What's in a Title?

Even though I’ve written 47,000 words of my new novel, I still don’t have a title for it. Thing is, a title is HUGE. It’s the first impression someone gets of your story (if it isn’t published and doesn’t a cover that they’ll probably see first) and first impressions are IM PORTANT.

Take the manuscript I queried last fall. I’d never liked the title—FOR PARIS, FOR LOVE—partly because I didn’t want to name Paris. Sure, much of the story takes place in that city, but I didn’t want to end up with the Eiffel Tower on the cover, which seemed inevitable with Paris in the title. That’s ironic, because I loved the Eiffel Tower. I used to go there late at night in the spring, when it wasn’t too cold, because there were always people around and I liked to be around them as I wrote in my journal. But still, I was determined that if an agent wanted to represent the story and if a publisher picked it up, I’d insist on no Eiffel Tower. As for the rest of the title, the love part was always just okay for me. Basically, I’d been ready to ditch that title since the beginning.

So I ditched it. I recently renamed the thing THAT DAY IN DUBLIN, which is what it says on my website. But I’m not necessarily a fan of that one, either. For one thing, the story mostly takes place in Paris, not Dublin. Yes, the story’s defining moment is in Dublin, but still. Check back in a few weeks or months and I may have changed the title again (assuming, of course, that I haven’t completely abandoned the thing for other stories).

Then there’s the MS I entered into contests all winter. I call it WORLD’S EDGE, but that title didn’t come until I was almost finished writing the story. I was deep in a scene where the main character is straddling two worlds and world’s edge just came in the middle of a stream of words. I plucked it from the sentence and pasted it to the top of the document. It’s been the title since. I like this title—I’m attached to it.

As for my WIP, well, I just don’t know. There’s a title that been haunting me (which would be ironic, if you’d read the WIP so far), but I’m not sure it’s a good one. For one thing, it’s strange and I think it would give the wrong impression for the story. I can’t have that.

So when a critique partner sent me an email with the title of a new WIP, I sent my possible title back. No return email yet, but I love the one my CP sent me and, honestly, I’m a little jealous. The title came quick, or sounds like it did based on the wording of the email. A chapter or two of a WIP written, an article read, and voilà title. Voilà jealousy.

Are titles so easy for every writer, like they seem to be for my CP? How do writers come up with titles? How do they make them so good, sucking me in with so few words?

I’ve said before that I judge books by their covers, but it’s also true that I judge books by their titles. I’m sure most readers do too, even if they don’t realize it. I need the title of my new WIP to be good. I need people to like the title of WORLD’S EDGE. I need to make a good first impression so that, hopefully, one of these days my title, query, and writing will grab the attention of an agent.

Writing Fervor

I’ve said I will write one thousand words per day. I’ve said this is my goal and I will stick to it no matter what because I don’t want this WIP to take a year like the last one did. I’ve said I will do this before I read, before dinner, before anything else, like it’s homework and I can’t wait to get through it so I can enjoy the rest of my evening.

But this WIP is not homework. It’s not even work. Most days, 1K seems like a ridiculous goal because I fly right past it and keep going. I wrote a little over 1.5K tonight—I was in the middle of a scene I just had to finish—and that’s a little on the low side for this WIP.

It’s like I can’t write enough, not ever. It’s like I’ve been stuck in a desert with no water for days and now every word, every sentence, is a drop of rain. I want it to pour. I’ve said before that I’ve a full outline for this WIP in my head and now for every plot point I write, I’m desperate to get to the next one. I’m gathering all the rain like the drought will come again and steal, evaporate whatever words I’ve left unwritten.

If I had time, I’d write more than 1.5K every day. If I had time, I write until I was exhausted, until I had no more words but all the rain. I love rain. Every day, this rain of words helps me learn something new about this story that I thought I’d worked out before I began.

My full outline has turned out to not so full, but it hasn’t slowed me down. Whenever I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing. I’m working out the wrinkles in the plot and finding that this story is much more complicated than I thought it’d be. I’ve even begun to think that though this story will stand alone, it may have series potential.

I blame this, in part, on Laini Taylor’s DREAMS OF GODS & MONSTERS. It was released on April 8 and I’ve been reading it these last few days. If you don’t know, DREAMS OF GODS & MONSTERS is the third book in Laini Taylor’s trilogy. The first book is…quiet compared to the other two, at least at first. It’s about a boy, a girl, and lost love. But as the book and the series progress, the scope of the story expands, taking in worlds layered on worlds. It’s about more than just a boy and a girl—it’s about a war between races, between worlds. It’s about magic and destiny. Laini Taylor writes it like it’s a series of paintings, beautiful and vivid and true.

