The Last Draft by Sandra Scofield

Author:Sandra Scofield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2017-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

TITLE

Now think about the title. Write it down. I bring it up now because I think it is so related to the character and the theme of the novel. What element of meaning does it reflect? Setting? Fate? Relationships? Events? A character’s name? A good title beckons the reader, of course, but to my mind it does far more—it establishes an expectation, however subliminally, that will be met by something that is unique about the story. Consider a few:

Madame Bovary. Now, you may say, that’s the name of the main character, so what? Ah, so true; but notice that it isn’t Emma Bovary. It is the woman trapped in her loveless marriage, the spiral of her bad choices, her suffocating life, her fate. Wife.

The Great Gatsby. Like so many good titles, this one is ironic. Gatsby had a lot going for him but he overreached. He was great at self-invention.

The Grapes of Wrath. The story goes that John Steinbeck’s wife came up with this title, which carries so much weight with its biblical reference (the Book of Revelation). Even more directly, it is pulled from the abolitionist anthem “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Steinbeck was writing his great story of the oppression of the poor by the selfish landowners and banks. His title is testimony of his commitment to justice, and his ire when the poor are trampled.

For Whom the Bell Tolls. Again, a reference (“it tolls for thee”) that strikes a chord. Again, Hemingway plowing the fields of war. This is a title of fate and vision, poetry and sorrow.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. This wonderful classic coming-of-age novel is all about place and time, and the title captures that, while also calling up the idea of a young person coming of age.

Waiting for the Barbarians. Again, a title of context, South Africa at its cruelest time. You have to know things aren’t going to work out well.

The Good Mother. Sad to say how ironic this. Sue Miller’s heroine is a mother who loves her child like breath itself, but she is punished for being a woman; the child is taken away from her.

Make a list of novels you admire and figure out how each title relates to the concepts you’ve been reading about. It’s never easy to come up with exactly the right phrase, but don’t give up too soon. You want your title to lure the reader and promise exactly what you deliver. Make a game of it—try to match a title to each of the categories I listed: vision, premise, world of the story, setting, context, character.

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