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, they fell a-quarrelling among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in a separate corner of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end of all four.

Stories of Transformations

One of the oldest and most beautiful folktales is The Swan Maidens. In this story, a man is hunting ducks near a lake. He sees seven beautiful swans come to rest in the lake. But these were not ordinary swans. They were enchanted young women. They removed their robes of feathers and enjoyed bathing in the lake until dawn. The man was so captivated by their beauty that he took one of the feather robes and would not give it back. So the youngest and most beautiful of the swan maidens was compelled to go with him instead of flying away with her sisters. As often happens in stories, she falls in love with her captor and she marries him. They raise a family together and are happy. But when her feather robe is discovered, she puts it on and flies away. The man then proves his love by searching for her far and wide and passing several tests to win her back.

Another story about transformation is the legend of the silkies. These stories originate in northern Scotland. In most versions of this tale, a female seal comes onto the land to sing and dance. She removes her seal skin and takes on the form of a woman. Of course someone discovers the seal skin and hides it from her. Like the swan maiden she marries and raises a family, but when she finds the seal skin she returns to the sea.

Not all of the stories of transformation are about animals changing into women. There are male shape shifters in folklore as well. One of them is called a Leshie. This creature from Slavic lore is male and lives in the forest where it protects forest animals. It usually appears as a tall man with a beard of vines, a tail and horns. Sometimes it can look just like an ordinary man, but with glowing eyes. It is not necessarily an evil creature but it can cause some trouble when it feels mischievous.

These folktales are entertaining but are also symbolic.  They show that people are both good and bad, and that love requires sacrifice.  I hope you wenjoy reading these stories of transformation.  Maybe you will write one of your own.

Those Naughty and Loveable Tricksters

There are many trickster characters in folklore.
 
This is the character that makes up for lack of strength or physical abilities with a great deal of wit and tenacity. This character shows the dual nature of most beings, being neither completely good nor completely bad. The trickster is sometimes kind and sometimes cruel. He is sometimes extremely clever and other times very gullible. Sometimes he deceives and sometimes he is the deceived. Tricksters are led by their appetites more than by an internal moral compass. The trickster breaks the rules of society and suffers the consequences. The trickster also demonstrates the values of the culture from which his story originates. So along with being entertaining, trickster stories are also valuable in the perpetuation and preservation of culture.

I have some favorite tricksters. You may remember Bre'r Rabbit from the traditional stories recorded by Joel Chandler Harris. He is a folk hero from the southern United States. Bre'r Rabbit gets into trouble sometimes an has to outsmart his adversary to get away. He makes bad decisions sometimes. He is an example of what to do and also of what not to do.

Puss in Boots is a magical cat who tricks a king into raising a low born miller to a nobleman. Anansi is a spider who tries to trick other characters into providing him with food. Reynard is a red fox who is summoned to the court of the King to answer charges brought against him by the wolf. He uses satire to show the flaws in noblemen and to excuse his own actions. Coyote is the central figure and trickster in many Native American stories.



In modern culture we have Bart Simpson, Bugs Bunny and Captain Jack Sparrow filling the role of trickster. They are comical, they misbehave, and they usually get out of trouble at the expense of other characters and with very little cost to themselves. They are neither completely bad nor entirely good. They sometimes show their redeeming traits, such as kindness and empathy for weaker characters.

Trickster characters reveal our flaws and our strengths.  We can emulate them and we can learn from them.  But mostly they provide us with a good laugh.

Your Story, Only Better

You have been working on your story for months now, maybe even a year.  You have your characters clearly defined, your plot and structure are solid, and you have a strong beginning, no sagging middle, and a solid conclusion.  You are ready to publish, right?

Not so fast.  I have published eight books, and every one of them is better because I had a good editor.

What kind of editor do you need?
There are several kinds of editing.  You may need a developmental editor to restructure the book, make it consistant in tone, or even ghost write the book.  You may need light line editing to fix grammar and punctuation, do fact checking and clean up format and style.  Know what you need and ask for it, because an editor may not do both.

Does the editor help you get a publisher?
Editors generally specialize in a certain genre, and they are probably aware of trends in that genre.  They may be aware which traditional publisher is seeking a book like yours.  But an editor is not an agent.  An agent represents your book to publishers to help you get a book deal.

Won't the publisher edit the book?
If you have a contract with a traditional publisher, they have selected the manuscript because it needs only light editing.  They will provide light editing as part of your book contract.  If you are planning to self-publish, you will need to hire a freelance editor.