The more I read Laini Taylor’s books (among others), the more I realize that my story has a greater scope. It’s been happening all along as I’ve been writing. It’s snuck up on me, but it’s not hiding anymore. I’m now revising my mental outline, adding more plot points and plot twists, delving into things I once thought were beyond my ability to write. It’s intimidating, but I’m not backing down. I’m writing my 1K+ words per day. I’m getting this story on paper before it evanesces –a word I’ve borrowed from Laini Taylor, a word that seems so appropriate for this desperation I sometimes feel about getting this story out of my head. I have this writing fervor that I just can’t escape, not until I’m finished, not until I written every last word, when it won’t matter if the rain no longer pours.

Anything in English

I lived in Paris spring semester of my junior year of college. I had classes just four days a week and a two week spring break, so I traveled A LOT. I didn’t make it everywhere I wanted to, but I managed to visit other regions of France, England, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. Of course, I didn’t go to these places alone—at the very least I took my one close friend with me. (I probably wouldn’t have left the cozy confines of Valpo if she hadn’t wanted to go to Paris, too.) And the thing is, I don’t know what I would have done without her. Seriously, when you get in a jam, there’s nothing better than having a fellow American you can trust at your side.

Take Austria, for example. Neither my friend nor I spoke more than a word or two of German. Sure, most Europeans in major cities speak some English, but when you’re switching trains in the middle of nowhere Austria and you have no idea what the signs say and there’s no one to ask, at least you’ve got a friend who’s just as lost and isn’t going to go anywhere. And yeah, The Sound of Music tour was in English, but for the most part cities like Vienna and Salzburg are pretty hardcore German (well, okay, Austrian).

Italy wasn’t much easier, though between our French and my Spanish we were able to at least guess at most of what we needed to know.  We even managed a couple of times to stop by a grocery store and not frustrate both us and the Italians behind the registers. We did not, however, figure out how to ride the Venetian buses (aka boats).

Even France was a little tricky sometimes. When my friend and I visited Mont St. Michel, we almost got caught in an ocean riptide while trying to circumnavigate the watery sand around the island. Luckily, there were a couple of cute French guys there who’d tried the same thing and learned their lesson. We didn’t understand every word they said, but after they repeated it once or twice, we got enough—GO BACK.

Then there was Ireland. You’d think that’d be easy—they do speak English…right?—but some Irish people have accents so thick that you’d swear they were speaking a foreign language. And no, they weren’t speaking Gaelic. Trust me, I checked. The day I had to go to the American Embassy and couldn’t understand a word the guards at the gate were saying…well, that was one of the roughest days I’ve spent in any foreign country.

Before that semester, I’d never really understand what it was like to be unable to communicate with words. That semester made sure I learned that. I also learned a lot of ways to communicate without a common language. Even so, we ran into some rough times. Sometimes during one of those situations, my friend and I would joke that once we got back to the States, we’d be able to do anything as long as it was in English. Yep, anything.

Since I’ve started this writing quest, I’ve been thinking about that a lot. Anything in English? There are days where I want to laugh at my college self. That’s not to say I’m not trying to write novels, edit and revise them, query them, get them published…but it’s a hell of a lot harder than it sounds. (Except for the writing part. I’ve always been able to do that. I’m wordy.) It’s one thing to do something; it’s another to succeed at it.

That’s not to say I’m not still trying, because believe me, I am. Since I started my latest WIP a few weeks ago, I’m up to 35,000 words…which is A LOT. It’s, like, halfway. I’ve also got this query I love for my latest manuscript, which has been revised so much that I’m not sure it’ll let me revise it anymore. I’ve got this blog, my critique partners, and I’m part of street team to help promote Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon’s newest Doon novel. Things are great.

Except there’ll always be this college me who thought anything in English would be possible. Maybe that me was right—maybe it’s possible I’ll find an agent and publish a book. But there’s no guarantee.

I’m going to keep at it, though. I’m pretty determined. I’m also more realistic than I was when I started this quest…which, initially, wasn’t long after I got back from that semester in Paris. But when people say they know I’ll succeed, sometimes I want to punch them. (Even worse are people who say so flippantly that maybe they should write a book, too—like this is such an easy thing and they’ll just do it and be done and famous and rich and happy.) I don’t need encouragement here, just support and understanding. Be on my side, like my friend was in Europe.

Like any good quest, this one’s long and hard. But if anything in English is possible, I have to keep hoping that tomorrow will be the day that possibility becomes reality.

