Tuesday Tidbit: If you’re giving your family an early edition of your memoir for Christmas, it needs a title

If you’ve written a few vignettes for your memoir, consider giving your family an early edition for Christmas. (See Thursday’s post, You might already have the perfect Christmas gift for your family.)

Think of it as a preview, a pledge of more to come, a promise that you’ll hand them your finished memoir in the future.

You have about ten weeks to get it ready! You can do this!

In addition to editing and polishing your stories (very important!), begin working on the documents you’ll place at the beginning of your book.

For today, let’s work on just one: the title page, the first page your readers will see. Your title will appear on the front cover of your memoir and also on your title page. Give yourself a by-line. Your title page might look something like this:

From Desert to Mountaintop: A Journey to Joy

by Jane Jones

And remember, you can always finalize your title later when you’ve finished the whole memoir. Consider this first title just a working title. Feel free to use it for your preview edition this Christmas.

Check out these links to my earlier blog posts about titles. They’re packed with good info for you.

Does your memoir have a title yet?

Craft your memoir’s best title, Part 2

Your memoir’s title, Part 3: The art part

Your memoir needs an outstanding subtitle

There you have it—your Tuesday Tidbit.

Choosing a working title for your memoir

I’m trying to pin down the perfect title for my memoir. I’m not ready to publish the book yet, but in the back of my mind I know I’ll need to craft its title soon.

If you’re like me, you have a list of potential titles, but the best one hasn’t yet jumped off the page at you.

What can you do in the mean time? You can give your memoir a working title—a temporary, unofficial title, a title under development.  It doesn’t have to be brilliant—only you, and maybe critique partners, will know what your working title is.

Did you know it might be better to give your memoir a working title until you pin down the just-right title?

Why? Because:

The process of writing

can take your story

in a different direction

than you planned.

Denis Ledoux explains it this way: “Over the time that you linger with your story, it will frequently begin to change—not the facts and the dates, but the interpretation and the metaphors and images you use, the vignettes you choose to include or omit.  You will see your stories in ways that you may not have seen it before….”

So if you choose a title before you start writing, you might discover, in the process of writing, that your story takes on a life of its own. If your memoir heads in a different direction than you planned, you’ll probably be left with a title that’s no longer just right.

With that in mind, choose a working title, expecting to change it later, depending on what you discover as you continue to write.

In fact, you might not pin down your permanent title until you’ve finished writing your memoir, but your working title can help you discover your final title.

So, now, put on your thinking cap 

and craft a working title, 

and be sure to come back next week 

for more tips on crafting a permanent title 

for your memoir.

Craft your memoir’s best title, Part 2

“A clever title is great if it is clear,” writes Judy Cullins, “but a clear title is always preferable. The best? A clear and clever title.”

Does your memoir have a title yet? If not, I hope last Thursday’s post and today’s will inspire you to work on it. Remember: It’s good to give your memoir a working title until you can pin down the just-right title.

Why? Because:

The process of writing

often takes the story

places the author never expected.

The process of writing

can take the author’s story

in a different direction

than she planned.

Denis Ledoux explains it this way: “Over the time that you linger with your story, it will frequently begin to change—not the facts and the dates, but the interpretation and the metaphors and images you use, the vignettes you choose to include or omit.  You will see your stories in ways that you may not have seen it before….”

With that in mind, choose a working title, knowing you might change it later, depending on what you discover as you continue to write. In fact, you might not pin down your permanent title until you’ve finished writing your memoir, but your working title can help you reach your final title.

Daniel Scocco offers seven interesting methods of crafting your title:

He suggests listing nouns, verbs, and adjectives that describe your story and “combine them into different phrases.”

Daniel also suggests describing an important turning point or the climax of your story, noticing key words. “Mix and match these words,” he says, “to see what works for you.” I like that: “Mix and match.”

Read the rest of Daniel’s seven tips in his post, “Picking Your Perfect Title.” They are intriguing.

Choose a title that’s easy to pronounce and easy to remember. Jerry Waxler points out that a good title helps a reader recommend a book to a friend.  I hadn’t thought of that before, but his point caught my attention. He says, “…the title should roll off the reader’s tongue when friends ask for a recommendation.” Good stuff, Jerry!

You might consider giving your memoir a one-word title.

A title with a visual component works well in catching potential readers’ attention.

Analyze other memoirs’ titles. 

Study advertisements. 

Examine article titles in newspapers, 

magazines, and blogs. 

Ask yourself 

“What makes them work?”

Or, how about a Shakespeare quote? Or a phrase from an old hymn that’s in the public domain? (Avoid using copyrighted materials. Check out the laws thoroughly if you’re tempted to use anything copyrighted. Click here to read Virginia Lloyd’s How to Get Permission to Use Song Lyrics in Your Book.)

In her excellent book, The Writer’s Portable Mentor, Priscilla Long tells us to craft titles that “give readers an extremely accurate idea of what’s behind the door they are about to walk through…. [S]hun lyrical flourishes, obscure metaphors, and anecdotes with delayed points.”

She urges writers to avoid being fancy. Instead, she says, we should be direct, accurate, plain and simple.

So, now, put on your thinking cap and craft a working title, or maybe even your final title. And come back next Thursday for more tips on putting together a title for your memoir.