Anyone reading Ocean over a longer spell would confirm that I am not great at coming up with names or titles. I don't want the words on top to set limits on how someone may read what's below. And so in the title space for a post, I often find myself merely putting in the name of the day. You can't screw up too much with "Sunday" or "Wednesday!"
And so it probably comes as no surprise that my writing project has not had a title associated with it since its inception nearly a decade ago. I call my file Book Notes. I tell myself I'll think of a title later.
Well I'm at "later!" As I struggle to write the perfect pitch letter (and no, I cannot, CANNOT say it in less than 500 words), I know I need a title.
I ask Ed for help.
Mistake.
I throw out one title after the next to lukewarm or even downright cold responses.
Not too catchy, is it... he'll mumble, somewhat afraid of hurting my feelings or giving bad advice.
When I think I struck perfections he'll remind me -- google it. Someone surely has used that before.
Thanks Ed.
So this is my day: after rising way too early to free the cheepers...
...after a Monday breakfast that feels more like a Sunday breakfast because I know my girl and her husband will be over for supper...
...after picking out a few weeds and cleaning the coop and generally pacing up and down the farmette in a ridiculous way all day long...
...and after writing the first (then second then third then fourth) draft of a pitch letter, I come up with a title.
No, of course I wont share it just yet. That comes later. But just so you know, it was a very painful process. For a while, I considered merely titling it "Sunday." I mean, Sundays do figure in the text, so it would not have been ridiculous.
Well, yes, it would have been ridiculous, so I did better. I hope.
Two more quick photos: first, dinner on the porch. Because you never know how many of those we'll have left this year. My daughter, solo. Everything else about the photo was so poorly presented, that I cropped it out.
Second, of our wild hens, having a bad hair day. You have to hand it to them -- they don't seem to mind. Life is all about getting the worm and laying an egg. Who cares if the crown tilts a bit to the side.
And there you have it -- the first day of September. Ushering in the beginning of the school year. Though not for me. This year, for the first time, not for me.
And so it probably comes as no surprise that my writing project has not had a title associated with it since its inception nearly a decade ago. I call my file Book Notes. I tell myself I'll think of a title later.
Well I'm at "later!" As I struggle to write the perfect pitch letter (and no, I cannot, CANNOT say it in less than 500 words), I know I need a title.
I ask Ed for help.
Mistake.
I throw out one title after the next to lukewarm or even downright cold responses.
Not too catchy, is it... he'll mumble, somewhat afraid of hurting my feelings or giving bad advice.
When I think I struck perfections he'll remind me -- google it. Someone surely has used that before.
Thanks Ed.
So this is my day: after rising way too early to free the cheepers...
...after a Monday breakfast that feels more like a Sunday breakfast because I know my girl and her husband will be over for supper...
...after picking out a few weeds and cleaning the coop and generally pacing up and down the farmette in a ridiculous way all day long...
...and after writing the first (then second then third then fourth) draft of a pitch letter, I come up with a title.
No, of course I wont share it just yet. That comes later. But just so you know, it was a very painful process. For a while, I considered merely titling it "Sunday." I mean, Sundays do figure in the text, so it would not have been ridiculous.
Well, yes, it would have been ridiculous, so I did better. I hope.
Two more quick photos: first, dinner on the porch. Because you never know how many of those we'll have left this year. My daughter, solo. Everything else about the photo was so poorly presented, that I cropped it out.
Second, of our wild hens, having a bad hair day. You have to hand it to them -- they don't seem to mind. Life is all about getting the worm and laying an egg. Who cares if the crown tilts a bit to the side.
And there you have it -- the first day of September. Ushering in the beginning of the school year. Though not for me. This year, for the first time, not for me.
I hope it all goes well.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Me too!
DeleteI cannot wait to read your book! Or hear the title! I will add that I find, with Brian, who is much less verbal and not as into writing/words/etc. (not that he's not well read or well versed, simply that we see the world differently when it comes to word usage), I have a much easier time helping him come up with ways to write or say things than he has helping me. Typically, I end up walking away extremely frustrated, which usually later leads to me thinking of what I wanted to say more eloquently than I had presented to him in the first place. I hope that's what happened with your process of coming up with a book title yesterday! Enjoy these last warm days of summer!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I am definitely the harsher critic of the written word in this house! But titles, names -- Ed'll always prefer short and to the point. He thinks his own name has the perfect number of letters in it -- two.
DeleteGorgeous colors in the eastern sky for you today. Or..yesterday.
ReplyDeleteFor me, sleeping in lazily, because I heard the thunder and knew the pool would be closed.
Should "Warsaw" be somewhere in the title? For future google searches :)
All those geographic terms -- Warsaw, post-war Poland -- are tricky because of my perverse (!) habit of traveling between Poland and the States as a child... If I had to give a title that accurately describes the content, it would be something like the question "what's it like over there?" -- with the "over there" part changing depending on where I was living at the time...
DeleteMy two titles that popped into my head were 1) Me, Myself, and I - A Memoir --- and 2) from your blog today "The First Day of September" - I have no idea why! Can't wait to hear what you decided on and even more, to be able to acquire it and read it!
ReplyDeleteMore like the fragmented and ever changing me myself and I!
DeleteAnd if I used "the first day of September ," young kids would think -- school! and my generation would think -- Hitler attacked Poland!
I'm late commenting so I have the benefit of reading the others. I find titles difficult, sort of limiting, like you mentioned. Maybe, try living with one you think you like for a few days or weeks and see how it wears! Like the others, I am anxious to read this opus of yours!
ReplyDelete...they say that editors have this way of twisting your arm to let go of favorite titles, so maybe I'm over-worrying this one!
ReplyDeleteI always write with a working title. It keeps me on track, kinda-sorta. Serves as a reminder, kinda-sorta. My first book's working title was The Night the Moon Cried. My second book's working title was Coyote Corner. And I mentioned my memoir's working title, Half Past a Freckle. I find some sort of satisfaction in starting with a working title. Now, mind you, I've never had any of my books published either. :) So obviously, working titles don't lend an advantage. (I just glanced at your last comment. It's true - publishers usually select another title due to market research etc.)
ReplyDelete