According to Shakespeare’s heroine in Romeo and Juliet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” And I think most of us would agree, especially in reference to an actual rose. However, would you be as tempted to lean down and smell such a flower if you encountered it for the first time after being informed that its common name was nasty, short for its (obviously fictitious) Latin name, nastismellicus? Maybe not.
The same holds true for fiction titles. Of Mice and Men is a far more intriguing and alluring title for adults than, say, Lennie and His Mouse, which sounds like a children’s story. In my opinion, John Steinbeck’s title Of Mice and Men is exemplary in that it fulfills all my criteria for a good title:
1 – It is significant in relation to the story
2 – It reflects the mood of the story
3 – It is not overly long
4 – It is intriguing in itself
Other excellent titles include Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe; Islands in the Stream, by Ernest Hemingway; Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell; and The Perfect Spy, by John LeCarré. On a slightly different note, I would also include Bad Monkey, by Carl Hiaasen; Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett; Porch People, by Ran Register; and Killing Floor, by Lee Child. And my favorite title? Coconut Chaos, by Diana Souhami.
The title of Anne Tyler’s novel Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is a bit long but otherwise fits the criteria beautifully. I think it’s a great title and would not advise changing it. But even if you love a good adventure story, how likely would you be to peruse a novel entitled The Long and Arduous Journey of Aloysius Herschfelt Katzenbach? Henry Fielding may have gotten away with such a title in his famous novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (no wonder we just call it Tom Jones!), but we’re not in the 18th Century anymore, gentle writer. Time has moved on, and the taste, not to mention patience, of our readers along with it.
Although I consider title length to be the least important of my criteria, I nonetheless think it deserves our attention. Even a simple edit, such as changing The Tail of the Dragon to The Dragon’s Tail, can be an improvement.
I read an interview with a noted author who, when asked what she found most difficult in the writing process, said it was coming up with a good title. I know how she feels. As I was writing my novel A Bit of Sun, I was clueless as to what I should name it until one of my character’s gave me the answer in a bit of dialogue. With my novel Sailing Away from the Moon, I had the title (thanks to my husband’s sailing experience) first, then built the story around it. Like Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, the title is a bit long but fits the other criteria very well.
Of course, if you are writing genre fiction, you will want your title to be consistent with that genre so as to attract appropriate readers. Cozy mystery titles tend to be cutesy and “punny” while thriller titles are often dramatic and succinct, often a single word.
But for whatever type of fiction you are writing, a bit of irony shouldn’t hurt the title, and the inclusion of a double or triple entendre can really seal the deal. The famous short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell, serves as a great example. Here the title alludes to both wild game animals (including humans in this case) and the game of hunting such animals. I’d say this title goes well beyond filling our basic criteria.
Remember: your book’s front cover, which includes the title, will probably be the first thing people see in relation to your book, and the first thing they hear about it is likely to be the title itself. So it’s worth spending some time considering what the best title might be.
© 2024 Ann Henry, all rights reserved.
Photo: Perfect © 2016 Ann Henry, all rights reserved.