What's in a name...

Luiglin

Luiglin

Getting worse one day at a time
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Mar 22, 2012
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Mercia, UK
I'm stuck.

Whichever title I try and come up with for my WiP none seem to fit. They all seem clunky and a mouthful, even the single word ones.

I'm now nearing the end and still without a clue what to call it.

It's a tale of redemption and revenge based on a siege of a small town that in the grand scale of a war makes no difference to the outcome.

Ideas?
 
The Siege
The Little Town That Stood (or The Little Town That Fell)
The Fall of Erith Creek (insert name of small town)
etc

The title should convey idea of siege or battle but not pointlessness of it as that should only be apparent during reading.

It's quite ok to use an existing title of a different genre, and especially if it's an older or less known book in a different genre.
 
Something related to chess, perhaps.
Pawn En Passant -- This is a real chess move
The Three Pawn Diversion -- My own invention
 
Cheers so far. The only two that I've come close to liking before are "Gorig Cross" which is the name of the town and "All to Ash" which is what's left at the end.

At least the other one I've been dabbling with is easier "The life and times of a Dark Lord... Book IX". The previous eight incarnations were too boring and theirs never got published ;)
 
I'm useless at titles, so take this with a pinch of salt, but I think you need something a bit more dramatic and grabby. I'd try and find something using the name of the character, provided it's a good name that sounds impressive** or something about him/her if possible, or something about battles etc

Hereward's War
Hereward's Revenge
The Blacksmith's Duty
The War Storm


** The very dignified main female character of my very serious SF book has a pet name, and the city where she adjudicates is overlooked by the equivalent of a brooding Vesuvius. So HB christened the book "Rosie and the Volcano". I didn't go with that one.
 
While Gorig Cross is better than Gorig Miffed (or Gorig Hungry...), it doesn't really say anything about the book (other than the setting). There's nothing wrong with that, but if you feel able to avoid mentioning anything to do with the plot, you might use the opportunity to try something a bit more eye-catching.

Given that you've said that the siege facilitates the redemption and revenge -- meaning the siege is as much a setting as Gorig Cross -- perhaps a title that has more relevance to the plot should be based on one or both of these.

Oh, and as you're looking for suggestions, I'd better offer at least one (which should tell you that inspiration isn't the driver for me mentioning them): The Quality of Redemption; A Time for Revenge; R & R.

(Did I mention the lack of inspiration? :()
 
Lots of ideas spring to mind (which I will chip in with later when I'm not on my phone during a coffee break...) but the ones that immediately came to mind if you want to mention the name of the town were:

The fortitude of Gorig Cross
The harrowing of Gorig Cross, or
Behind the walls of Gorig Cross
 
More likely, it's the way I tell 'em**. :(


** - A phrase more likely to be remembered by those in the UK and Ireland than those elsewhere on the planet.
 
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