The parade looks beautiful but I think I would’ve had a panic attack not being able to move & being shoved! Ick! So nice you could make it a date night though. 💟
Oh my gosh, you would NOT have liked it there… that experience alone made me not want to attend future parades anymore. I don’t think I was ever crammed like that in my life before!
This looks incredible, Claire! It seems like you and Dan had a great time. My city has a Japanese street festival every year, too, but it’s usually so busy that you can barely walk through it!
Thanks for reading! 🙂 Oh no, that’s a shame! I love festivals and new experiences but I also hate being in super, super crowded places. I don’t mind some crowds, but if it’s so busy you can’t even walk, it’s a big no from me, haha. It’s awesome your city has a Japanese street festival as well!
This sounds like such a lovely day, I really want to go to Pride at some point! Also, the mac and cheese with bacon bits sounds and looks amazing!
I definitely recommend catching a Pride Parade if you can! It’s such a fun experience to see how love is celebrated 🙂
The classic book title takes the pattern of ‘(The) **** of (the) ****’. I can look over to my bookcase and see four such titles in that style: ‘The Dolphins of Pern’, ‘The Wheel of Time’, ‘The Mystery of the Ruby Glasses’, & ‘The Sword of Shanarra’. This could mean that this style is overdone, but it just means that it *is* a classic type. It works, so don’t knock it. Oh, and the ‘of’ may be an ‘and’ in some titles of this type, like ‘The Power and the Passion’.
Then there is the clean and simple use of a one word title. Gregory Maguire favours this type: ‘Lost’, ‘Wicked’. So do many other authors. It has the advantage that you can use words that have multiple meanings, and you don’t give away anything major of the plot. A single word title is strong and powerful. The addition of a ‘The’ in front of a single word doesn’t weaken the effect, like in ‘The Awakening’ or ‘The Bribe’. Next level is adding a modifier, like an adjective, e.g. ‘The Little Country’ or ‘The King’s Buckaneer’.
Quotes are often a good source of titles. ‘Band of Brothers’ is from Shakespeare…you can’t go wrong with Shakespeare as he covered *everything* about the human condition in his body of work. Personally, I like to use bits from old sayings: ‘Rosemary for Remembrance’, ‘Stuff and Nonsense’. You can use lyrics from songs, anything that gives your title meaning. You can also twist a saying, paticularly if your book is a parody..’Wyrd Sisters’ by Terry Pratchett is an example. The cleverer the twist, and the more appropriate to your novel, can make this style of title a zinger.
Lately, there has been a flourish of longer titles. ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ is an excellent example of this type. I avoid this style myself, but when it works it works well. The Victorians loved long titles, and they also liked to add a comment to the title. If you are writing Steam Punk or historical novels, this style is very suitable.
What a writer wants from a title is a cluster of words that are memorable. Something that encompasses the theme of the work, without giving too much away. Some people like to put titles on their chapter headings (guilty). Titles are important, as a weak title can drive away readers before they even get to read the main text.
The classic book title takes the pattern of ‘(The) **** of (the) ****’. I can look over to my bookcase and see four such titles in that style: ‘The Dolphins of Pern’, ‘The Wheel of Time’, ‘The Mystery of the Ruby Glasses’, & ‘The Sword of Shanarra’. This could mean that this style is overdone, but it just means that it is a classic type. It works, so don’t knock it. Oh, and the ‘of’ may be an ‘and’ in some titles of this type, like ‘The Power and the Passion’.
Quotes are often a good source of titles. ‘Band of Brothers’ is from Shakespeare…you can’t go wrong with Shakespeare as he covered everything about the human condition in his body of work. Personally, I like to use bits from old sayings: ‘Rosemary for Remembrance’, ‘Stuff and Nonsense’. You can use lyrics from songs, anything that gives your title meaning. You can also twist a saying, paticularly if your book is a parody.’Wyrd Sisters’ by Terry Pratchett is an example. The cleverer the twist, and the more appropriate to your novel, can make this style of title a zinger.
(This article was originally a note I wrote on Facebook about five years ago. It still is relevant.)