Concerning Book Titles

[TerriO]

"'Q'uandary"--Obvious. It's a Q story. With a few exceptions, those stories tend to have "Q" in the title. And since Selar was in a bit of a dilemma, "'Q'uandary" it was.

One difference in the titles is that yours has quotes around the "Q", unlike the episodes... and even the one episode that had the "Q" as part of a word, "Qpid", just let the "Q" stand unquoted. Was there a reason for the single quotes in your title?

davidh

IIRC, I was trying to make it stand out from a more bland title like Quandary. Because, really, Quandary on its own is a brutally boring title. Bo-better than Ambien for sleeping-ring. There's no pop to it. So it's a dilemma in a story. Big frigging whoop. There's always a dilemma in a story. Problem to solve, thing to do, it's like calling a story Story. Hello, Author Obvious.....

'Q'uandary however, just brought something different by setting the Q off. Which kind of illustrated the story, too.

It's amazing what a bit of punctuation in the right place can do to make a godawful title fit so much better.

Nine times out of ten, I don't have to do that much thinking on titles. So far, I've been very lucky in that regard. *knock wood*

 

[TGTheodore]

'Q'uandary however, just brought something different by setting the Q off. Which kind of illustrated the story, too.

It's amazing what a bit of punctuation in the right place can do to make a godawful title fit so much better.

I agree. It's a very cool "looking" title, too. Plays with the eye for a second.

--Ted

 

[KRAD]

"'Q'uandary"--Obvious. It's a Q story. With a few exceptions, those stories tend to have "Q" in the title. And since Selar was in a bit of a dilemma, "'Q'uandary" it was.

One difference in the titles is that yours has quotes around the "Q", unlike the episodes... and even the one episode that had the "Q" as part of a word, "Qpid", just let the "Q" stand unquoted. Was there a reason for the single quotes in your title?

davidh

In addition to Terri's answer, all of which is true, there's also the fact that "Q-uandary" looks like a typo.

And it's single quotes because it goes inside a short story title, which is in double quotes. If the title was being put in a British magazine that italicizes short-story titles (as some do), it would be properly rendered as "Q"uandary.

This has been another *THUD* useless fact....

 

[Turtletrekker]

This has been another *THUD* useless fact....

What's next? The "Wheel of Morality"?

 

[Judith Sisko]

This has been another *THUD* useless fact....

What's next? The "Wheel of Morality"?

I LOVED that show!! I'd always rush home from school to watch it...

...
...

... and I was the TEACHER!!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Unhappy Ones: This is the literal translation of QuchHa', the Klingon term for the smooth-headed Klingons seen in TOS and created by the Augment virus mess in "Affliction" and "Divergence."

Where was (or, if applicable, will be) this story?

 

[KRAD]

The Unhappy Ones: This is the literal translation of QuchHa', the Klingon term for the smooth-headed Klingons seen in TOS and created by the Augment virus mess in "Affliction" and "Divergence."

Where was (or, if applicable, will be) this story?

Whoops, sorry. That's the title for my Klingon "wrath" story in Seven Deadly Sins, on sale in trade paperback at finer bookstores everywhere a year from now.

So I should probably write the fershlugginer thing at some point.............

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ 'Sokay. I just realized how totally nonsensical my last post was.

 

[TerriO]

'Q'uandary however, just brought something different by setting the Q off. Which kind of illustrated the story, too.

It's amazing what a bit of punctuation in the right place can do to make a godawful title fit so much better.

I agree. It's a very cool "looking" title, too. Plays with the eye for a second.

--Ted

Thanks. One thing I always try to do is find a title that fits thematically, and also jumps off the page a bit in the TOC if it's in an anthology. Sometimes I get titles that I have to find stories for later on. Good Queen, Bad Queen, I Queen, You Queen, in the Doctor Who anthology was one where the title hit me first, I filed it away, and found a story that fit it later. My first original work, which looks to be coming out next year, is called Love and Other Excuses.

I don't claim to be an expert on titles, I'm only saying what works for me. Fit the format, fit the story, and draw attention to itself on the cover/TOC. Those are basically my three rules. 8)

Yes, I have a story idea file, as well as a title idea file, why do you ask?