Dear Publisher “Shark Attack!”
By Peter la Trobe
Welcome to our first in the new series of blog posts, written by a wonderful mix of published authors, renown writers and worldly bloggers.
Our first week starts with a brilliant and witty piece by an author, who in the past wrote some entertaining advertising campaigns, way back in the era of great TV and poster campaigns costing millions.
ENJOY X
Hello I’m Peter la Trobe, talking to you from the - socially distanced -workshop. I’m a writer. And by a writer I mean: somebody who loves putting words together on paper; telling stories or writing poems.
Anyway – right now I’m asking the question:
What’s in a name?
Every writer, and every wannabe writer, has been here, or hereabouts: you’ve spent hours drafting and redrafting your story. Your Mum has heard the various versions so many times that she gets a strange look in her eye when you say – listen to this, what do you think of it now? Your partner suddenly remembers something that should have been done way before lockdown – lovely, lovely, I’ll be back to listen to it soon, honest…
What do they know? The deadline is really close. Get it emailed. Sod! No title. Oh I dunno – call it Shark Attack. That’ll do. I mean, that’s what it’s about, isn’t it?
‘Dear Mr Benchley’ nobody ever wrote.
‘Thank you for your manuscript, which I’m afraid we won’t be adding to our list’.
You see, you’ve called it Shark Attack. Frankly that’s dull. Which sounds more intriguing to you - ‘ice cream with tinned peaches and raspberry jam’, or ‘Peach Melba’?
Shark Attack is merely a recipe – it tells you what the ingredient is. But it doesn’t make you want to taste it – you already know what that tinned peaches, ice cream and raspberry jam tastes like, why spend money on having another go?
See what I mean?
Perhaps if you gave your work a title that hints at the contents, intrigues readers enough to get them to put their money into the bookseller’s till, we might reconsider.
Yours regretfully,
A. Publisher.’
‘Dear Mr Publisher’
Peter Benchley never wrote in reply.
‘I’ve thought carefully about what you said. And I agree, my book isn’t just about a Shark Attack. It’s about one man’s determination to overcome a monster. It’s about power politics , and stubborn men fighting terrible odds. It’s about toe-curling danger. I’ve decided to retitle it Jaws. Now will you send me a cheque?’
The rest – well, told like this the rest isn’t history, but I’m sure you get the point.
Naming your work is a vital part of the writing process, and one that is frequently overlooked - or worse, undervalued.
Ok – so, are there any useful rules for writing titles?
If there are, I don’t know any. I couldn’t even find a ‘Guide to naming your novel’ on the internet. Oh, now there’s an idea…mmm… where was I ? Yeah, rules for titles. Well, I think the key guiding principle is – don’t give the game away. Use the title to pique the reader's interest. Think of it as your advertising headline. You know, something that sticks like a burr to your brain, like ‘Compare the Meerkat’.
You’ve got a fraction of a second to overcome all the noise and distractions surrounding your potential reader and make them want to pick up your book, or turn to your story. As they glance over your title it’s now or never.
Then, if you’ve got their attention, you have a few more seconds more in which to make sure they’re going to keep reading your words right through to the end.
Easy?
No, of course it isn’t. Nothing about good writing is easy.
But I hope that I’ve shown that naming your work is a really important part of the writing process, something that you should be thinking about all the time that you're putting your piece together.
Oh, and here’s a thought to finish on. You may find that if you are actively thinking about the title whilst you're writing it, could help to keep your story on track.
You know what they say :
“He who knows his destination finds the way”.
That’s it for now. I hope you’ve found this helpful.
What’s in a name?
Your readers' attention, that’s what.
My name is Peter la Trobe. Thanks for reading - if your prefer to listen - click the podcast below.
‘Bye for now’.
Come and meet our witty...
Peter la Trobe
My life has been spent writing. Contributor, then editor of the school mag; later, as an advertising agency copywriter, I worked on ad campaigns promoting cars, pharmaceuticals, food products, electronics - and much else besides. It’s not all glamour. Somebody has to write the instruction manual – you know, the one piece of literature nobody reads. If it helps to pay the mortgage, I’ll write it. But, if you did read it, you’d be able to follow it. No incomprehensible technical guff. That’s the sort of writer I am. A qualified Public Relations practioner, I specialised in marketing strategies for retail organisations. As a free-lance journalist I covered retail and industrial developments for a leading group of local newspapers. Like I said, writing is not all glamour. My work has appeared in a number of anthologies. And a collection of my short stories, under the title ‘I Killed and Angel’, is still out there. I’ve been a member of Harlow Writers Workshop for several years, and I’m currently studying for a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing with the Open College of the Arts, part of the University of the Creative Arts.
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