Young Writers Society

I've started working on a novel about four close friends who in their early college days made a promise while smoking pot. They were not in their conscious minds so they all had forgotten that they have a promise to keep except for the main protagonist whose name is Benji. But then he never talked about it. Years passed and finally they were graduates. On their farewell night ben and ashanti(one of the four whom ben secretly admires) had an altercation and things between the two soured afterwhich they both parted ways. That was the last ben saw ashanti. The city bore a lot of their memories. So ben decided to stay in the same city even after his college and got himself a mediocre job. After three years the other two (love birds, alva and lenny) visited ben and rekindled. Ben had been writing an article about his friends out of his personal interest which alva came across and was reading it discreetly. She saw ben mentioned something about a promise. It was then she remembered about the promise they had long made but forgotten. So she had in mind that this promise would bring back the four again. So she discusses about it to lenny and ben. They readily agreed to keep the promise. But first they needed to go to ashanti's hometown and find her. The struggle, the hardship that unfolds before them in their search for ashanti whom they never heard from for almost four years forms the crux of the story..the pursuit of that promise was very important especially to ben who loves ashanti but never had the courage to tell her..

So that was just the sum-up of how the story would go. So far I have written the prologue and two chapters but i'm still juggling over the name of the novel. So if anyone can help in that area, I would be pleased.

Honestly, I don't think we can really give you advice on that, because we're not in your head. I don't really understand the plot ( maybe that's just me ), so I don't think I could give you a good idea.

My advice is to just write it, and see what happens. A lot of writers don't come up with a title until their novel is finished.

I think the main reason the plot is confusing is you never tell us what the promise actually is, therefore you're not giving us enough information to actually help with the title.

I would suggest this article for some help.

@Holysocks and @Rosey Unicorn
Yes i understand. The plot hasn't been discussed here. It was just a brief telling. The promise and its pursuit will form the plot. And i haven't specifically mention what the promise is and that is confusing you i assume. Actually the story is still in its initial stage. I have yet to work on the plot. Well i'm clear of how i want my story to go and made a light note on it, not discussed the whole thing. Based on that i want to name the novel and with a title in my hand it will be a whole lot easier to write i feel. I've come up with a title- friends, the city and a promise. Please tell me about its appeal.

@biju -- I like the title just because each piece is different from the other. "Friends" has no article -- it's a general idea. "The city" has a specific article -- it's talking about one specific city, the only city. "A promise" is a general article -- it's one promise out of many. That variety and texture makes for an interesting title!

@Hannah
Yes exactly. You say friends in this title is just a general idea and its true but in my book i'm particularly talking about four friends and their promise. So do u see what my confusion here is? But i so want to keep this title. And about the green room thing, i still m a novice here and not familiar with how things funtion around here. So i need alot of help indeed. Also this novel that i'm talking about is my very first. So i'l need help in plot development as well and i specifically join this site because i feel i can extract a lot of help from here and also give likewise. So advices, tips, harsh/soft critism or anything on my writings are always welcome and valued. So go ahead.

Hey, there! Sounds like a neat story idea. It's hard to know without actually reading the whole thing as well as other factors, however... What if it was something as simple as "The Promise"? It sounds like the whole story is centered around it and it fits, yet is vague, which can leave people intrigued. Anyway, just a thought. Best of luck!

@LeftyWriter
I see your point there and it has been well noted! So do you have anything any suggestion in mind to make it less vague? I'm writing a book for the first time, so i need help. If u read this article then i should as well tell you that what you read is more of the prologue i have written for the novel. I've just summarised it to give a small hint of the story. So should I be happy if u feel intrigued by it?