Support for Indie Authors discussion

Okay. I'm a brat. We don't have a "title workshop" so I'm hijacking this folder to ask this question.

SHORT QUESTION: Do you like the title "Who Wrote Alice Hatter?"

SAME QUESTION WITH A LONG, LONG EXPLANATION: A long, long time ago in another place, I was discussing one of my short stories with the other mods. It was suggested that it needs a sequel. The lovely B.B. Wynter suggested an idea in which high school students are all in a creative writing class and everyone is, basically, rewriting Harry Potter as the teacher gets more and more upset. And so I planned on, eventually, writing this as a short story with the name "Harry Potter" in the title.

A short time later, the topic came up again and this time other lovely mods (I know VM was one of them) suggested that, maybe, a legal battle with J.K. Rowling over the use of her trademarked name would not be a good career move at this point. It was also suggested that I refrain forever from writing run-on sentences, but as we can plainly see, that advice stuck to me about like any advice on sensible dining and exercise.

I agreed with the Potter / Rowling bit and so I have the students writing their own versions of a YA series called "Alice Hatter" (which, yes, borrows heavily from Alice in Wonderland and other YA classics). For a bit, I was calling the story "Like Alice Hatter... Only Darker", then changed the title to "Only Darker". But, the more I work on it, the more a mystery seems to be boiling about who actually wrote this series in the first place. So, now I want to call the story "Who Wrote Alice Hatter"?

Any opinions on this?

Progressive verbs are catchy. Being Alice Hatter, Finding Alice Hatter, Discovering...Searching for...etc etc.

Or just "Writing Alice Hatter."

C.A. wrote: "Or just "Writing Alice Hatter.""

Ooo! Tara had some good suggestions, but this one kind of pulls the whole story together. I will give this one serious, serious thought.

I'm sad to see the "Only Darker" title go, but the title should definitely reflect the story you've written, not the one you thought you were writing.

That being said, I like "Writing Alice Hatter".

C.A. wrote: "Or just "Writing Alice Hatter.""

I vote for this one, Dwayne.

I like Who Wrote Alice Hatter? It has something quirky and interesting

Like Dan, I miss 'Only Darker' and would have suggested adding ellipses to the beginning, implying that it's darker than something else.

Writing Alice Hatter has a literary pretentiousness that might be wasted on this one, given the subject being kids rewriting a popular genre series, but the style could possibly work for future installments or even Ambrosia's style guide.

Christina wrote: "Like Dan, I miss 'Only Darker'..."

Agree with you both. It's hard to let that one go. But, it fits the story I thought this was going to be, not the story it is becoming. So, if you don't care for "Writing Alice Hatter", what do you like?

Maybe you're right and I could save the progressive verb for Ambrosia's book. "Writing Right, Writers!" or something of that nature.

Dwayne wrote: "Christina wrote: "Like Dan, I miss 'Only Darker'..."

Agree with you both. It's hard to let that one go. But, it fits the story I thought this was going to be, not the story it is becoming. So, if ..."

Who Wrote Alice Hatter. It works if you've woven a mystery element into the story and it has a light tone that works with the younger students.

Christina has an advantage here as I think she may know my writing better than I do, sometimes.

So, I'll take that into serious consideration, too.

(Should be noted, though, that this ain't no kids book, just in case anyone is getting that notion).

I'm pretty split between "Writing..." and "Who Wrote..." and the voting seems close...

For what it's worth (titles were never my strong suit) I like "Who Wrote Alice Hatter?" well enough (for some reason, punctuation in titles just appeals to me) but think "Writing Alice Hatter", while less intriguing, feels more dynamic and engaging.

My issue with "Only Darker" is that it sounds like this is "only" darker ("that's all") or perhaps that it "only gets darker" as it goes, or something.

"But Darker" gets the idea across, but sounds crap.

The TV fan in me wants to suggest: "Alice... She Wrote", but I won't go there.

I vote for "Who Wrote Alice Hatter?"

The questions makes you want to figure out what's happening, which would encourage potential readers to take a closer look at your book. Even though it might be short-lived, the mystery element that the question adds is, in my opinion, great!

"Writing Alice Hatter" sounds more like a memoir title to me.

GUYS! It's already released! Now go get it and find out Who Wrote Alice Hatter

J. Daniel wrote: "GUYS! It's already released! Now go get it and find out Who Wrote Alice Hatter"

Bah-ha-ha-ha! Thanks Dan! I forgot about this thread. I'll close it off.

I did go with "Who Wrote Alice Hatter?" I still like the progressive verb idea Tara had, but it will fit better on one of the future books in this "series".