Recently we discussed the dilemma of what to do when you don’t have a decent title for your novel. This was raised by one of my Loyal Blog Readers, Cathi. I suggested that if Cathi could tell us a bit more about her novel, we might run a contest.
Cathi emailed me over the weekend with the details. She’s writing a young-adult fantasy. Here’s the storyline:
A young man learns he is part of a family harboring knowledge of The Black Dark, a place where people exist after death.
This is a series and Cathi is reserving the title THE BLACK DARK for the last book in the series.
I hereby declare a contest to name the first book in Cathi’s series. Here are the rules:
- The contest runs for a week and will end at midnight Pacific time on Monday night, February 7, 2011.
- The winner will be determined by Cathi and her decision is final. If she decides that there is no winner, then there is no winner. But she can’t choose more than one winner.
- The winner doesn’t have to be a title that Cathi will actually use. It just has to be the best idea of the lot, in Cathi’s opinion.
- The winner gets a free critique by me of the first five pages of their novel.
- Cathi is not eligible to win, for obvious reasons.
Some thoughts on titling a book:
Look for something emotively compelling. Or look for something that arouses curiosity. Or look for something that suggests the actual story. Or tell something about the main character. Or do something completely different.
Coming up with titles is hard. Coming up with titles about a book you’ve been laboring over for five years is really hard. Somehow, it’s easier when you don’t know that much about the story and you aren’t all that invested emotionally in it. Cathi’s given us a clear one-sentence summary of her book. That may just be enough to come up with a title. At the very least, it’ll jiggle some of Cathi’s neurons and possibly suggest a title she can use.
So have at it, Loyal Blog Readers! Post your suggested titles here as a comment and we’ll let Cathi decide if any of them can break her mental fogjam over this pesky title thing.
Randy's Personal Site
Cathi’s book title:
“The Keepers of Darkness”
How about simple _Heritage_.
“Beyond Death”
Into the Dark
Family Secrets
After Death
Dark Revelations
The secrecy of silence
With the last novel being titles “The Black Dark”, I guess using either of these adjectives is off-limits for the other novels’ titles.
The first title that popped into my mind was “Family Secret”, but I’m not sure this is what you’re going for. “Blood secret” might be a bit too graphic. It’s also a bit obvious, perhaps.
“The Other Side” is already a novel or two too far, and is almost synonymous with “The Black Dark”.
“Shadow” seems like it would work well, as it also links to “dark” and “black”, but you can also look at death as the shadowy side of life.
Ok, here’s my list:
- Shadowed Revelations
- Blood Secrets
- Family Secret (why not)
- The Shadowy Side of Life
- Shadows of Life
- (The) Shadows Revealed
I personally like the first two best, but the others might give you or the other blog readers some inspiration.
Sorry, Ralene. You must have posted while I was busy writing my own post. Didn’t mean to steal your title.
Just thought of another angle. Here’s another one:
- Shadow Visions
- Visions of the Other Side
Or…
Dark Knowledge
Family Business
Kin Concern
Kin Curse
A Walk on the Dark Side
The Dark Side
After Death
After Death the Dark
Grim Legacy
Dark Legacy
Contrary to Christophe i wouldn’t say that the adjectives of the final title are off-limits, in fact I would like to suggest that ‘Dark’ is the label/trademark part of the titles of this series.
So ‘Into the Dark’ would be natural, sadly I have the feeling (i.e. no hard numbers) that this has been done to death already.
How about one of these:
- Into Dark Ken
- (The) Dark Unveiling
- Dark Upbringing
- Dark Revelations (by Ralene)
All future titles would also have the word ‘Dark’ in them (imagine reviews about ‘Cathi …’s “Dark series”
). Your name & ‘Dark’ would form something like a ‘Corporate Identity’
For finding a good title it would be helpfull to not only know the one sentence summary, but the one paragraph summary
Good luck with the series
I like the title ‘The Witching Hour’ and I think it may fit for your story. I couldn’t say for absolute certain without reading it though.
In folklore, the witching hour was when demons, sorcerers and other wicked beings were at their most powerful. It was also the time of day when Black Magic was most successful.
I personally imagine the witching hour to be a time when the boundaries of one world and another are weak. Since your story is about the Black Dark, the Witching Hour would probably be when the veil between the world of the living and the Black Dark is at its thinnest.
