Wattpad brings you a guest post from Samantha Young, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.
Keep an eye out for Samantha Young’s adult fiction, “On Dublin Street,” coming to Wattpad in February! Follow her on Wattpad to read her other stories FREE and get instant updates.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Picking A Title For Your Novel:
Is there anything more satisfying than that moment that you come up with the perfect title? Sometimes it just pops into your head as you’re writing, and other times you’ve already thought of a title before you even begin writing. And sometimes you’re sitting wiggling your bum like a pleased puppy at how gosh darn clever your title is!
Not me. No. I never do that.
For the most part creating titles for my novels has been easy. I usually come upon something in my research, or during my planning stages, and I have a title all ready to go before I’ve even begun typing the story up. All of my previous books have been paranormal and urban fantasy so it definitely felt like I had more scope for a title. I guess in a way, for me, titling those books were easier.
When I started drawing up plans for a contemporary romance for adults, I was stumped on the title front. Anything I thought of was immediately followed by a childish, scrunched-up expression— like a five year old who’d just been subjected to a piece of broccoli. Those first ideas were cheesy, overly sentimental, and in some cases utterly crap.
I was at desperado stages. Despite being a hot romance, there was a lot in the story that was personal, that was earthy, and hopefully really relatable. I wanted a romantic title but not one that suggested frivolity and lack of depth. I wanted one that hinted at the possibility of an epic romance between its pages.
Of course, I finally deemed it necessary to pay a visit to my sounding board (a.k.a Mum, a.k.a Super Mum) and we started talking about the basics of creating a title. Your title should encapsulate what you as the writer think is the most important element of the story. Is it the lessons learned? Is it the item, person, or place that’s the focus of the plot? Is it the destination? Is it the things left unsaid? And would it communicate to the reader what to expect?
For me, I knew that it was the place that was important to my heroine, Joss. She was an American now living in Edinburgh, and the flat she moved to in the early chapters of the story was the beginning of a massive turning point in her life. It would be the stage for every significant moment that would happen to her.
“So where is it?” Mum asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I was thinking New Town.”
“Which street?”
“Well, there are some gorgeous flats near Queen Street Gardens. There’s Abercromby Place, Heriot Row, Dublin Street… Dublin Street. Dublin Str—On Dublin Street!”
“On Dublin Street?”
“On Dublin Street.”
“I just got goosebumps. That can only be a good thing.”
“Me too.”
And that was how I came up with the title for my bestseller On Dublin Street. It had all the Celtic romantic connotations perfect for a romance novel, and those three simple words suggested that something happens here— a hint that hopefully readers would find compelling enough to pick up the book.
Sounding Board Mums (they’re also available in dads, grandparents, an assortment of relatives, as well as helpful friends and nosy neighbors): an accessory no writer should be without.
—————————————————————————————————————
On Dublin Street by Samantha Young is available now in paperback or ebook, and coming to Wattpad in February. In the meantime, start reading her other stories on her Wattpad profile.
“On Dublin Street”:
Jocelyn Butler has been hiding from her past for years. But all her secrets are about to be laid bare …
Four years ago, Jocelyn left her tragic past behind in the States and started over in Scotland, burying her grief, ignoring her demons, and forging ahead without attachments. Her solitary life is working well - until she moves into a new apartment on Dublin Street, where she meets a man who shakes her carefully guarded world to its core.
Braden Carmichael is used to getting what he wants, and he’s determined to get Jocelyn into his bed. Knowing how skittish she is about entering a relationship, Braden proposes an arrangement that will satisfy their intense attraction without any strings attached.
But after an intrigued Jocelyn accepts, she realizes that Braden won’t be satisfied with just mind-blowing passion. The stubborn Scotsman is intent on truly knowing her … down to the very soul …
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/On-Dublin-Street-ebook/dp/B009TKD6XA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358164720&sr=8-1
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/On-Dublin-Street-Samantha-Young/dp/0451419707/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358164740&sr=8-2&keywords=on+dublin+street