Young Writers Society

Well, you know why you're here. I've been calling this story "The Chosen Grandma Story" because I don't have a ~real~ title. Let's be real: I'll probably keep calling it that in casual conversation and around here, at least until I start revising.

But for things like Grindstone's Novel Start Competition, where I submit an excerpt...I should probably have something a little better and a little less on the nose than "The Chosen Grandma."

So if you're better with titles than I am: help an old lady out, wouldja?

the plot

Life at the nursing home sure is dull – until a wizard shows up to tell eighty-three-year-old Edna Fisher she’s the Chosen One, destined to defeat evil sorcerer Redway. With the help of her loyal orderly, a rogue teenager, and a grumpy cat, Edna faces dragons, skepticism, irritating wizards, bad directions, and technology.

Knitting needles? Check. Cane? Check. Fate of the world? Bring it on.

the tone

Whimsical/humorous with a side of emotion for balance - especially the closer we get to the climax.

any questions?

If you feel like more information would help you come up with title suggestions, let me know what you need! You can also check out the first chapter here to get a feel for the story (as it is now).

To be honest this may because of attachment purposes but I really do enjoy the title 'The Chosen Grandma' and maybe even a subtitle can be added for witty humor but I don't see a problem with the title as of now? 'The Chosen Grandma' is certainly an interesting title but I do have to admit there's the flaw of Edna...not really being a 'grandma' per-say, but people use 'grandma' to talk about old people anyways.

Anyways, as for new title ideas, I've come up with a few:

Cane She Do It? (People love puns and intense questions, yes?

Clementine Why not? A pretty title and one of the characters and this kinda points that Clem is The Chosen One and adds confusion to the mix. This is probably the most far-fetched one I've done but I like this as a title.

The Sword of Destiny This throws the reader off by a mile although there may already be a book titled this. This one is vague and suggests of no Edna or 'an old lady is The Chosen One' aspect to this.

Those are my suggestions! I have to admit I'm not all that great with titles either most of the time, haha. I hope you find that stronger title you're looking for!

Thanks, darlin'! The fact that Edna is not actually a grandma is definitely something wrong with the current title, technically speaking, but I kind of always knew I wanted a better title.

(Even though, like I said: yeah, I'll probably just keep calling it that casually.)

But also, aside from the fact that it's really on the nose, I feel like it doesn't quite match the tone? Like yeah it's a silly story, but it's not only a silly story, and I feel like "The Chosen Grandma" would point more to a story that's just 100% silliness all the time.

A very good article on how to choose titles.

Thanks! Bookmarking for future use on, well, everything, because this is always an issue for me.

@BlueAfrica - can you use the word "Elder" somehow, like for an artefact or something? Like, you know, The Elder Wand in Harry Potter, but obviously in this case it's... something else. That way you could have a twist of fantasy and also let people in on your special take on it!

Or, you could go for a long title, which, to me, always fit these kind of gentle-and-whimsical-but-also-serious-books, like "The Hundred-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out A Window And Disappeared" or "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" or "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" or "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry." Like you could call it something like "The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher" or "How To Make The Most Of Your Golden Years While Fighting Warlocks". I don't know, but I kind of like those titles, and I feel like one would suit this story well.

"How To Make The Most Of Your Golden Years While Fighting Warlocks"

I'd read this. I'd judge the book by its title, bring it home, and read it.

I love that one, but WOW do I love "The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher"! I was thinking something along those lines, "the something something of Edna Fisher" but couldn't come up with anything to my satisfaction. That, though. That is. Wow. Wow.

I should look into long titles anyway, considering I loooooove the Fairyland series, and those titles are all

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland
The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home

and I ADORE them. Every one of them, plus the titles in all their lengthy glory.

@BlueAfrica - yes! I've only read the first one in the series, but they kind of fit in with that profile of story I'm talking about as well. It must be something to do with long titles!

Either that or all of us who write whimsical fantasy are terrible at titles!