(the) Family’s Dark Past
(The) Family’s Dark Secrets
________(man’s name) Dark Secrets
There are many great suggestions already, but I thought that this competition was fun so here’s my suggestions:
“Out of the World”
“A Buried Family Secret”
“A Grim Family Secret”
“The Secret of Death”
“In the Secrets of Death”
“The Secrets of Darkness”
“Death Hangs By a Secret”
“The Lifeless Recognition”
“A Morbid Recognition”
“A Lethal Recognition”
“A Fatal Recognition”
Gathering Dark sprang immediately to mind.
or if you choose not to use “dark”
Gathering Dusk – carries the idea of sunset and foreboding in my estimation.
To convey the tug of the otherworld, I suggest:
‘Calling Softly’
Other suggestions:
‘Through a Glass Darkly’ ( quote from St. Paul)
‘Into Darkness’
‘Uneasy Spirit’
‘The Call of the Void’
Frank
My suggestion “Last Funeral”.
Others:
1. Death Singer’s
2. A Shadowy Clan
3. Living Dead
4. Revealed
5. Death Messenger’s
6. Dirge
~In Reason and Passing
~Limitless Horizons
~Eternal Infinity
~Interminable Living
~Obtainable Offerings
In reading this – A young man learns he is part of a family harboring knowledge of The Black Dark, a place where people exist after death -
My thought for a book title is:
HIDDEN
In this book things that are hidden become knowledge eventually leading in The Black Dark.
It’s good to come up with a title early. Novelist Roddy Doyle (The Commitments)says: “Do give the work a name as quickly as possible. Own it, and see it.” A title gives the writer something solid to focus on, and lends heft to the project. Novelist and literary critic David Lodge agrees: “For the novelist, choosing a title may be an important part of the creative process, bringing into sharper focus what the novel is supposed to be about.” I like “Into the Dark.”
I find this contest interesting as usually when I begin an outline the characters are the ones with the most input for a title. I would suggest:
1. The Knowing
2. Family Secrets
3. Dark Crossing (holding to the series theme)
I don’t know how many books will be in the series, but what about titles implying shades between black and white or levels between light and dark?
- The White Light (which would “bookend” the series with opposing imagery)
- The Gray Mist
- The Shrouded/Hazy Path
You could throw in a time of day or other evocative word to show progession through the overarching series storyline or theme. (Which is what? Death is not the end? Guardianship of the innocent? Triumph over evil?)
- The Rose Dawn
- The Red Shroud
- The Violet Sunset
Hope something shakes inspiration from your muse, Cathi! Best of luck with your series.
When I give titles to my books I tend to have far more information about each book then given. However, I am up for a shot, here is my title suggestion.
Sanctuary Truth.
I can’t help but think the knowledge this family has is they have someone either from the Dark Black, or has been there and back without dying, Since she uses the word Harboring. However Harboring would be awful in a title so I used Sanctuary and knowledge but if it is about after death I thinking it is more truth they hold then just knowledge.
Memories long gone
The Dark Life
Living Darkness
Life After Dark
Into the Shadows
The Black Secret
or Black Secrets
My first thought (without reading anyone’s suggestions) was DARK SECRETS. That’s similar to Edwina’s suggestion, but I tend to like a shorter title, so … I’ll stick with my first thought.
DARK SECRETS
Darkworld
Dark Heritage
House of Shadows
Shadowhouse
Darkhome
Darkhold
Home Sweet Darkness
There’s No Place Like Dark
Family Night
I too like the idea of a consistent theme in the titles; “Dark” seems like the best choice in this case. So, suggestions…
The Sovereign Dark
Voice From the Dark
Essence of the Dark
Spectral Dark
The World of Dark
Hidden Darkness would be my first suggestion
or try
Clouded Vision
Dimness
Secret Dimness
I have several titles (all written in capital below), which I categorize into 2 possible title grouping (assuming the series consists of 4 titles):
A. One word title, my suggestions are:
1. UNEARTH (the young man start to learn the past, which is also not of this earth)
)
2. CLANDESTINITY (the family secret)
3. AFTERLIFE (of after death world)
*)4. THE BLACK DARK (final would be 3 words though
OR
B. The Black series, my suggestions are:
1. THE BLACK VEIL (the first step is unveiling by the young man)
2. THE BLACK PASSAGE (the journey into understanding the whole secret)
3. INTO THE BLACK (the young man start his own journey after knowing the secret)
*)4. THE BLACK DARK (the final, which should be describing The Black Dark)
*) title reserved by Cathi.
Cathi – you’ve got a real challenge here, not only naming your novel, but choosing from all these great suggestions!
