June 2011 – Patricia J. Parsons

Backstory, Book covers, Book titles, Journals

I: What’s in a book cover? Book Titles

Posted on 30 Jun 2011 by Patricia J. Parsons

now all we need is a title — A book about titles

I love journals. No, not those academic-type “journals” that I have to refer to weekly for academic-type research (although I’ve come up with several incredible fiction ideas from reading journals – but I digress).

I’m talking about those journals that you write in. I’m talking about those journals that have covers but no titles. Then, as I considered telling you about all those journals I have in my office right now, and I looked at the book proof winking at me from my computer screen, it occurred to me that the issue of book titles was actually on the top of my mind. Book covers have titles written on them; journal books do not. Journal books have no titles because they don’t need them. Books, on the other hand, do.

How important is a book’s title? Is a book’s title important to you?

I’m just about finished a proof round for my next book.[1] But this has been a bit of a different experience for me this time around. Unlike Ernest Hemmingway who evidently said:

“…I make a list of titles after I’ve finished the story or book – sometimes as many as a hundred. Then I start eliminating them, sometimes all of them…”[2]

…I am unable to write anything longer than a letter without a title firmly fixed in my mind. I absolutely must have it in front of me as I move forward, as if I can somehow see the finished product and it’s beckoning me toward it. And the truth is that I rarely change that title. It may require a bit of a tweak here or there, but those tweaks rarely result in a marked difference. This rule holds true for me regardless of the genre of the piece of work: creative non-fiction, business books, or fiction. It is this latter category into which my upcoming book falls.

So, this upcoming book, whose galley proofs (if you can call them that in these days of electronic proofing) I have before me on the computer screen, has been a bit of a different journey for me in the title area.

This piece of historical fiction required several years of meticulous background research on the 12^th century, Roman Catholic mysticism, the Benedictine Order and ancient music. And all through that work the book had a title – a title I liked. It was called The Woman in the Shadow and it represented for me what the book was about. Enter the editor.

The editor liked the story, the characterization, the theme, even the literariness of the writing (not the hallmark of most of my writing). The editor did not, however, like the title. The editor said, “As it stands, the title doesn’t tell much about the content of the book.” Hmm, I thought. Maybe the editor is right. This got me thinking about book titles in general.

For example, did you know that Peter Benchley had a number of titles for his now-famous book before he settled on a final one? Great White, Shark, The Jaws of Death and A Silence on the Water to name a few.[3] Do you know the final title? Jaws, of course. Would a different title have made a difference?

What difference would it have made if Steig Larsson had called his first book The Swedish Girl, instead of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it? So, it seems that in these days of online book-buying at the very least, the title of a book does make a difference. Titles do matter, so what was I to do with this title I was so attached to?

Before the second editorial review I thrashed it out with my trusty reader – the person who has suffered through every single book manuscript for every type of book I’ve written over the years. My long-suffering husband. Genius that he is – and with a more objective view of the story than the author who has lived with her characters for several years – he suggested the new one, and I went with it.

The book has a new title that the editor and I both love and that will be proudly displayed on the fabulous cover – if we can just come to an agreement on the book cover design…

[1] A proof round is the step in book production (after the editor has had a go at the manuscript, after you’ve rewritten, after the designers’ of the book’s interior has laid it out) when you are presented with the book as it will look laid out and printed and you have to do a final edit, checking for last minute issues. The first proof round is usually on the house. If as the author you want to make further changes, a publisher will usually charge you a fee – you have to let it go sooner or later!

[2] Quoted in André Bernard’s little book Now All We Need is a Title (Norton Publishing, 1994).

[3] Bernard.

creativity generators, Ideas generation

Paying Attention: Or how to attract ideas

Posted on 22 Jun 2011 by Patricia J. Parsons

The most accurate way to describe my mind is to use the Buddhist term: monkey mind. That’s me. My mind is always moving; the thoughts are chattering away, unbidden. Ideas fill my head from morning until night.

Here are some of the writing ideas that have flitted through my brain in just the past 24 hours:

I was doing some background fact- checking for the cover copy that my publisher has just completed for my upcoming book and I stumbled on the biography of Christiane de Pisan. Never heard of her? I’m not surprised; she was a 14^thcentury woman, a writer, a woman ahead of her time, a Venetian by birth. That sounded intriguing to me – and I wondered where I’d heard of her before. In any case, I decided that there was a story there just waiting to be told. A new book, perhaps?
Then, I was working on a document for my day job (university professors have to write stuff even when they are not in the midst of a teaching term), and I stumbled on another interesting idea: maybe I should write something about how university students want to be entertained by their professors these days. Interesting.
Then, there are the inevitable ideas that spring to mind as I complete the activities necessary for our upcoming vacation. A story set in London or New York? On Broadway, perhaps? Well, you get the idea.

