“…That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet,” says Shakepeare’s Juliet.

I suppose it’s true enough.

But I would rather smell a rose than something called stinkweed.

Shakespeare was good with names and other writerly ingredients (understatement of the year).

I’m lousy with names.

Years and years ago, I needed a name for our puppy and resorted to a names-for-baby book because I couldn’t think of any.

I eventually settled on Cooper.

I think he was the only dog I’ve ever named.

Our next sweet dog was nearly four when she came into our lives.

Thank goodness, she arrived with a name: Dolly.

It was the perfect name for her.

I never just called her Dolly, though.

I had lots of pet names (haha) for her.

The other day, I was working on a query letter for one of my manuscripts because it’s ready to be sent out into the world.

That book has had a bajillion titles.

Originally it was called Stubby after the main character.

Even after I no longer had a character in the book that was called Stubby, I still called it that.

Now I’ve settled on a new title. I’ve run it past my writers’ group.

They all liked the new title.

I’ve run it past my husband and a friend.

They preferred a previous title.

It’s crossroads like this that stump me and keep me from moving forward.

As if it will really make that much of a difference.

I think agents understand that the title of a manuscript is only a working title and not only will that likely change (if the book is ever bought by a publisher), but so will a lot of the book itself.

That’s the way it goes.

So I investigated some published novels’ original and working titles and character names.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman was probably always called Coraline once he stumbled onto that name when he made a typo.

His character’s name was originally Caroline, but because of a glorious typo, it became Coraline.

This was a name that was just odd enough, just off enough, to make the reader want to dive into the story.

You know Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story, Treasure Island?

It was originally called The Sea-Cook.

I ask you, as a ten-year-old, would you rather read a book about a ship’s cook or a treasure?

Lewis Carroll had several working titles for Alice in Wonderland, including Alice Among the Fairies.

What fairies?

I don’t remember any fairies in that book.

Please tell me if I’m wrong.

I like fairies.

Gone with the Wind was originally titled Tomorrow Is Another Day—which is the last line of the book.

While I prefer the title Margaret Mitchell (or her publisher) ultimately settled on, it’s not a bad way to come up with a title.

Mistress Mary was the working title of Francis Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden.

A bit blah, like the way I title my projects.

The Secret Garden, on the other hand, makes the reader’s mind come alive like a, well, like a garden.

Mistress Mary would make me feel like it’s a book about punishment or something.

But I was thinking that most of Disney’s movies are titled after a character: Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin.

If it’s good enough for Disney….

How about the high-school classic by William Golding, Lord of the Flies?

It was originally called Strangers from Within.

That does nothing for me.

What about you?

I love the image that Lord of the Flies conjures.

Did you know that the character Harry Potter was originally named Harry Batt?

Where on earth is the magic in that name?

No, J.K., just no.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, was once called The Emerald City.

That’s kind of okay.

I guess the moral of that story is if your first reaction to a title is “that’s kind of okay,” you should probably keep trying.

Another working title for it was From Kansas to Fairyland.

Again, where are the fairies?

There were no fairies in Oz.

There were flying monkeys and munchkins, but no fairies.

Maybe the fairies were in an early version?

E.B. White’s beloved Charlotte’s Web started its life as an essay called “Death of a Pig.”

Lovely.

Imagine all the little children clamoring to read that charmer.

And I can’t talk about names without squeezing in a tidbit about one of my favorite bears.

Winnie-the-Pooh started out as real-life Christopher Robin’s Edward Bear.

Then he renamed Edward after an American black bear at the London Zoo called Winnie who was the mascot for the Winnipeg regiment of the Canadian army.

The “Pooh” part was due to a swan in the author’s book, When We Were Very Young.

A swan!

So do you think titles are important?

Using Margaret Mitchell’s idea, if I were to title my books after the last line, they’d all be called The End with a great big exclamation mark.

(And one final note: The last name that we ever gave our sweet dog Dolly was Burst of Joy. It’s inscribed on a plaque. RIP, my girl. July 2, 2023.)

Enjoy your week.

~ Gail

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