In the beginning - Your Title

One of the first things I'm asked at a school/class visit is where do you start?

Some people like to start with an idea, characters, setting or a dozen other things. But I remember as a child, even if I had some of those things worked out, the thing that would stop me actually putting my pencil on the paper in front of me, was a title.
Even when I began writing for children, I was still held up by wondering, 'What am I going to call it?'

Now (thank goodness), I have learnt that the title should be one of the last things to decide on or worry about.

If you need to have a title to begin, just pick something quick and relevant to your idea. If you don't even have an idea, no problem, we'll work on that in another post - but don't let the lack of an awesome title stop you from putting pencil to page - especially if you're in class and have limited time before the bell rings.

My 1st story 'Too Many Secrets' was called 'The Mystery of Isaiah', which at the time summed up what I was writing about. But after writing 3/4's of the novel, one of the characters says, "...too many secrets..." and I instantly knew that was my title.

(If you are wanting to put your story on the internet, a good idea is to check if your chosen title is a popular one, because your story could be lost among hundreds of others.)

You'll need a title that stands out. Titles can be anywhere from one word eg. 'Wonder' to long titles like 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.' - it's up to you. Make it interesting, unusual, or something that makes a reader want to know more.

Sometimes a publisher will ask you to change your title. When that happened to me, it was hard to think of something else. But it did make me think what the story was really about and my story title soon changed to: 'Trouble in Time,' which was much better than my original title.

​So be brave, put your 'What am I going to call it?' worries aside, and begin!

If you'd like a Writing Workshop at your School, just drop me a message through my Contact page at the top of the screen.

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