Sunday, March 28, 2010

How Not to Title a Novel


The Guardian laments the state of novel titles lately.

From the piece...

The Swan Thieves. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. The House of Tomorrow. The Surrendered. The Girl with Glass Feet. The Unnamed. Enchanted Glass. The Pregnant Widow … These are all more-or-less literary novels published in the last 10 weeks or so, and their titles are virtually interchangeable in my mind. If I went into a bookshop looking for one of these, the chances are high that I'd get confused and ask the staff for The Pregnant Swan Girl Who Surrendered Unnamed Glass Tomorrow. Then they'd start laughing at me, I'd be filled with shame, my lip would start wobbling and I'd flee the shop.

The piece continues by offering up title suggestions of their own, whether you're writing a whimsical comic novel (The Spectabulicious Adventures of Lord Pettlesnook and his Patchwork Dirigible) or some edgy fiction for hip twentysomethings (Fuckepedia).

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