I spent the past week thinking about the purpose of these journal entries.
Should they be entertaining, offering funny anecdotes about writing a novel for potential readers? Or should they be educational, sharing the little wisdom I have about writing?
However, I realized today that I don’t have the time for either. I’m so quick to create rules for everything that I do, as if everything must fit into some perfect matrix of organization and intent. But often, I’ve found that the most interesting thing is to just talk about what is happening.
So here’s what happened today:
I was writing a scene in which my main protagonist, Tom Daly, is trying to repair his wife’s grandfather clock. And as he is in the process of figuring it out, he notices an inscription written inside the back panel of the clock. It’s a short poem, only four lines long, but the last line in particular stuck with me.
Reading it over a few times, I thought, “Now THAT could make a catchy title.”
The only problem is: that’s not at all what happened today.
I have been agonizing for weeks about what the title of this novel should be. The first title that came to me, months and months ago, when I began writing the novel, was ‘Two Good Men.’
I knew it was bad, mainly because it reminded me of ‘Two and a Half Men.’ But more importantly, I’m well aware that 76% of Goodread members are female (source). The likelihood of a woman choosing a book titled 'Two Good Men' seemed slim to none.
So what did I do instead?
I waited, and waited, and waited. And finally, nearly 6 months after I first started writing this novel, a title came to me. The challenge then was how to seamlessly integrate this title into the novel. You can’t just throw it in there willy-nilly. It needs to have meaning. It needs to stand for something.
I wrestled with it for a few more weeks, until I decided today that it could work as an inscription written inside the clock.
Is the new title a good title? I have no clue. We’ll have to find out.
But at least it’s in there, and I’m satisfied with it for now. Either it stays, or something better will come along. In the meantime, I’ll keep praying to the muses.
I spent the past week thinking about the purpose of these journal entries.
Should they be entertaining, offering funny anecdotes about writing a novel for potential readers? Or should they be educational, sharing the little wisdom I have about writing?
However, I realized today that I don’t have the time for either. I’m so quick to create rules for everything that I do, as if everything must fit into some perfect matrix of organization and intent. But often, I’ve found that the most interesting thing is to just talk about what is happening.
So here’s what happened today:
I was writing a scene in which my main protagonist, Tom Daly, is trying to repair his wife’s grandfather clock. And as he is in the process of figuring it out, he notices an inscription written inside the back panel of the clock. It’s a short poem, only four lines long, but the last line in particular stuck with me.
Reading it over a few times, I thought, “Now THAT could make a catchy title.”
The only problem is: that’s not at all what happened today.
I have been agonizing for weeks about what the title of this novel should be. The first title that came to me, months and months ago, when I began writing the novel, was ‘Two Good Men.’
I knew it was bad, mainly because it reminded me of ‘Two and a Half Men.’ But more importantly, I’m well aware that 76% of Goodread members are female (source). The likelihood of a woman choosing a book titled 'Two Good Men' seemed slim to none.
So what did I do instead?
I waited, and waited, and waited. And finally, nearly 6 months after I first started writing this novel, a title came to me. The challenge then was how to seamlessly integrate this title into the novel. You can’t just throw it in there willy-nilly. It needs to have meaning. It needs to stand for something.
I wrestled with it for a few more weeks, until I decided today that it could work as an inscription written inside the clock.
Is the new title a good title? I have no clue. We’ll have to find out.
But at least it’s in there, and I’m satisfied with it for now. Either it stays, or something better will come along. In the meantime, I’ll keep praying to the muses.
