Book Titles

These blog posts are usually the result of something I'm exploring. It gives me a chance to improve. I say this so you will understand, because I can't come up with cool book titles. I stink at it! I have half a million stories and they all have dumb names. For instance…

The Trouble with Elves
Mistake
Clouded City (or maybe Vivas?)
Four Magic Kids (yup, that's seriously how I think of it)
Suncursed
Spy (short and to the point?)
Ilios

Some of are worse than others, but all are unsatisfactory.

So what makes a good title? Something that catches your attention, something that pertains to the story and characters…hopefully something that embodies the book.
Some examples?

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
The Way of Kings is not only the name of a hugely influential book within the book, but the entire story is about how the two main characters, Kaladin and Dalinar, attempt to live the way of kings and becomes leaders. Interestingly, they both set about it in different ways, with different success. The Way of Kings truly embodies the book while still sounding awesome and catching interest.

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
We wonder why the book is called Warbreaker at first, but in a masterful moment of sudden awareness we understand. Warbreaker is the entire movement and action of the book.

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The entire Wheel of Time series that this concludes is about the struggle between the Light and the Dark One. The main character, Rand, is the embodiment (I like that word) of Light. A Memory of Light is a breathtaking name, it gives the reader an amazing mental image and completely captures our interest. Will Rand destroy the Dark One or will the Dark One triumph? Will even A Memory of Light remain?

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
If you haven't yet gotten the picture, I think the names Sanderson comes up with are amazing. The term 'alloy' plays on the themes of metal used in the magic system. The Alloy of Law is about a man that is trying to leave behind his lawkeeping days for bigger responsibilities, but is interrupted from his efforts when another former lawkeeper begins to interperate things differently. Is there more than one alloy of law? This title demonstrates the conflict of the book.


Other examples are Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, which refers to both a book in the book that is extremely important and the condition of the villain––with a heart black as ink.
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry refers to the Star of David that features so prominently in this children's book about a little girl trying to save her Jewish friend from the Nazis and focuses on the miracle of the heavens, for can any one person number the stars?
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin demonstrates the conflict of the book.
• Taren Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander tells of Taren's wanderings, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as he explores his identity.
• Enna Burning by Shannon Hale is a story of a girl burning enemy supplies and accidentally setting fire to something within herself.
• River Secrets by Shannon Hale, the third in the Books of Bayern after Enna Burning, is set in a city laced with canals where mysterious things are happening that in the end only the rivers can explain.
• A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute is tells the story of a young Englishwoman that attempts to overcome her extreme experiences in World War II by moving to Australia with a fellow former prisoner and creating a pocket of peace that she hopes will be a town like the idyllic Alice Springs.

In my own writing I recently wrote an essay about the negative effects labeling children as part of the obesity epidemic can have (dull, I know) and titled it Perception Epidemic, because that embodied what I wanted to convey: the epidemic is one of how children percieve themselves.

The goal is for the title to embody the book, to capture the movement and action, to define the conflict, and to capture the reader's attention. With practice and patience, writers can tease out the perfect title.