STILL Fangirling

Back in January, a friend and I stopped by The Booksellers bookstore in downtown Cincinnati. We were checking out the young adult shelves when we spotted autographed copies of this gorgeous fairytale DOON. I read the book within the week and loved it. I wrote a blog post about it (click http://tracygoeke.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-magic-of-doon-booksellers.html  if you’d like to read the post...assuming I've linked it correctly), I tweeted about it, I told all my YA reader friends about it. That was January.

Tuesday—April now—I got a Twitter direct message from Lorie Langdon, one of the authors of DOON. She asked if I’d be interested in helping her (and others) promote the next DOON book. I freaked out with excitement. I sent my friend, the one who’d discovered the book with me, a text message with exclamation points, which I’m usually frugal about using. I wrote a blog post about it—because blog posts are what I do—and how much of a fangirl I was. I didn’t mention Lorie Langdon because I had so little information that I wasn’t sure I could share.

Well, yesterday Lorie left a comment on my post saying I could tell, so now I’m telling.

Y’all, I’ve been asked to help promote Lorie Langdon and Carey Corp’s DESTINED FOR DOON…and I’m ecstatic about it. I did a quick Amazon search and found out the book’s release date is set for September 2, at which another fangirl moment ensued. Usually it’s a year or more after I’ve read a book I love before the sequel is released. Maybe I was a little late in discovering DOON…or maybe I discovered it at just the right time. Regardless, I’m so excited about this opportunity that I’m telling you again how much I love DOON.

Like I said in that January blog post, if you like fairytales, YA, hot guys, or best friends, you should read DOON. If you need some extra incentive, if you don’t believe me based on that, check out the beautiful cover:

If that doesn’t draw you in, go to your nearest bookstore and pick up the book. Read the jacket and see if you aren’t sucked in by the first sentence or two like I was.

Whether or not you read it, you’re probably going to hear a lot about it from me in the coming months. I’ll also keep telling you about other books I love and about my quest to publish my own book(s). Because blog posts about reading and writing are what this fangirl does.

Fangirling

Some days this writing quest makes me feel like beating my head against the wall. Today is not one of those days. Today is the opposite, where I get so excited and bouncy that my coworkers aren’t sure what to do with me. (One looked at me like he wanted to packaging tape me to my chair. Because we don’t have duct tape here.) I can’t tell you all the details because I’m not sure if I’m allowed to (*steals a glance over shoulder, wary of blog police*), but I’ll tell you what I can.

I got a direct message on Twitter this morning from an author whose book I tweeted about sometime relatively recently. (Too many adverbs? Maybe. Hyper here. Too vague? Too bad.) When I’d read this author’s book, I’d loved it so much that I wanted to share, hoping to convince everyone else to read it, too. This author back then read my tweet …and asked me now if I’d like to help promote the next book in exchange for some awesomeness. Um…YES.

I had to stop and think for a few minutes before I sent a message back. What was the best way NOT to sound like I was so fangirl excited that I couldn’t hold still? In the end, I went for something semi-casual with a big THANK YOU (well, thank you!) at the end. Next step, the author asked me to send some personal info via email. Done.

Aside from a huge (HUGE) fangirl moment, what does this mean for me? This is the first time someone has asked me something like this. A year ago, I never would have imagined this could happen. Remember (or not, if you don’t follow me regularly), before last summer I’d never heard of the Twitter writing community and didn’t have any writer friends. Now, this opportunity means another writing connection, this time with an author whose book I love. I’ll get to show others this amazing book (and author).  I’ll also have another chance to get my name out there more. I’m not saying it’ll help me with my own publishing quest…but it could, and that’s good enough for me.

That said, that’s all I have about this for now, but I’ll be sharing more as I know more. I’ll try not to fangirl too much, but I’m not promising anything.

And We Wait

I’ve become an obsessive email checker. If I ever say I haven’t gotten your email (assuming no technical difficulties in the email void), call me on it. I check my email at least five times a day…and that’s probably a low estimate. It’s gotten to the point where I compulsively check it when I’m stuck in traffic, waiting for a friend, or avoiding TV commercials.

My phone has a particular way of vibrating when I receive a new email and if I’m anywhere nearby, I pounce on the thing. I check both my email addresses, though it’s my writer one that I’m after. Sometimes the email’s an update on a blog I follow and sometimes it’s more stuff from Writer’s Digest, but those aren’t what I want. I want news from my critique partners. I’m desperate for it.