I did take meditation classes a few years ago and do have a meditation practice – when I have not fallen off the wagon as I have recently. (Yes, of course I’m writing a piece called The Meditation Class based on the journal I kept.)

But, here’s the thing: to truly capture ideas, I have learned that you need more than a sturdy journal or two. You actually need to quiet your mind and pay attention. According to research, a wandering mind is one of the characteristics that make us human. However, it is also what makes us unable to be attentive.

A few years ago, I decided that I need to be able to hone in on details more – that these details would enrich my writing. So, I decided to learn to pay more attention. I took a drawing class.

I am someone who clearly does not have a shred of talent when it comes to that kind of visual expression. I seem to have some flare for graphic art, but picking up a drawing pencil was very foreign to me. But I persevered with the classes.

What I learned is that to be a visual artist, you have to be very observant. Even if your artwork resembles Picasso’s later works with all of the deconstructed images, you still need to be keenly observant. Until I visited the Picasso Museum in Barcelona some years ago, I had no idea that Picasso was not always an abstract painter; in fact his early work was very realistic. All of his work required considerable focus on details regardless of the artistic product at the end.

I did learn to pay attention to visual details and I did learn to draw. I’ve often used this new skill in paying attention to details of people around me that later make their way onto a page. Funny how I learned to describe things better from learning to draw. But the bottom line is that I now (sometimes) pay attention. Next week I’m going to tell you how many writing journals I have and what I use them for…

Creativity, creativity generators, Cross-writing, Reading

What writers should read

Posted on 16 Jun 2011 by Patricia J. Parsons

It’s been raining here non-stop – almost—for months—almost. At least that’s the way it feels. This is terrific for our lawns and gardens, but not so much for anyone longing to get a bit of (dry) fresh air and sunshine. If you’re anything like me, though, a rainy day is an invitation to a good book, or any book, good or otherwise. It’s an opportunity to lose yourself in the pages (or electronics if that’s your preferred platform), to learn something, to be entertained, to be provoked, to daydream.

I have two questions for you: What does a writer read? And…What should a writer read?

The first question is, of course, making the reasonable assumption that writers read. Of course they read. The answer to the question is obvious: whatever he or she wants to read. My answer to the second question – what should a writer read – might surprise you.

Perhaps you think that writers should read about writing. Or they should read books in their specialty area (for example if you’re a creative non-fiction writer, you should read creative non-fiction; if you’re an historical novelist, you should read historical novels; if you’re a women’s lit writer, that’s what you should read and so on). Of course it’s important for you to read the kind of literature that you write. In fact, it’s probably more important the other way around: you should probably write what you like to read. So, it’s likely that you will read all of this anyway. But in my view it’s only part of what you should read.

I think it’s important to cross-read. This is a natural extension of last week’s discussion of cross-writing and is related again to the concept of creativity cross-training. Reading in genres far afield from your everyday work and writing is one of the best ways to keep your creative mind working overtime. And it’s fairly easy to tell if you’re a cross-reader; stack up the books you are currently reading, and the books that you have on your next-to-read list, and see what’s there.

Here’s my current stack of reading-now books…

As I mentioned, it’s been raining, so both my husband and I have managed to take on Stieg Larsson’s trilogy and I’m on the final one The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. We added onto that experience by watching the Swedish (with English sub-titles) movie versions. We’ll watch the final one this weekend after I finish reading it.

But you can see a real range of literature in this pile.

London Day-by-Day is a representation of my favorite way to prepare for a trip. I’ve been to London several times before, but next month we’re meeting my son (who lives in Europe) there for a few days before ticking off one of the experiences on our bucket list for which he will join us: a transatlantic liner crossing from London to New York on the Queen Mary 2. This little book series is my bible for walking new areas of cities. Sometimes they are even useful in the future when I’m writing about those cities.
No Exit and Three Other Plays by John Paul Sartre is a bit outside my usual reading. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I actually read a play. However, one of my avocations is writing ballet libretti and I promised a new one to my son who is a budding choreographer. I’ve been inspired by the notion of Sartre’s take on hell.
Health Communication – what can I say? I’m also working on the development of a new course in my department (many of us writers do still have day jobs).
Finally, the book on vintage purses represents one of my passions: handbags. I actually have a collection of vintage Coach handbags. The truth is that one of the antique handbags I came across in my cross-reading is the inspiration for some research for another historical novel.

See, what did I tell you about cross-reading? What are you reading now?