titles

Today my guest author is Val Clarizio. I’m always happy to find out another author knows the beginning and end of their novel, but the story will evolve as they begin to write. Also those challenging blurbs and creating a title get to me, too! Can I borrow that friend, Val? Read on to find out how Val’s writing process works.

Where do I Begin and how do I get to the Finish Line?

Usually, what happens to get me started is I have some sort of bizarre dream with a crazy scenario for my characters to endure. After I bounce the main idea around in my head a bit I simply start typing. I know how I’m going to start, and most times I have a clear idea about how I’m going to end the story, but getting from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ is a mystery for me until my fingers hit the keyboard. It’s then, my characters come to life and tell me how it’s going to be. Sometimes my characters are quiet and mellow about it, and other times they yell at me in the middle of the night, wanting to be heard. I love when they yell, my fingers can’t move fast enough on the keyboard to suit their needs, and I get a lot accomplished on those days. Unfortunately, when my characters are quiet, I may have to step away from the project for a bit, but they always tend to come back around to help me complete the book.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

After two published novellas and two published books, I can honestly say that writing the story is the easy part, it’s naming the books and writing the blurbs that I can’t seem to handle. That said, I call on my friends and beta readers to help me out. We spend days emailing back and forth trying to hone in on a name. As for the blurb, I usually write one that includes all the points I want to make and then a good friend of mine pares it down for me. She can write blurbs but not books, and I can write books but not blurbs. We’re quite the duo.

WE’RE NOT DONE YET!

Now that everything is in order I have to go through the terrifying process of querying my publishers to see if any of them will contract for the book. Will I get the dreaded rejection letter or will I find myself doing the happy dance? In the event of the happy dance, a new phase of work begins….Edits, cover, and promo! In the meantime, my fingers are itching to hit the keyboard to start the next project. As a whole, writing is a never ending process, and I absolutely love it.

Find Val here:

Melange Books

Website: http://valclarizio.wordpress.com/

Titles don’t come easy to me, thus the unforgettable one today. They have to be catchy and still match the story…or blog. I should be better at it because we tend to make up names for lots of things in our family.

One I’ll share today is the dreaded Chirp-athon. My husband aptly named it because starting in the spring, right through summer; the birds begin a chorus of chirps kicking off around 5 a.m.

Now if you’re sleeping, you’re golden and never know it’s happening. But if you’re awake for any reason, you will not be serenaded back to sleep, you’ll just lie there and pray it ends…soon. I can tell you first-hand it lasts over an hour, is very loud and then suddenly everything falls silent. I guess the birds are done singing their anthem, “The early bird gets the worm”, by then and fly off to begin their day. I’m left staring at the bedroom ceiling.

Our favorite Chirp-athon is when one bird decides to sit right outside our bedroom window. It sets up a mic stand and surround-sound speakers. We don’t know if it’s a special guest star or one-time appearance because it doesn’t happen too often, thank goodness. It’s like having our alarm clock set for 5 a.m. No sleeping through that.

I guess if we didn’t see the humor in it, it could drive us crazy, and families need that…both humor and a little crazy sometimes.

They also need buzz words, or fun sayings, in their lives…a phrase or word that can bring smiles to their faces or make them recall a certain memory. Something only the family knows the meaning of and the outside world has no clue.

So after coming up with these catchy words and sayings for years, I have the dreaded title block as I have come to call it. It’s like writer’s block only different. I keep telling myself it will come to me, keep writing, but it doesn’t. When I finally do get a brainstorm, I go to Amazon to check if there are any similar titles. If I see ten books with the same heading, I don’t want to use it anymore.

So what am I to do? Wrack my brain, read a thesaurus, Google words or pray for divine intervention? I don’t know what the answer is. Frustrating as it is, I know I’ll keep trying but there’s just a little piece of me that wants to throw up my hands and say, “Oh, this is for the birds.”

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!
— Dr. Seuss

Summer Writing Series: Ready, Set, Go!

Finding a Title