Titles, My Book, and Mom

My book, Teaching Improv Skills: Stories, Games, and Tips to Develop Skills for Improvisational Comedy Troupes, is now out on Amazon. Some say writing a book is one of the most difficult things one can do. In my experience, it’s not the writing of the book—it’s the titling!

So, how does one devise a title for a book or poem or song or musical or play? There are lots of suggestions and formulas out there for creating titles. Let’s explore a few.

The Power of Opposites

Sometimes, juxtaposing opposites in a title makes for an adventure worth exploring. Take, for example, the musical comedy A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. “Gentleman” and “Murder” do not mix in good society—or do they? The 19th century was full of publications that coached gentlemen in behavior, deeds, and deportment with the end goal of advancing their position in society. The show takes this concept and ties it to an absolute sure way to advance one’s lot: kill off your competition.

Bookending with opposites can also make for a powerful title. Bookending means placing power words in the first and last position in the title. One example, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, stands out with its use of bookended opposites.

Play with Imagery

Imagery is the prime bailiwick of poetry. Imagery is a figure of speech that uses words to paint a mental picture. This can be accomplished by using a single word or short phrase to form an association with a picture in “the mind’s eye” or a life experience. Mary Margaret Oliver used this strategy for many of her poems (e.g., “Wild Geese,” “The Swan,” and “Starlings in Winter”), as do Nikki Giovanni (e.g., “I Wrote a Good Omelet,” “Beautiful Black Men,” and “A Good Cry”) and Nellie Wong (e.g., “Mama, Come Back,” “Song of Farewell,” and “When I Was Growing Up”).

Double Entendre

Double entendre means the word or phrase has two interpretations, and one is usually risqué or dark. The best double entendres cause double takes, that speedy head snap that happens when you think you understand something but you suddenly reset with a visceral “WHAT?!”

In a relatively unknown, poorly regarded musical that ran two nights only on Broadway, The News, the song “Shooting Stars” first brings up images of stars flying across the night sky. The neck snap happens when you realize that the killer is singing about using a gun to slay famous people in the media. Dark, indeed.

The title of the musical Sister Act conjures images (for me, at least) of Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen singing “Sisters” in the movie White Christmas: two sisters born of the same mother who sing together in a nightclub act. However, in the stage musical, the sisters we are talking about are nuns who dance and sing on the church’s stage: the altar.

Quote Something Famous

Quoting Shakespeare in a title has always been in vogue. Take the Ray Bradbury book, Something Wicked This Way Comes. It directly quotes the lines, “By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes,” spoken by the Weird Sisters when they sense Macbeth’s entrance. And Agatha Christie used the first part of the quotation to title her 1968 mystery novel.

Mumford & Sons’ hit “Sigh No More” hails from Much Ado About Nothing, Dire Straights quotes the title of Shakespeare’s play in their hit, “Romeo & Juliet,” and Iron Maiden paid homage to Julius Caesar with “The Evil Men Do.”

Writer, beware! When quoting something famous, make sure to secure permission to do so. To be safe, use material such as Shakespeare’s that is in the public domain (see my blog from January 2021).

Promise Something Wonderful

Book titles that make promises often feature numbers in their titles. Using data can be seen as an assurance your life will be better if you only touch the cover. Think about it. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. 6 Pack Over 60: The Greatest 6-Pack Abs Course on the Planet by Mike Bradbury. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina.

Numbers and promises in the title can lure a reader in, but you must make sure what’s inside the cover lives up to the promise!

Make It Obvious—Call It What It Is

This was my strategy. My coach asked, “What is your book about? What will it do?” I answered, “It’s about teaching the skills needed to do improvisation well through stories, games, and advice.” She countered, “So, call it that.” Together, we whittled the words down to a three-word title and a detailed subtitle. Reading the title, you know exactly what you are going to get. It’s not clever, it’s not sexy, it’s not glamorous, but it’s direct and speaks to those who need that information.

It All Goes Back to Mom

My mother used to always say to us, “I’m going to write them a letter,” and she did. She wrote a multitude of letters supporting causes, expressing dissatisfaction with service, challenging unjust practices, praising the work of a colleague, and more. We found a few humdingers in a file she kept, and we laughed and cried as we read them aloud and heard her voice in every word.   

Mom encouraged the four of us to write and, in fact, my siblings are fantastic writers. Judy writes letters and keeps journals that would make the AMA jealous, Patty is a top-notch professional journalist, and Richard writes a mean text. When she was proud of something we had accomplished, Mom often said, “You should write a book.”

Well, I did, Mom. I wrote a book.