The first book I read that switched between 1st person and 3rd person point of view was Charles Stross’s The Rhesus Chart. At first it was the normal 1st person POV I’d come to expect from Stross, but then there were little bits of 3rd person POV that popped up. It threw me for a moment because it was unexpected, but the POV change was handled skillfully enough that it added a dimension to the narrative rather than pulling me out of the story. In a way, it was more like the chorus in Greek tragedies – those folks that told what was happening when the action on the stage wasn’t happening.
I don’t know if this is a new thing – this hopping between the depth of focus that comes from 1st person narrative to the breadth of knowledge that comes from 3rd person – but it seems to be…
Writers by nature will read an abundance of ‘top tips’ on their craft.
Is it because we all want to be the best?
An individual story title, which is itself a well-known phrase.
I would suggest not. Whatever our reasons for writing, I believe the majority of us read top tips to improve our craft.
We don’t want to be the one whom everybody else is calling ‘comma man’, or ‘she who loves exclamation marks!!!
The driving force for us is to write, followed by the desire to do so to the best of our ability.
Some of us will work tirelessly, aiming to improve with every sentence, paragraph, chapter, and ultimately book – or title.
We are in this strange world through personal choice. We learn through comments, suggestions, tips, textbooks, and sheer hard work. We want what works best on several levels.
*
Titles are right up there in the ‘top tips’.
Personally, I’ve given up on the 1,001 theories. For example: Should we avoid anything which sounds like a famous book or film?Should we use a cliché?Should we use one word, or a phrase? The list of methods is endless.
The basis of the story
In the end, it is an individual choice.
Take for example the title of this article. I’ve checked over many hundreds of blog posts and found there is little correlation between the day an article is posted and its success.
Where have I found the most comments, or most success?
Yes, for me, the secret is in a catchy title.
*
When I choose a title for a poem, short story, or novel it sometimes takes longer than the piece of work. I can end up with a considerable list, but the deliberation is worthwhile.
I can honestly say I wouldn’t change the title of any of my individual short stories or books, because I spent so long getting to the end result.
This blog post is an exception, because I came up with the title first.
A series title with a meaningful sub-title for each part.
For my various books I’ve tried to use a title which would work without a book cover. I know it will sound strange if you’re a writer, because we constantly discuss how important the cover is for a book.
What about a blind or partially-sighted person who judges by what they hear?
They might depend on ‘hearing’ the book. They’ll hear a list of titles, and they’ll hear the blurbs, but they might never ‘see’ the cover, so it becomes meaningless.
I want my titles to convey an image before the cover is created.
You’ll have seen notes under the books I’ve chosen to highlight in this article. Clicking on these graphics will take you to the book’s page.
If you’ve read this far I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed my theories, and perhaps you’ll take something away from here.
A play on words, using a euphemism for the new novella series.
I thank you for seeing the title of the post and taking an interest.
tombensoncreative.com 