I throw a “working title” on my WIPs just so I have a handle to hang on to – whether I really like it or not. I figure I (or the editor) can always change it later, and as the book evolves, so can the title.
Your series sounds intriguing – best to you in your efforts. My title suggestion for your first book: “My Father’s Secret.”
FEAR of the Black Dark
BRIDGE Of The Black Dark
CHASM Of The Black Dark
TRUTH Of The Black Dark
HIDDEN In The Black Dark
This was fun! Your book sounds awesome! Good Luck Cathi
Mortal Truth
I hope you keep us posted on your progress in publishing it Cathi! Good luck!
The Black Lineage
Shadowland
Enshrouded (My favorite)
Something completely different but playing with colors:
The Thin Gray Line
The Thin Gray Lineage
The Thin Gray Veil
There were several before me that I liked. Hope these help.
Door to Darkness
Door to Blackness
Dark Harbor (or Black Harbor)
Through a Dark Door
Dark Door
Black Door
Hello everyone! Here are my suggestions
“Beyond the Darkness.” or “Beyond the Dark.”
Only one suggestion comes to mind based on the log line…
Grave Silence
Seems to sum up the whole with an emotive grip.
Black Knowledge
EDGE OF DARKNESS
(I know it was used in an old daytime serial, but I understand titles aren’t copyrighted.)
This is pretty fun. I think Cathi should use Black Dark as part of ALL the titles and then have the last book simply be “The Black Dark.” Here are my suggestions for book one:
Black Dark Emissary
Emissary of the Black Dark
Black Dark Rising
Black Dark Prophet
Black Dark Protector
Black Dark Revealed
Black Dark Chocolate.
Okay, so the last one was a joke but you get the idea. =)
Hi Cathy & Randy, Here’s my 2 cents. I had to peruse the list to make sure my idea wasn’t said before so if I missed it, then “oops!”
Shadow Secret
(I like aliterations)
I have a “working title” for my work-in-progress that I’m not married to yet and offer it as a suggestion. It’s similar to the ones above but not mentioned.
In the Shadows
A couple other ideas:
Life After Dark
In too Dark
Twas fun, hope you find something that works for you.
The Crack in the Light
This would be a lot easier if one actually knew the book or the plot/structure of the book. If I could get a draft to peruse, I could probably come up with at least twenty candidates for Cathi very quickly…
Ah, sorry, forgot one more: Dark Family
I went with a light/dark contrasting feel after reading Cathi’s one-sentence summary. Here’s a few of the titles that crossed my mind:
- Enlightened Shadows
- Silhouette
- A Flash of Dark
- The Blinding Dusk
- Foreshadowed
Thank you, Randy, for doing this – it really is remarkable!
To everyone – Wow! I was wondering how you would come up with a title knowing only the tag line, and did I underestimate you! There are a few that come very close – almost shockingly close. Keep the titles coming!
Fun contest, and great prize! Thanks for doing this. In no particular order, here are my suggestions (I’ve clustered together the ones I think sort of go together).
Shades of grey
The Grey Dawn
The Black Sunrise
The Black Daylight
The Black Twilight
The Grey Truth
The White Spark
The Fading
The Shadow
The Light of Morning
The Shadow of Evening
The Veil of Darkness
Darkness Rising
The Black Secret
I’ll try to make sure I don’t repeat what others have said; please pardon if I do!
Black Secret
Black Knight
Black of Knight
Appearing Darkness
Knight (play on words — night/knight)
Beyond the Night
(the Knight idea came from the idea that they’re harboring the knowledge; are the protectors of it, etc)
I’ll be back with more later if I can.
Just a few from me.
- Harboring Darkness
- Harboring Death
- Beyond Dark
- After Dark
- (The) Dark Obligation
- Obligation
- Dark Ties
- (The)Dark Inheritance
There are so many wonderful titles here! A few more offerings:
Black Awakening
Veil of Twilight
Land of the Lost
Destination Darkness
In My (Beloved’s/Father’s/Teacher’s etc.) Dark Footsteps
Where the Darkness Lives
Dark Portal
To All A Good Night
Darkness at the End of All
What Happened to the Light? (you know, the one you’re supposed to see as you’re dying . . . .)
I Didn’t Expect it to be So Dark
Dark Destiny
Eternal Darkness
Into That Good Night
Dark Dying
Dark Visions
Voices of the Far Night
Darkness Speaks
Arcane
My suggestions for Cathi’s title are:
The house next door.
