Writing Wednesday: What's in a name?

Every book needs a title.

A title draws the reader in. It expresses something of the style of the book, or its themes or scenario.

Some are blindingly obvious (Harry Potter and the... ) Some books put the series theme in such large print that it is hard to see what the actual book is called - just take a look at recent editions of Enid Blyton's Famous Five series.

I bought The Elegance of the Hedgehog for my father-in-law for Christmas based almost entirely on the title. It is quirky, enticing, intriguing. What on earth could that story be about?

Others use sub-titles to explain the book. This happens particularly with the self-help books (e.g. Business Stripped Bare (title) Adventures of a global entrepreneur (sub-title)) but can also be used to indicate a series (A discworld novel or An Hercule Poirot novel).

The problem with these is that they are already set, already known, already available in the bookshops. How do you go about getting a catchy title for your book which no-one knows?

I suspect that often it comes without thinking. Also, I imagine many novel writers write the book around the title more than the title after the book.

My book is a memoir. Everything has already happened, and in the interests of honesty I can tweak very little about the storyline! What are its themes? Motherhood. A sense of home. Poverty in sub-saharan Africa. The struggle to survive. What is its story? My transformation from misery at having to move to Zambia to my absolute love of the country and people. How can a title capture all these issues in just a few words?

Perhaps it can't. Originally I called it Singing in a Foreign Land, for I wanted to express how much I changed by living there. The problem it poses is that the story is not about singing in any way shape or form. (I do sing, but I don't write about it. Nor do it in public, given a choice!) For months I have been pondering a change - so much so that it has a new working title: In the shade of the Mulberry Tree.

There is a reasoning. We lived in a house with a large mulberry tree in the garden - so large that it cast its shadow over everything. Mulberries also have some medicinal properties, which feels apt given I was only in Africa because of my husband's medical research. And so his research cast a 'shadow' over where I lived and what I did. Not always in a bad way, I should add.

Is this title better? I don't know, although I am a lot more comfortable with it. For now it will do, but I remain open to the fact that any future editor or publisher may dismiss it out of hand.

Would that title encourage you to pick my book up and look at it? Can you think of a better title? (I'm open to suggestions!) I realise that there are a lot of other factors that also encourage someone to read a book, not least the design on the cover, but I would love to hear your views.

Writing Wednesday: Seeking perfection

Great was my pride when I finished Draft 2 of my travel memoir the other week. I had been working at the edits since Christmas and it was a wonderful feeling to reach the end.

I printed it out onto pristine paper so I could review it again. But silently, quietly, I was thinking:

Great! 

This is it! 

A few spelling mistakes, a couple of tweaks, and I'm done! 

Hooray! 

See how beautiful it looks! Clean white pages. Sharp black print. All in line, numbered, sorted and ready. It is even a brand new lever arch file (nothing but the best for my baby!)

I took a couple of weeks away from it, giving my brain a little space and a break from the words swimming around my head. I had been only a week or so late for my half-term deadline for Draft 2, so there was still plenty of time until my Draft 3 deadline (Easter). Why worry?

Besides, it looks great!

This week I resolved to do the final bits and pieces, pull it all together, begin the final run through. Yes, I was starting the third draft later than planned, but I remained confident that I could run through it before Easter, before the children are on holiday again and mess up all my routines.

Half an hour, and the first page looks like this:

*sigh*

Looks like I'll have to revise my deadlines again...

Writing Wednesday: 5 reasons why I hate editing

Editing is a job that has to be done. After months and months of labour writing thousands of words into something approximating a book, the next job is to review it all in detail and iron out all the mistakes.  Of course, I never make any mistakes myself (ahem!)

Okay, okay - of course I make mistakes. There are spelling errors, tense errors, grammatical errors; there are flaws in the order or plot (a loose term, given it is a memoir, but I have discovered that in my draft I celebrated the rains arriving a couple of chapters after it was raining in the story...); there are bits that are poorly written, stodgy or don't flow well.

I have procrastinated for months, possibly years. Here are the reasons for hating editing:

1. It is depressing looking at work again and again. It becomes mundane, tiring, even boring, reading the same story repeatedly.
2. Each version looks worse than the one before. Why can't I just write it correctly the first time?
3. I keep wondering about changing fundamental aspects of it, particularly the tense. Currently it is all written in the present tense - would it be better in the past? How far should I stick to the true chronology, and how far can I flex stories so that it seems to flow better? And the title: I'd like to change it, but to what?
4. I am never good at finishing jobs. I am much better at coming up with ideas or starting projects. This is part of why our marriage works so well: I generate a plan and my husband implements it! (I'm sure he doesn't appreciate this quite as much as I do!)
5. Crossing out large chunks or scribbling over paper printouts in red pen is not building my self-confidence.

