series – Page 9

The First Sixteen (2) — So many titles fighting to be the chosen one ….

Writers by nature will read an abundance of ‘top tips’ on their craft.

Is it because we all want to be the best?

Smoke & Mirrors - 030714 2 — 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.

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.

Recruits outside a Sandhurst Block in Catterick — 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.

Highland Games - 1 (2) — 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.

***

Signalman Rod Hogarth with B70 - circa 1973 — Signalman Rod Hogarth with B70 – circa 1972

As the title suggests, this is the second episode of my coming-of-age story. My plan at the time of writing this post is to produce a series of five books, but this will depend on two factors.

1. How well the early books are received.

2. How any feedback affects the detail and content of the successive episodes.

In Part One, ‘Innocence and Inebriation’ Jim Faulkner left a humdrum existence, and as a reserved 17-year-old went out into the world in an unexpected move. He joined the British Army and found himself facing trials and tribulations he’d never before considered.

In Part Two, ‘Paths and Progression’ our young man has congratulated himself on completing basic training, adventure training, and radio training. He’s spent a few months in his first working unit in the UK, and he finds new discoveries and adventures following arrival of the entire unit in Germany.

For the benefit of anyone interested in such detail at this stage, the operator featured on the front cover of this volume is my good mate, and one-time fellow crew member Rod Hogarth. Here, Rod is depicted operating the obsolete B70 SHF radio set, and on this occasion it’s ground-based, mounted on a tripod.

The introductory book of the series was published on 6th January 2016, and has reviews.