This week: No title Edited by: ~Minja~  
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Some interesting facts about the importance of the book titles: Diana Gabaldon' "Outlander" was first named and published in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand under the different title— "Cross Stitch"— but US publishers didn't want to publish the book under the same name since cross-stitching is a form of embroidery which would create a huge confusion among readers.
John Steinbeck wasn’t originally going to call his brief classic "Of Mice and Men". Instead, he was going to go with "Something That Happened". Maybe he thought the original title gave away too much of the plot?
An apt precursor to the title Jane Austen finally decided on for her most beloved novel "Pride and Prejudice" was "First Impressions" (it’s been proposed that a name change was needed because Margaret Holford published a novel called "First Impressions; or the Portrait"). |
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If you are one of the rare members interested enough to click on "No Title" newsletter link and read the content of it, you're either bored or sworn to some almighty power that you will read every single newbies newsletter published on Writing.Com no matter the odds. There is no third option like I'm interested to see what is this all about or This looks and sounds like a topic I might love. As a matter of fact, I'm 90% sure this specific newsletter won't get views that other newsletters in the same section get because the title is totally unappealing. You can't tell much from it, can you? This is where things go wrong for the writers on any writing site or even social media like Facebook and Twitter— you're not capable of finding and keeping your own audience. How would you when you don't have enough to offer? Or maybe you do but you have poor skills when it comes about basic promoting of your work. When I say basic I mean the ability to drag the potential readers inside your world with a very first contact. In real life, this contact is realized through an interesting and appealing book covers, through the well-written summary at the back of the book or by the very first paragraph. But, in the internet world, specifically on Writing.com, this first and basic contact is realized through the title and brief description of the item. This if you don't have friends who will read and review anything you publish. But, one needs to get there first.
Let's start from the beginning and take a look at some interesting findings:
 On the left side of your portfolio click to Browse by Type
Now click to Static Items on the top of pop-up window
In the search bar type No Title
Now click to  icon
Scroll down pages and pages of static items that has no titles and whose brief description doesn't reveal anything interesting about the content written inside so that you can be dragged in instantly
Please note that what you see on those pages are ALL items that have a word "title" or some derivative of this word (untitled, entitled) in the place where the title supposed to be or/and inside the brief description. Many of them are also "Sponsored" links because Writing.com BidClick System enables all authors to advertise those items under any Writing.com genre and type and this specific search don't necessarily apply to them.
Here are the examples of random findings:
"Invalid Item" :
"No title" E: Poem of loves and memories
"No Title Yet" E: Fantasy Work I am working on
"No title " 18+: No title or ending just a fragment of a story.
"Invalid Item" :
"Untitled" E: Just so you know this is just a prelude. I have not come up with a title for it.
"Novel Chapter 1 (Title Undecided)" 13+: 1st Chapter of my first book.
I could go on and on listing similar items here but I'll leave the rest for you to check out. If you are, however, interested in narrowing down the search you can use options on the top of the page:
Static items to clarify the type of the item
All sub-types to clarify the sub-type of the item
No filter to clarify the rating of the item
More options to clarify the members who wrote the item
Right next to the search bar you have another sort list by option that can be helpful when narrowing down the search. Since we're talking about specific search in this newsletter— "No Title" that is— remember that every time you're transitioning from one option to another, you have to type "No Title" in the search bar over again if you want those items to pop up on the page.
Now let's go back to the beginning of this newsletter and talk a little bit about promoting your work on Writing.com. I have to tell you when I first joined this site I was absolutely sure an audience is waiting for me because, for some reason, I strongly believed I have a unique writing idea. At the time I joined this community I was working on a cruise ship. The reason why I thought my writing idea is unique and exciting is because my guests assured me. They kept bugging me with so many questions about "below deck" that I figured out people would really be interested in reading what's crew member's life really looks like. And mine was pretty much exciting and also turbulent.
But of course, not everyone is so sure of themselves like I was. Different people feel differently, they have different goals and ideas. One thing that is common though to each and every one of us is that we need to be able to present our work in a proper manner if we care to be read, favorited, and somewhat popular in today's society. There are somewhere in between 600,000-1,000,000 books published every year in the US only. Writing.com currently has 748,888 active members. That's a lot of published books and that's a lot of active members. If you want to read sitewide statistics closely you can do it by clicking on Writing.com Tools on the left side of your portfolio and then Sitewide stats in a pop-up window. Then sit down and ask yourself what is it that you need in order to be noticed and recognized among so many active members on this site? What is it that those published authors need to do to get noticed and recognized among million others?
