I'd Like My Brain Back, Please

So today I was going to be productive. I had a list! I was going to critique, revise, shower…

...And aside from showering, I’ve done NOTHING.

Nothing, that is, beyond obsess about my WIP’s title. Since I began writing the novel I’ve had a working title that I felt pretty comfortable with. It really encompassed the overarching theme of the book, was “active”…in other words, it seemed to fit.

But.

Isn’t there always a but?

But it just didn’t go with the vibe of the story. Or the genre. The story is a YA scifi/fantasy, and the title…more weepy contemporary. Or, possibly, romance novel. Worse, though appropriate, it was also kind of boring.

So, after a chat with Agent Extraordinaire today, I decided I’d try to come up with some alternatives. Yes, I thought about it that casually.

HA!

Trying to come up with a new title is no casual endeavor. It has, in fact, completely taken over my brain. COMPLETELY. I have done nothing today but try to distill the major themes of my WIP into a one- to six-word conglomerate of awesomeness. Without success, I might add. Despite the patient brainstorming help of MAJOR HOTSAUCE and my lovely BETAS. (Truly, they are awesome. And awesomely patient with me.)

It’s funny…with most of the novels I’ve written, the titles have come quite easily. With the first, I had the title before I wrote one word of text. With two other WIPs (that are STILL works in progress), I came up with great titles on the spot. But with two other projects (the current one and the previous one), titles were harder. And I’m not sure why.

This one – this has been the worst of all. I don’t know if it’s because it’s my first scifi/fantasy, or my first book 1 in a trilogy (hopefully), or if it’s just that this book is about a lot MORE than the others. This book is about ideas and themes that are really, REALLY important to me. Does that add pressure to finding the perfect title? Or is it just that I’m over-thinking it, not letting the book give up its own name when it’s ready?

I don’t know. But I do hope something breaks soon, because I’d really like to have my brain back. I’ve got stuff to do!

How do you come up with titles? Is it an easy process, or a soul-sucking, brain-crushing one?