Titles are the least of my problems with the writing process. In fact, they occur to me often, as do names for characters - all of which I make a note of in appropriately labelled documents. It's always a worry that I'll find out that I've chosen a title which is that of a well-known work that I haven't heard of, or worse, just as I'm about to publish, another book appears with the same title - imagine how maddening that would be...
I discovered recently, that quite by chance, the title of my novel The Perfect Murderer mimicked that of a crime story by the renowned twentieth century writer H.R.F. Keating, who wrote a book called The Perfect Murder. This featured his Inspector Ghote, a detective who works in India. His story was published in 1964, and though I read a few in this series thirty years ago, I don't recall this specific book.
The importance of having a memorable title cannot be understated, but I had a profoundly revealing experience last year when I overheard four women talking about books. To set the scene, I was in my local library using their computer to access the internet as my laptop had been stricken with a ghastly virus, and I was searching for solutions. This malware infection happened when I was one month into writing my novel, so you can imagine how annoyed I was, as it effectively seized control of my computer, stopping me from writing.
As I sat at the monitor, two ladies of mature years came across to the library assistants to have their books date-stamped. One was carrying a copy of Jo Nesbo's latest crime novel. This Norwegian writer pens rather gory stories, so I was a bit surprised by the choice of a pensioner who looked like she'd be a fan of nothing more bloody than an Agatha Christie whodunnit. Then I saw that her friend was carrying American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, so I decided that I didn't know anything, and that these ladies who looked like they'd be at home crocheting or icing cakes, probably knew more ways to kill someone than Jack the Ripper.
As the library assistants approved of their customers' choices, they started to talk about how they chose a book when searching the shelves for something to read. I've always been suspicious of surveys, as I tend to think that people say what they think they're expected to say when questioned, but this was eavesdropping, so bound to be more truthful!
I was expecting them to say things about having favourite authors who they always read, or liking intricate plotting, great locations, strong characterisation or even how an attractive book cover influenced them. These were all factors that I'd been taking into account while writing my short stories, novellas and the new novel. You could have knocked me over with a feather, when one of them said that she chose her books primarily by a catchy title - and the other three ladies all agreed that this was the best method by far, and it was what they did too!
I wish now that I'd gone over to close-question them, but at the time I was so shocked that I doubted why I was bothering to perfect my craft. It helps to explain why some books and films are re-released under a fresh title, as well as how most successful products have just one, or at the most, two short words to identify them.
