When it comes to creativity, why do some things come so easily and others seem so very hard? Why do certain great ideas seem to pop out of nowhere, while others take months to form? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a scientific formula we could apply to ideation: get 8.4 hours of sleep, have a fully formed dream that engages the subconscious, eat the perfect breakfast of brain food, and voila. Unfortunately, or fortunately, there is no such formula.
My newest writing video, shown below, is about how to title your fiction book. Every artist I know, regardless of medium, struggles with titles from time to time. I’ve had perfect titles spontaneously arrive in my head, and titles that I changed two or three times over the course of a project, never landing on the ideal one. My title, Dancing in Combat Boots, was a huge hit. My title, Remember Wake, falls flat. You win some and you lose some.
I think the trick with creatives is not to become cocky when something comes easily, and not to get discouraged when something is hard. We’re too quick to label our strengths and weaknesses, “oh, I’m not good at titles,” or “titles are my specialty.” And labels–maybe especially those that are self-applied–hem us in.
Here’s the video. Hope it helps you come up with the perfect title.