Small steps first; offer something exciting and unique in a form of title, a brief description, well-written summary, captivating book cover— whichever side you're on— and keep making bigger steps. Here is some guidance on writing the captivating title:
Keep it short- Writing.Com allows 40 characters for the title section. If you ask me, this is perfectly suitable; unless you're a lover of long titles as I am in which case you'd use a brief description section for the title as well. I do that a lot lately.  . Anyhow, if you keep it short it's easier to fit it on other social media like Twitter, for example
Make it descriptive- Take a look back at the content of your writing and try to come up with keywords that would perfectly summarize what your writing is about
Keep it simple- Don't think too much about suitable wording for your title because you're gonna get lost. However, this doesn't mean titles like Depression, Why I loved you, A bad poem, The artist's life for example and similar wording works great because they don't reveal anything interesting about the writing itself. They only indicate slightly what the writing is about but its straightforwardness doesn't catch reader's attention for the reason it makes writing look like just another brick in the wall
Stay away from cliche titles- Dark Thoughts, Second Chance, The End of the World, The Duke's Wife and similar. If you're about to write one think about it from another perspective, ask yourself questions like "What kind of dark thoughts are you writing about?" "What is a second chance that you write about?" "What caused the end of the world in your writing?" "What is so special about the Duke's wife according to your writing?" and continue from there
Watch your punctuation- We all know the difference between "Let's eat grandma" and "Let's eat, grandma". Don't be a psycho unless your writing is in a horror genre
What else you can do if you stuck on the idea of a great title? You can create a poll, put your choices inside and ask people in the newsfeed to vote for their favorite title to ease your decision. User Poll can be found under the free membership after you click to Create New Item on the left side of your portfolio. Why a User Poll? It's simple. Through a User Poll everyone is able to give their thoughts by only one click and anonymously. They don't feel forced into interaction they don't have time for sometimes and it only takes a few seconds to give a feedback. To embed a poll on Writing.Com you type {poll:######} and replace #### with a number of the poll item which can be found right under the title. Here is an example of how one poll looks like live:
In this community, when it comes about expansive promoting of your writing, move to a newsfeed where you can share longer information about your work. Writing.com is pretty much social and many members feel like family. Jump on this train yourself, make friends by reading and reviewing someone else's work, comment on their newsfeed posts, join the blogging challenges in order to get to know people behind their writing. This is such a rewarding experience. I'm telling you from the first hand because I've done it myself. Two of the personal favorites are "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" and "Blog Harbor from The Talent Pond" . Possibilities are endless here. Think about it as the opportunity to learn those promoting skills through the interaction with your fans. Promoting skills that will be a necessity once you dwell into publishing waters. And even if your writing plans aren't this big you'll still get a lot in return. I already hear some of you saying I'm shy. I'm introvert and similar excuses. Alright, perhaps you are. I have to tell you I'm not fond of all the people on the site either. I hide under private status, pseudonym, but those I am fond of are giving me enough in return and I'm perfectly satisfied with that for now. However, I am completely aware that once I decide to go on more seriously with my writing either on this site or in real life, I know I have to put aside plenty of personal features and feelings that don't go hand in hand. And so do you. Everyone needs people in their lives so go, find your own. Make each step count toward something great, something that will benefit you and your surrounding. And please don't neglect your writing by telling us that you don't know how to title it or by writing uninteresting brief descriptions. Any title is better than no title at all if you want potential readers to find you. We are writers after all and words are something we have plenty to offer.
Until next time, don't forget to dream big!
~Minja~
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Below is writing whose titles caught my attention as I was scrolling down the Newbies Page
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2170329 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: And now he made his living
Selling silly rhymes and poems
The sidewalks and the park bench
Were now his only home
I said I'd like to help him
A brother through and through
So I bought another poem from him
It was the least that I could do
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2170089 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: White frost covers the fields—a prophecy that a merciless winter approaches. The fire crackles while its flames give a comforting reprieve from the cruel winds. I huddle closer to the warmth, and like clockwork, she arrives...
Excerpt: I dream of a time when every human being God and bask in his everlasting embrace. At our deepest points everyone is good, and if allowed to, every person would shine his own unique glow. But I can feel my own discriminations rising back to the surface, my dislike towards certain peoples with different aspirations.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2170655 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: As a boy of ten, I was a master of hiding places and could easily travel around the village and the forest outskirts unseen. She was unaware of my presence as I followed her in silence. Even if I had lost sight of her she would have been easy enough to track due to the rhythmic clink of whatever was being jostled in that bag of hers.
By the time she reached the river, she was clearly winded as she sat on a large rock and her ample chest heaved up and down. The mid-morning sun shined through the trees that encroached upon the river creating flecks of brilliant gemstone flickers upon the water. Quiet and serene, only an occasional bubble of sound escaped it. It was hard to believe that only a short walk downriver the waters turned into a roiling mass of rapids in which a few young villagers had met an unfortunate end, or so the stories told.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2040737 by Not Available. |
This is an all-time-favorite contest. The main rule here is to come up with a story or a poem that would fit only 140 characters. I find it to be very helpful because it allows you to practice and get better in choosing the keywords when promoting your work. The contest is open to all members of Writing.Com during a whole year so make sure to check it out.
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https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Noticing Newbies: October 10, 2018 Issue [#9166]
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