Privy to the secrets from the house next door.
Beyond the end.
A private view.
Death can be skinny.
Visiting the dead.
The dead always know.
A place where death is live and well.
Activities in the house of eternal death.
The dark benefits.
My suggestion for Cathi is:
The Black in the Middle
Yet another suggestion:
Our black prospects
Forever Family
Lore or Lies (I love playing with words like this!)
John Hiatt has a great song called Nagging Dark, but that probably isn’t quite appropriate.
I have to say I second any suggestion with the word ‘dusk’ in it. Conveying the growing darkness is certainly the direction I would go. You might even want to tie it closer to the plot, like ‘Confessions At Dusk,’ if there are any confessions in this installment. In order to have a single entry in the contest though, mine is:
DUSK
Wow…lots of suggestions and good ones too. My suggested title
Edge of Darkness(the first one that popped into my head butnow I see someone else gave it.
Edge of Dawn
Edge of Twilight
Edge of Night
Edge of Life
Starting to look like a few people hit the thesaurus pretty hard!
I’ll try to go in a different direction, maybe.
How about “Purgatory Unveiled” or “Keepers of Purgatory”
Good luck!
(The) Dark Tangle
The Mosaic Darkens
Shadowed Dark
Blinding Darkness (as opposed to Blinding Light) progresses in stages of imagery to dense Black Dark, but through alternate titles hints at opposite contrasts and hidden options. These literary devices might include antonymns, irony, and impossible redemption, just as Alyosha Karamazov served as a simple messenger of peace despite his own struggles, when other characters were obsessed with death.
The Sound of Bones
A Place Under Shadows
White Light (Honestly, just because it parallels the final book, “Black Dark”)
Final Light
Last Light
A Hint of Death
A Hint of Black
Truth’s Bitter Hue
The Emergence of Darkness
Recognition of Darkness
Where Specters Lurk
Lurking Specters
The Souls’ Chamber
The Souls’ Cavern
The Souls’ Dungeon
Chamber of Souls
Cavern of Souls
knowing is believing
Learning Darkness
dark values
darkties
I was thinking along the lines of Greek Mythology. So here’s my titles:
Hades’ Son
or
Son of Hades
1) LIFE AFTER DEATH
2) THE DARK LIVING
3) THE DEAD BLACK
4) THE BLACK DARK
Just wanted to synchronize the 4 titles…
How about ‘The Black Legacy’?
Then you can name the second book ‘The Black _______’ and the third ‘The Black Dark’.
I wrote down my titles before reading the awesome list we have so far. Here is my brief list:
Keepers of the Dark
Discovery of the Dark
Secret of the Dark
Good luck choosing! It won’t be easy.
Or also ‘The Black Start’, ‘The Start of the Dark’ or something similar.
Also, names for the whole series, if you follow my idea above, would be: The Black Triangle, The Black Saga, or The Black Family.
How about these?
Immortal Legacy
Dark Legacy
Eternal Secret
The Labyrinth Key
Black Labyrinth
The Dark Labyrinth
Looking through the submissions, I’m a big fan of “White Light” because of it’s symmetry with the final title of your series and the fact that “white light” is an image that’s associated with dying and the light at the end of the tunnel. That said, perhaps:
“Kept in the Dark”
or
“Death in the Family”
Several more ideas:
Black Reign
Dark Reign
Black Realm
Dark Realm
Dark Clan
Clan of the Dark
Light to Dark
The Dark Dead
A Dark Death
Door to the Dark
Key to the Dark
Dark Heaven
~SEASON~
~HOT HEAT~
~THE RED OIL~
Best wishes to you and your series!
All of these suggestions can have the world “The” at the beginning if you would like. It is your novel!
Black Shores
Clandestine
Black Mask
Shadow Veil
Shaded Truth
Black Occasion
Dawn of the Black Beginning
Clouded Glow
Luminous Death
Forbidden Life
I like: Guardians of the Darkness; Darkness Becomes Him; The Call to the dark side;
sneaking suspicions
cloak and dagger
Maybe you could do something with the word opaque.
Opaque Dawn
I went through the list several times. I don’t think this has been used so far.
People of the Dark
I’m thinking something along the lines of Dirty Laundry:
Family’s Dirty Laundry
Dirty Dark Laundry
Just a few thoughts. Both of them suck. Keep at it though.
