Changing Titles

Emmet Cameron · Dec 10, 2014

Somewhere in my last revision I realised that the title I've attached to my WIP for the past four years just doesn't fit any more.

Have you ever had to change a title after working on a project for some time? How is titling something before you've done most of the work different from titling it after?

JustSarah · Dec 10, 2014

I change it for one main reason, usually that the ending has expanded in such a way that the original title has no meaning.

Like originally Song Of Lost Youth meant "the language of the street, those in less well off families sing in hunger and misery." Which looking back in, wow that's heavy handed!

So when it became science fantasy, because the teens were journeying through a bridge to a fantasy world, and that world was called Voreth's Promise, finding a different title made sense.

I hope that makes sense.

Marlys · Dec 10, 2014

Emmet Cameron said:
Somewhere in my last revision I realised that the title I've attached to my WIP for the past four years just doesn't fit any more.

Have you ever had to change a title after working on a project for some time? How is titling something before you've done most of the work different from titling it after?

Well, sure--a title is as subject to revision as any other part of a book (maybe even more so). My first book went through several title changes before it was published, and I have an as-yet unsold project I've called at least 5 different things over the years. On the other hand, books 2 and 3 kept their original titles from conception through publication.

Some titles seem to fit better than others, and if you're lucky, you'll hit on a good one early on. If you don't, you might end up in lengthy negotiations with your eventual publisher--or they might just give it a title without much input from you at all.

Emmet Cameron · Dec 10, 2014

Yeah. At this point actually changing it is on hold, I guess either until a) the editor I did the R&R for decides to take it on and then it becomes part of the whole conversation about what to do with this book, or b) until she doesn't and then it becomes a conversation with the agent about what to call it before we go out again.

I have changed a title after approximately this long before, but never because the original title literally had no bearing on the text any more. I think it just feels a little contrived because usually titles seem to just drift in through an open window and stick around (until, occasionally, chased away by something better). Intentionally trying to think of a title is very strange. Like I don't know how to know when one belongs. I honestly had no idea I had such woowoo feels about titles until the past couple of months.

Becca C. · Dec 10, 2014

I usually start with a working title, and nine times out of ten the working title ends up becoming the final title (or the title I query with, anyway). Usually I know the final title as soon as I hear it/make it up. If I'm not 100% on a title, it'll change.

MAYBE IN PARIS used to be called LONDON & PARIS, since I didn't know much about the book other than those settings I wanted to play with. Then they ended up not even going to London, and one of the biggest themes happened (the MC having expectations of everything being better in Paris), and I knew I had to change it. My current WIP is called FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN after a song that helped inspire it, and there is a literal wildfire on a mountain at one point in the story, and there are all kinds of fire and mountain metaphors, so for my purposes right now it's perfect.

IdrisG · Dec 14, 2014

I've had that happen. Usually names are set in stone from the beginning for me, but occasionally I'll switch them up if I feel the story has evolved beyond its original title during writing.

Whimsigirl · Dec 15, 2014

I've definitely changed titles before. I think it's relatively common. After all, Twilight was originally titled Forks...

maddicharmed · Dec 15, 2014

I find it incredibly difficult to begin a novel or short story without a working title (don't ask me why, haha). But usually over the course of me writing and developing it, the title changes because the story has evolved and the original working title no longer fits.

holy heidi · Dec 20, 2014

Oh yeah. I had a working title that was pretty boring, and then after the m/s had gone through about 14 drafts i finally made up a bunch of potential titles and polled my facebook friends about which one sounded most compelling and ta da! New title. The title was basically the last thing I wrote.

CAMueller · Dec 20, 2014

It's absolutely normal for you to change the title as your work evolves.

I always start with a working title. Usually it morphs into another version by the time I hand it over to my agent. This may have something to do with my being a pantser, though.

I start the novel with the core theme, and new elements are discovered in the writing process. It makes sense for me to let the name grow with the manuscript.

Changing Titles

Emmet Cameron

JustSarah

Marlys

Resist. Love. Go outside.

Emmet Cameron

Becca C.

IdrisG

the wicked wit of the west

Whimsigirl

wishin' and hopin'

maddicharmed

I'm not the writer I used to be.

holy heidi

full of beans

CAMueller

Part-time ninja