What Makes a Name?
When you write something, anything, chances are you’ll need to pin a name to it. This can be one of the most difficult things to do as a writer, for the name of your piece has to embody the meaning of the story, without giving away too much detail or confusing the reader.
My fantasy novel has had the working title of Blood and Sand for a long time now, and I think it’s time to change it. A Google search revealed that Blood and Sand was already a pretty common name, even used for a Spartacus show.
Well, now that I’ve ditched that title, what next?
I spend a lot of time thinking about character dynamics and the plot of the story, and world building, and I eventually turned to myths to help me find a good name. In my fantasy world, there are numerous gods and goddesses, some of them cruel and self-absorbed, others are magnanimous and just. Almost the entire story takes place in the desert, so the title obviously needed that ‘sand’ element.
Then I said, well, what’s the desert to the gods? It’s their mortal domain, of course, kind of like Midgard in Norse mythology. I suppose it can be rather irksome for them, but Irritating Sand doesn’t really have that epic fantasy ring to it.
Finally, I decided that the name had to be enigmatic, but also alluring. One of the characters, while riding through the remnants of a destroyed fort, says, “Large keystones lay in fragments, torn from their companions to wallow half-buried in the earth’s vast raiment of sand.” And there I had it.
Raiment of Sand.
It describes the desert, and in the lens of the deities, the sand is but one of their many domains, one of their many clothes.
Now, I haven’t figured out a name for the series yet (I plan on a trilogy) but that will prove to be an even more indomitable task. To find a name that fits not one book, but three? Luckily, I have a little while before I need to figure that one out.
So I want to know, have any of you recently renamed your stories? If so, how did you go about it? I’d love to hear your responses in the comments below
Image from hikesinai.com