Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Titles and Names...Possibly Harder Than Actually Writing

People tend to ask me: "Gemma, how did you end up coming up with titles like Broken Glass, and Mirrordust, and Reflections, and what not?" The completely honest, and terribly boring answer is: I don’t know! In fact, I don't ever remember them being called anything else, EVER!

It’s funny though, because I had actually had all three titles figured out before I had even written the books, and they fit! Broken Glass was titled because it was sort of that the main characters were looking through a two-way mirror, not really seeing what was going on. Then one day the glass broke and they were introduced to reality. Mirrordust is when their world shatters (into dust), and Reflections is when they mend the mirror and regain control of their lives again, but are still aware of the reality behind the glass.
In fact, for all stories I have ever written, I come up with the titles first!..............................


Except, this one.


This is the first time that I have ever known exactly what the story is going to be about, and not know what the title is! I'll be honest in the fact that the title somehow glues my writing together, it helps me to not stray away from the main point of the story / the overall message. So, I was thinking about cool things like Black Lullabies and Dark Melodies (because it has a lot to do with music and dark magic) but they didn't have that "OMG I SO GOT TO READ THAT!" feel. They were more like "Eeh, that's cool." So then I thought about something spooky and mysterious like "Cinderland", full of fire and smoke (and....Cinderella?) But, for obvious Disney related reasons, Cinderland just wouldn't do.


So, then of course I started this huge quest just find cool words and ideas to help me with the title, unsure of what I really wanted my "behind the line" message to be. Sigh. I'm still working on this...what? MAY 31st? YOU MEAN IT'S BEEN A WEEK? And, I still don't have a title. Joy.


And as for names, I have a terrible habit. In one book, I always tend to pick names with the same letter. For example, when I first seriously started writing Broken Glass I had: Rune, Ruby, Raina, Ray, Robin, etc, etc. And now, I have: Salem, Seth, Snake, Seiki, Symphony, etc, etc. It really is a terrible mental problem. So what shall I do? Go back and re-name characters, making sure that the name meaning coincides with the character personality.


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Sorry, that's what happened when I smashed my head against the keyboard. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go out in search again. If you find any names that you think would suit a dark and mysterious scientist, or names with evil / elegant meanings............or just a name that you think would sound good in a steampunkish novel, please feel free to comment.


Until then....to my last scrap of hope for ideas................SERENDIPITY! http://nine.frenchboys.net/


Enjoy the warm weather! :D

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