Thing is, two of my critique partners have had more contest success than I have. They’ve had agents specifically ask for their query and some pages. One of my other critique partners has been querying for awhile and has full requests out there. One of these times I check my email, it’s going to be a note from a critique partner saying an agent has asked for a full or wants to represent my CP. I know this will happen. It’s only a matter of time.

When you spend so much time critiquing someone else’s manuscript and you invest almost as many hours (okay, not really) in theirs as your own, you feel like it’s as important for them to get published as it is for you. I love what my critique partners have written and I want to share my enthusiasm with my reader friends. I want to tell everyone to read these books…except none of them can. I can’t even rate the things on Goodreads. But I want to. And I will someday. I just have to get those important emails from my CPs first.

So when a new email comes through, I rush to check it. If it’s from one of my critique partners, I read it right away. I’m sure it’ll be good news. Of course it isn’t always good news—that’s the nature of this quest. When the news is bad, I’m first in line to console my CP…or to share in their frustration or anger. I’ve been there, so I know exactly how it feels. I also know exactly what to say (most of the time). Sometimes the agent has a point and sometimes it’s just that they didn’t get my CP’s MS like I did. Sometimes it’s one of those form rejections that make you want to scream and cry and toss your MS into the fire. And sometimes, it’s good news.

Still, news—good or bad—can be a long time coming. The other day I received a rejection from an agent that I queried back in November. Anyone remember November? Wasn’t that before the NEVERENDING winter? That feels like forever ago. I haven’t queried that MS in months because I know it would need some work before I put it out there again. I actually laughed when I got the email.

I don’t get as many emails from my CPs as I’d like and that’s because they’re doing what I’m doing—waiting. We wait and we wait and we wait. The waiting is one of the hardest parts, but that’s where I come in again. I’m here when my critique partners need a reassuring word that this no news means nothing. They’re there for me when I need them, too. That’s the best part about this waiting—having others on this quest with me. We’re a team…a waiting team, but a team. It’s so nice to have my critique partners for company. It’ll be even nicer when they get agents. Those emails will come; we just have to wait for them.

1K Per Day

I’m not an outliner. When I have a story idea, I don’t sit in front of my computer or a whiteboard and chart out the plot. No pages of bullet points for me. No colorful lines or color coded pages. Isn’t that what most writers do? To be honest, I don’t really know. I’ve read tweets that lead me to believe they do, but it’s not a question I usually ask other writers—I’m usually too interested in their story, their query, their agent choices, their reasons behind their successes or failures.

That’s not to say I don’t outline, because I do. I just don’t have anything visual that anyone can inspect. I work most of the basics out in my head, digging through the details to decide what has to happen and why. I know where my story needs to start and I know where it needs to end and I work out the points between like they’re a math proof. Did you have to do those in school? Like if A + B = C, then show all steps that’ll get from A + B to C. Okay, that’s too simple of an example because there aren’t any steps between, but you get the idea, right? (If not, you’re out of luck here—I haven’t had math since high school and I blocked most of it from my memory like it was all a traumatic experience.)

Once I have the major plot points decided, I get out my computer and go for it. If I’ve used my mental outlining tool right, the writing part is easy. Getting everything down is just a matter of time. When writing my previous novels, I didn’t really set a goal for myself. The one I wrote in college, I knew I had until April or May to finish. The one about my Paris semester I made sure I wrote something every day, but with no particular word count. By the time I started writing WORLD’S EDGE, I’d been thinking about it for years so I wrote it fast. The sequel to WORLD’S EDGE took me over a year, though that’s because I was planning my wedding at the same time.

Now that I’m writing a new story (see my last blog post New Guy & Old Guy Do Battle for more on that), I decided I wanted some kind of goal. I’m eager to write this one, but I have a lot of other writing things going on. I needed a goal, so I set one—I’m writing a minimum of one thousand words each day. I don’t know if this sounds like a lot or a little to you, but it seemed like a reasonable number to me. It’s not quite a Nano number, but those writers are way more amazing than I am.

So far, things are going well. Today was the first day I struggled to reach my goal, though I blame that on my flavor job, not on anything wrong with my mental outlining tool. At 1K per day and a YA target word count of 60,000-70,000 words, it’ll take me sixty to seventy days to write this novel. That sounds good, right?

When I finish, I'll do some revisions. After, I’ll send it out to my critique partners, though a couple of them have already read and approved the first chapter (which was a huge relief). When they’re finished, I’ll make the necessary revisions. By that time, it’ll be late summer or early fall. It’ll have a been about a year since I entered my first writing contest and depending on how things go with WORLD’S EDGE, I may start entering my new novel in those same contests.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, I have to write this thing, 1K per day, every day until it’s finished.