Great logline! I like the idea of using similar titles for a series, as one suggested using Black Dark in each. I also like the same # of syllables for each book to help tie them in. My ideas:
The Dead Dark (I like this bc he’s discovering this exists after death)
The White Dark
The Pale Dark (works for me bc he’s just discovering this)
AWAKE IN THE DARK
Intriguing premise!
Thinking of youth I suggest:
The Dangerous Secret
Or
The Black Secret
Or
Dangerous Black Secret
Looking forward to reading it!
Okay, here are a few ideas. I see that the first two or three were already mentioned, but I thought I’d throw them in.
Dark Secrets
Hidden Darkness
Secret Shadows
Unseen Shadows
Shadows of Shame
Shrouded Darkness
Shrouded Secrets
Secrets of the Night
Concealed Darkness
Veiled Darkness
Veiled Shadows
Dark Storm
Secret Storm
Thanks for letting us have fun with this.
Cheryl
Here are mine:
Whispering Voices
The Tunnel
Realm of the Dead
The Secret Life
Here are mine:
Whispering Voices
The Tunnel
Realm of the Dead
The Secret (After)Life
One more:
Dead Secrets
Cheryl
What a fun contest!
Dark Enlightenment
The Living Dark
Awakening to Dark
Dark Birth
Intimate Dark
And Yet They Knew
Here are a few I came up with:
What Belies Heaven
Grim Knowledge, or Dark knowledge
To Reap Darkness
The Horror that Awaits
Purgatory,
Torment,
Where Darkness dwells,
Under veil of Darkness,
Dark Foreboding,
Beyond the Grave,
To Perceive Death,
Realm of Azrael,
Kindred of the dark, or Dark Legacy, Dark Heritage,
Masters of the Dark,
Stick with Colors and the same meter / rhythm.
You need to id something specific within each of the books in the series so that it makes sense.
You have, “The Black Dark”.
Consider titles like:
The Red ___
The White ___
The Green ____
My suggestion may be “tinted” by my love of the Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars series.
Best of luck to you.
Gil Paul
Dearly Departed
Dark Dancers
Death’s Dark Dimension
Best wishes to you Cathi as you search this intrigueing area of after physical life.
Interesting book premise! Best of luck with it. Frankly, I think “The Black Dark” is a pretty good title, but this is fun.
The Knowing
The Angel of the Black Curtain
(or Black Dark)
Nocturne in Dark Major
And When You Die
The Darkness After Light
No Grave Can Hold Them
Chiaroscuro House
Just saw someone already thought of ‘The Knowing’ but wanted to put in a plug for whoever suggested the concept of ‘Darkness Keepers’ or similar wording for the series.
Humm….. how about:
Harbor of Knowledge
Shaken Security
Secrecy
Protected Wisdom
Sheltered Secrets
Privy Intelligence
Classified Concealment
Veiled Knowing
Sheltered Understanding
Sounds like a cool story. I’m seventeen, and the teaser piqued my interest.
Now, the title…
What do you think of The Reaper’s Veil?
-Chris
How about:
– Gloom Hoard
– Shadow Miser
– An Acquaintance of the Dark
Quiet Secrets
The Realm Beyond
Into the Shadows
Without further info it’s difficult to know what to suggest but here are my suggestions:
The Foreshadowing
Darkness Foreshadowed
Foreshadowing of the Black Dark
Thought of more:
(can use The )
Black Revelations
Black Abyss
Black Denial
Denial of the Dark
The Blackness of Forever
Forever Black
Black Eternity
Still thinking:
(The)Dark Holding
Kinship
How about “Darkness Falls” (indicates start of something happening)
Or if you wanted to be really clever (and the pun fits in with the story), how about “Darkness Fools”.
J
Following are my nomination:
1) Cold and Alive
2) Life at Bacca
3) Genesis II
Cheers,
Sam
I’m a little late, & I skimmed the 100 comments, so these may have already been offered:
Deep Dark Secret
Secret Black
Family Secrets
Good luck with your book Cathi!
For the trilogy:
1) Dark Heir
2) Dark Harbor
3) The Black Dark
Family Dark or perhaps Dark Scions
Thought of one more: Dark Heritage
I noticed the harboring portion of your story line. Two three book options:
The Harbor Dark
The Evening Dark
The Black Dark
or
The Black Harbor
The Black Evening
The Black Dark
You can also go with repeating sounds since you already have “k” sounds on the end of Black Dark. How about:
The White Light (crossing over to death)
The Maroon Moon (blood overtones and getting darker)
The Black Dark (final destination)
My suggestion is:
“While the rest of the world…..”
Beyond the Dark Veil