I know I'm not the only one but when a title for a book doesn't come easily to me the struggle to find a good one that fits can really get me down. My question is this... what do you do to inspire your title? I realise that everyone is different but I've been struggling with a particular one for so long that I need to try something new. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Looking around Waterstones today after visiting their cafe (and my are there scones dry-when did they bake them?) I was taken by how many book titles start with the word The.... And also,how many book titles gave me little clue of what they were actually about when I read the fly.
So how about: The Ringwood Dry Scone
or, The Mouth Scraper...??
I thought Mark's answer cracked it. I too start with a working title and if anything comes tome in a 'eureka' moment I write it down. It means I end up with four or five options and if I don't like any of them there's always the Mark's wordplay option, or something from the narrative, words which tie into a theme or two, and even trolling through similar books online to 'steal' a title, or part of one.
So far I have a previously used title with 'the' knocked off which ties in with several themes (first novel), a one-word title taken from a line of conversation (second), and a preferred title for the third story which ties in several events, spread over weeks, to a set time of day.
I also have titles lined up for stories 4 - 6. But that's just because I like an idea of title before I really start writing.
Lurking in the dark recesses of your subconscious mind. No, I'm not suggesting that is the title (although it may work for somebody), but I find that after thinking about the plot and characters for a while, usually a phrase or a couple of words jump out and I run with that. It may get changed, but not much.