Can my friend, mother, associate edit the book?
It may be helpful for you in the process of writing your book to have a trusted friend or relative read it.  Their comments can help you to know if what is in your head is coming out as it should on the printed page.  If you are lucky enough to have someone with great editing skills among your relatives, all the better.  But if you are asking someone to edit, not just read the manuscript, you should pay them for their work.

How do you find a freelance editor?
If you have decided to self-publish your book,using Lulu or CreateSpace you can pay them for help with cover creation, formatting, and editing services.  They will get an isbn for your book and also offer marketing help. You may also find a freelance editor who is independent by doing a careful internet search.  Be sure to ask for references or titles that they have edited so you can decide if the editor is right for this book.

An editor will do wonders for your book.  Your diamond in the rough will truly shine.  It will make the book more professional.  You have worked a long time on this story, so you want it to have the best possible chance to succeed.

Are you ready to publish?  Share your story, only better?  Good luck with your project.

A Good Bad Guy

Every powerful story has a good bad guy.  This character is essential to the story to create conflict and to motivate the protagonist to keep up the struggle until he reaches his goal.  What traits does the good bad guy have?

• He wants absolute power over other characters
• He is selfishly motivated
• He will make sacrifices to get what he wants, but won't sacrifice himself
• He believes his cause is just, and that his methods are justifiable
• He contrasts the antagonist's point of view

Do you remember these antagonists from some of the best children's stories?

Cruella DeVil from 101 Damlations
The farmer from Charlotte's Web
Galbatorix from Eragon
Stepmother from Hansel and Gretel
Voldemort, death eaters, and Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter series
Shere Khan from The Jungle Book
The witch from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Captain Hook from Peter Pan
The Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood

Friendship

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you know that someone loves you deeply and truly.  I hope you have at least one great friend, or remember a friendship so true that it left a permanent mark on your heart.  Friendships are the best treasure. 

Friendships between people and animals can also be very deep and meaningful. I saw a documentary film last night about the love between an African elephant called Flora and a man called David Balding who owned a circus.  He met Flora when she was two years old, a scared little orphaned elephant.  They were best friends for about 15 years.  She was the star of Circus Flora. Finally David realized Flora needed to be with other elephants, so he searched until he found just the right place for her.  He found an elephant preserve in Tennessee.  That is where Flora met her new friend (another African elephant), Tarra.  David misses her terribly, but he realized that letting go of her was the kindest thing he could do for her.  Sometimes friendship means sacrifice.

 

 

 

If you would like to read more about Flora and David, check out this link about the film One Luck Elephant.

Love Stories

What are some of your favorite love stories?  Why do they resonate with you?  Probably they are about the near miss in meeting that special person, the struggle to connect, the big mistake that almost destroys the relationship, and the triumph when all is forgiven and the couple is back together.

Here are some powerful love stories that will spice up your reading life!  Which on is your favorite?  Which one will you read next?

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

Les Miserable by Victor Hugo

Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

From My Brain to Your Brain

When you tell a story you are in brain synchronicity with your listener.  The story goes from my brain to your brain when you hear me tell a story about burning my fingers on the stove, my visit with an old friend or my dinner at an ethnic restaurant.  There are studies that show the listener's brain lights up in the same way that the storyteller's brain does. You can read about it in Psychology Today.

When you are listening, you develop empathy for the storyteller because you are experiencing the event for yourself.  You may remember a time that you told a friend about something that happened to you.  Some time later, you heard that friend telling the story as if it happened to him.  They felt as if they were there.  The memory seems so real that he feels that he lived it.

Storytelling can be powerful. We can help to build empathy for others by telling a story well.  One story at a time, we can make the human race a little bit kinder and more understanding.  Share a story with someone today. That's the power of story.

You- the Protagonist

I recently interviewed a good many people to fill a position, and I realized that most people do not understand this important truth. You are the protagonist in your own life story.  No one knows you better than yourself.  No one can see your thoughts and know your inner strengths.  It is up to you to let others see the real you, or as much of the real you as you want to reveal.  When interviewing for a job this is a very important skill.  It is also important when you are ready to publish your work.

Some writers have chosen to disguise themselves when they publish by using a nom de plume.  Because we are very complex, and our writing may reveal a side of us (silly or sinister) that we don't want our intimate circle of friends to know about, this may preserve some privacy.  It may make sense to publish using only innitials to disguise the gender of the writer.  If you write in different styles it may make sense to have separate nom de plumes for each style.

