Writing Lesson - Comming up with the perfect title.

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Okay; now that I have peeked your interest with the title of this post I will break your writer's heart and tell you there is no such thing as the perfect title. A title serves many purposes but in reality is too limited in words to be considered perfect. You will look back several times after the title is finalized and think you could have picked something else. The best thing is to just stick with what you think works. Some stories name themselves others allude. Titles purpose: 1. To peek interest. If a potential reader reads a title and instantly go "hmmm" and have to read the back or jacket insert it did its job. Some great examples: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick who instantly made you wonder what it was about by giving a hint that he is humanizing robots. John Dies at the End by David Wong gives away the end without giving away the story and leave many wondering what it is about. 2. To be informative. A title should give away just enough information to let a potential reader know they may like the book. Example: The Book of Completely Useless Information instantly tells you if you are a useless trivia addict this book is for you. 3. To grab a reader's attention among the other books. A title can make a browsing reader pause at your book instead of the other choices around it. Example: Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman. If a title like that doesn't stop a potential reader nothing will. 4. To set the tone of the book. The title should fit the tone of the book so if the book is funny the title should be funny, etc. Douglas Adams is one of the best at this. His book titles sit the humorous tone of his books: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul or The Salmon of Doubt tell you at a glance that this book is meant to be funny. This is just an example of the purpose of a title but keep in mind the title is not the story so don't beat yourself coming up with the perfect title because sometimes this is not the same as the 'right' title the story needs.