Hello, writers.
SenSho's dealing with some pretty awful family medical issues right now, so I'm back again.
Tonight, I've got two things on my mind. One is titles. Mine almost always suck. They're boring and static and so forgettable that I call my books by the main character's name instead of the title.
What makes a title good? How do you come up with yours? What're your favorite titles--of your own projects, and of other people's novels?
What's your current project titled? Do you have a bunch of possibilities? If you want your title critiqued, drop it in the comments section and the rest of us can point and laugh give you feedback.
The second thing on my mind tonight is deadlines, because I'm trying to get a draft of the current excrescence to my agent by Monday, and it's not done. In fact, my wife is editing the beginning as I'm writing the end, and telling me to combine various characters, change the POV in a bunch of sections, and please, please stop nattering on about completely irrelevant subjects.
I don't have anything to say about deadlines, I just mentioned that to explain why this diary isn't exactly the strongest in the Write On! franchise.
Okay, how about this, for a weird little writing exercise? Take one of your favorite titles and rework it for different genres. I think The Da Vinci Code is a pretty good title for a thriller. For a cosy mystery, not so much. How about, "The Mona Lisa Murders?' For women's fiction, 'Mary Magdalene's Daughter,' for horror, 'The Leonardonomicon.'
Finally, here's some advice I found at a random writing site and endorse wholeheartedly:
You wouldn’t send combat focused Grunt or biotic assassin Thane through the vent shafts to open the Collector ship doors would you? Nor would you have tech-master Tali or brilliant-but-breakable Mordin lead the second fire team.
So too, should each of your character suit the role they’re given in your story.