What's In A Name

The name on the cover of a book can grab you and insist that you pick up the book.

When a writer envisions a creation that becomes bound by a hard cover, sometimes that creation starts with a title. Other times, it starts with a plot.

I came up with a great title last weekend but it really didn't mesh with my plot idea but I decided to save the title for later and write a few paragraphs about what I thought that book was about.

Don't trash your book titles. Save them for later.

I have a page in my journal filled with potential book titles.

Do you find that you gravitate to a book title, the cover art, the font?

I think it's a bit of everything but I've picked up more than one plain covers that didn't tell you at all about the book either. I think of them sometimes as giftwrapped packages where you'll never know what's inside until you look. Just think, someone laboured over that book...some publisher thought it was worthy of printing.

Great food for thought...

I have a plot in mind and a few characters are coming slowly into focus for me but I'm a while away from the title.

As a reader, what grabs your attention?

As a writer, do you write a story arc, plot, title and cover art in an organized fashion or do you merely start to write and see where it takes you?