Since you are the protagonist of your own story, spend some time crafting your biography.  Be ready to talk about your strengths and your experiences at a job interview.  Prepare your biography to include when you publish that novel you are working on.  No one knows you as well as you know yourself.

Fairy Tale Rules

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Albert Einstein

In a fairy tale, every feature of the story is important to the plot, including the landscape, the talents and powers of the characters, the political or social climate, and even the time of day or night in which the story takes place.

In a fairy tale, the characters know the rules.  They are not at liberty to do absolutely anything.  They know that you can only make 3 wishes.  They know how to use the magic tool at hand.  They know that ambition is rewarded.  They know that goodness and kindness are strenghts, not weakness.  They understand what is required to live happily ever after, and  know that making the wrong choice means not living happily ever after.

Fairy tale rules do not cross over, necessarily, from one story to the next.  Characters have the ability to change from one form to another in some stories.  Animals talk in some stories.  Wishes are granted in various ways by any number of benevolent creatures.

 Receiving wealth or gold is the result of hard work in some stories and is bestowed buy the King in other stories. Rewards vary from story to story, too. Childless couples receive a magical baby, orphans are adopted by a wealthy benefactor, the least favorite third son ends up getting a big inheritance.

What is the value of reading fairy tales? Reading fairy tales and fantasy stories strengthens several literacy skills, including narrative skills, vocabulary and phonetic ability. Darmatic skills and imagination grow from reading them.  Cultural values and morals are transmitted through old stories, too.  They reflect the civilization from which the stories originate. Many elements of fairy tales are rich in symbolism.

For pure entertainment, fairy tales have been around for a long time and are enjoyed by adults and children.  Which one will you read next?

Perfect Time

I have been struggling lately with carving out time to write.  I have lagged a little in motivation.  I tell myself that I am plotting, that my subconscious is working.  This is true.  But it is not getting words on a page.

But with everything a person tries to accomplish, it takes persistence and starting over and getting motivated again.  So here is a pep talk for me, and for you if you need it.  Barbara is one of my favorite authors.  And she is wise.

There is no perfect time to write.  There's only now. Barbara Kingsolver

Create Something New

I am sure you have a few favorite novels.  One maybe something you read when you were young.  Those often have lasting impact.  You may have a favorite novel from the classics or something you read recently may have really made an impression on you.  Think of one of them for a minute. What is it that you love about that story?  Is there an element of the plot that intrigues you?  A character you love to hate? A memorable scene or line?  You can use that to create something new.

Focus on a minor scene from that story.  Who is in the scene? Which of those characters resonates with you.  It may be a minor character.   Could you add another character, an observer to that scene?  Could you tell the scene from that character's point of view?

 Is the scene setting up a problem?  Try to think of five or six directions it could go.  Take the one that has the most potential and let your imagination play with it.

You might have the beginnings of a story you are going to love to write!

How to Write A Title

Need to write a catchy title?  Try this.

List some precise nouns, adjectives and verbs about your story.  Play with these.  Mix and match.

List some phrases from your story.  Find phrases that have two or three words, lots of imagery, double meaning.

List some one word reasons to read the book.  Magic.  Murder. Culinary.  List some character or place names from your story.  Mix and match from these lists.

List a few pivitol events from the book.

When you have 5 possible titles, search them on amazon or google to see if there are other books with the same title.  Titles are not copyrightable.  Still, you don't want anyone to confuse your book with another book. 

Do your 5 titles fit the mood of your book?

Do your 5 titles fit the genre of the book?



Try them on like you are trying on a pair of shoes. Be sure of the fit.  Take your time.

A Good Title

After living with your story for several months, it is very likely that it has taken a path you didn't consider at first.  The imagination embelishes and swells the small idea that initiated the story. New characters may have come along, the setting may have become more elaborate. Even the theme that was vague when you started writing may be quite different now that your story is complete. After all this time with your working title, you may need to ask yourself if it still works.  The title you had in mind when you began may need to be reconsidered. Choosing a good title takes some time.

What makes a good title?

• The title is memorable
• The title fits the mood of the story
• The title suggests the genre of the story
• The title invites but has no spoilers in it
• The title may come from a pivital line in the book
• The title may be a play on words

Next, we will consider some exercises to help you find just the right title for your story.