Tuesday, October 27, 2015

A Title for My Work in Progress!

For the past couple of months, I have been working on the third book in my Portraits series. I was having trouble coming up with a title that worked with Portrait of… But I knew that if I just kept writing, the title would reveal itself. I was considering Portrait of a Girl Sailing since there will be some sailing, and it works metaphorically, but the story is not just about Leila sailing—it’s about a journey, literally and figuratively, therefore, I was thinking maybe Portrait of a Journey. But neither really clicked for me.

So, today, over 40k words into the first, rough draft, as I was writing a scene, a line came to me from the first book, Portrait of a Girl Running. It’s at the end of the first chapter, which means it will make for a nice bookend, so to speak. The line alludes to something Leila’s father used to call her—Leila-at-Large. It had to do with her always being on the move, about how she would need to fall between the cracks, undetected.

I then looked up “at large” in my Mac dictionary and found, serendipitously, that the term also has a sailing application having to do with the wind blowing from a favorable direction (okay, so I hadn’t ever heard of that, but I still have a lot of sailing research ahead of me—sure wish I could remember half of what I researched for Uncharted!)

So, I have at least a portion of the title: Portrait of --- At Large. The question is, do I go with Portrait of a Girl At Large, even though Leila is no longer a girlshe's now twenty-four. Or, I could go with Portrait of Leila-at-Large. Hmmm...I'm just not sure which works better. I'm open to opinions! Aside from finishing the first draft, and deciding on the title, I need to  figure out if the A in ‘at’ should be capitalized.  

Oh, and in case anyone is curious about some elements of the story, I have a pin board on Pinterest where I am gathering bits of information and images.

11 comments:

  1. There's some alliteration with "Leila at Large" so of the two choices I prefer that. Glad you are working on something new!

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    1. I rather like the alliteration also. Thanks for weighing in! At least I have a while before I make the final decision--although I am 'actively' writing again, I'm not pressuring myself with any deadlines.

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  2. Hello there Stranger... at Large!.... Glad to see that you are back on your writing course. The title enigma.... HMMMM ... "at large".... meaning free and not captured. Perhaps... "The Portrait of a Spirit at Large".... a woman still being a girl in ways... free of spirit and movement.

    Whatever you decide... it will be well contemplated and accurately crafted! Good luck with it all!

    Warm regards,
    Bruce

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    1. Well, Hello Bruce! What a pleasure to have you stop by! Thanks for your vote of confidence. I'm still undecided about the title--it seems to have been moved to the back burner while I research boats and sailing! You make a valid point about a woman still being a girl in ways, and my main character is very much still a girl...Maybe a sailing adventure will help her grow into herself! :)

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  3. ...hum,,,"at large",,AT LArGE,,At Large,,? hum...I feel confidant you have the answer...reckon ? Amazing to hear from you.. OC

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    1. Well, hello Glenn! I haven't figured out the answer yet, but there's no hurry for those at large, reckon? :)

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  4. no hurry for a young lady, for sure...OC, more so, maybe..:)

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  5. I immediately thought of leila at large when I was first reading your paragraph.

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  6. Portrait of a nautical nomad??? Portrait of a Maritime .........protégé???? Of a woman adrift??? I dunno, its all malarkey! ...poppeyseed

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    1. Actually, I rather like Portrait of a Woman Adrift! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thought! :)

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