So, given all this, why am I quietly enjoying it so much? Is it because I can see the writing improving every time? Or because I know I am getting closer to my goal? Or because actually I am quite proud of my book and am looking forward to others enjoying it too?

I am loving my new-found excitement with my book and writing. It is a part of my New Year's Resolutions that I never thought would come to pass ... but approaching half-term and I am 75% of the way through my second draft.

Third draft next half-term...

Reading - mine and my daughter's

It is Monday again and it is not as bad as last week.

This afternoon I am reading part of my book Singing in a foreign land (eek!) at the launch of the local writers' group's book. Their book was organised and printed long before we moved here but they asked me to read a little of my story of life in Africa. Until last night I felt flattered by this: today, I'm petrified. Suddenly nothing seems worth reading!

Maybe this is worse than last week.

Thank you to everyone for your support on my last post. I'm quite overwhelmed. I look forward to telling you in a month or six that all is totally fine and the teacher can't shut my daughter up. Somehow I think we have to break a cycle of don't-know-answer therefore don't-speak therefore don't-learn therefore don't-know-answer ... I am sure it will come, with time and patience.

In the meantime, I thought I'd amuse you with the books my daughter chose from the library. I try to encourage some variety and something that might challenge her a little. So she chose this:

and this:

and this:

and this:

and best of all - a book I couldn't imagine ever existed, but she picked out from a hundred paces:

My Big Pink Book of Everything!

What a girl!

The strains of domesticity

I've had a week of feeling rather down: overwhelmed, I suspect, by the move and the changes. I seem to have little direction and focus in life, nor any great achievements at the end of the day. Instead I have become a domestic goddess (or perhaps slave, given my lack of enjoyment and gross incompetence) and spend my days washing, ironing and cooking. It hardly seems the best use of all my qualifications and abilities.

(But the raspberry jam is very tasty.)

So I was delighted to receive an award from Maternal Tales - a lovely blog! How good does that make me feel? Thank you so much for bringing a ray of sunshine into my life!

In my turn, I shall pass it on to Working Mum on the Verge ('cos she's fun and witty and lives near me - oh, darn, you've already got one), Gareth Bentley (simply because everyone should take this link and look at his wonderful photos of Zambia), Hadriana (who inspired me into active blogging) and Ladybird World Mother ('cos I never fail to laugh at her writing).

Today I bravely faced a local writers group. This seemed particularly foolhardy, given my current fragile state, but I was blessed with a group low on criticism and high on encouragement. I'm not sure it will help improve my book, Singing in a foreign land, very much, but it will provide a welcome respite from the cleaning and tidying for a short while once a fortnight.

I had an interesting (and quiet) weekend at home whilst my son was at cub camp. I got a chance to spend some time in the garden and hope one day to know what the plants are that I attack. (They were definitely raspberries. I think it might be an olive tree behind them.) Unfortunately, my son was sick and had to come home early, which I have written about on my other blog here. Thankfully a day without food or excitement (except the Wimbledon Men's final) and he was right as rain for school today.

Tomorrow: I resolve to get back to the writing. Surely the ironing can wait just one more day?

New Year Resolution

It has been a hectic time chez Withenay, what with family illnesses and husband's new job and house hunting. The book has been taking too much of a back seat. Now it simply has to move higher up the 'to do' list and get sent out to publishers. If it were New Year this would be a resolution. (Come back in April to see if it has been broken yet!)

The wonderful Caroline Smailes at BubbleCow has given her editing advice on the first few chapters of Singing in a foreign land. I cannot thank her enough for this - apart from the fact I have had to re-write the first chapter completely. Don't you just hate it when people are right? My word-count for the day has involved a lot of cutting and pasting, and I'm not sure whether those words truly count.

So, the next job is to buy a whole load of big brown envelopes, another ream (or two) of pristine white paper and a comfy travel chair for sitting in the queue at the Post Office. 

[Or, of course, to fill in the application form for a mortgage. Ah, the eternal conflict between what I want to do and what I need to do!]

Next week I am reading some of it as part of the local Festival week - exciting and scary all at once, so wish me luck!