How To Write A Book Title In An Essay: What Is A Book Title In An Essay? Without a book title, a book cannot exist. However, writing a book title is not as straightforward as it seems. The title of a book or any other published form of art or text is usually the name given to work by the author.
A book title can be used to identify the type of work included in the book, pique the reader’s interest, to give a minimal survey of the contents of the book and to place it in context.
You can read more Essay Writing about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more.
Like the old saying goes ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, readers are always tempted at judging a book by its title. In some cases, the title of a book may be straightforward and giving out the idea of what the book holds inside. But sometimes book titles have layered meaning, to intrigue its audience.
Having a title decided before starting with the book or novel can help you place your thoughts, ideas and themes in a more organized manner.
Types Of Book Title In An Essay
When writing a book title, authors have the creative freedom to put together a title that will hook their readers to the book and will make them want to look at what is on the inside. Writers use this freedom in a few different ways.
Here are a few types of book titles we see.
- The ‘Random Fantasy Generating’ Title: When writing the title of a fantasy novel, authors seem to cut out some random edgy and catchy words from the dictionary and throw them in together. Authors use words like a throne, ash, red, crown, shadow, king/ queen to catch the attention of the readers.
- The ‘Name’ Or ‘Event’ Title: Names are often given to stories on the name of the protagonist of the story; or sometimes an event is mentioned, which is the most significant event of the book. For example, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson is a few books that fall under this category.
- The ‘Name And The Life Event The Story Is Revolving Around’ Title: This type of title is different than the previous one as here; the name is followed by the main event that is being discussed in the book. For example, book titles like The Adoration Of Jenna Fox, The Half-Life Of Molly Pearce etc. fall under this category.
- The ‘Sound Familiar’ Title: Some authors mix up titles to confuse their readers. This makes their readers think about where they have heard it before, and it’s an excellent method to get the readers thinking about the title of your book.
- The ‘One Word’ Title: Using monosyllables as the title of your book has both pros and cons. The good part is that it is easy for the readers to remember, but it is so easy that sometimes people forget it. The words are easy to remember but to remember which word is which book title is difficult.
- The ‘Sneakily Clever Reference’ Title: These titles have a subtle reference to what the book holds on the inside. Sometimes authors also use double meanings to interest the audience.
- The ‘thing and thing’ Title: Just as the heading suggests, it is as simple as that.
- The ‘Not Related To The Book’ Title: These are excellent and aesthetic titles given to the book by the author. This is done to give the readers metaphorical enlightenment about the book to the audience.
- Steps for Writing a Book Title In An Essay
The way you decide to write a book title is not necessarily based on rules of grammar. An author has the creative freedom to design the title of their book as they want to. It is aimed to catch the attention of the audience and showcase the narrator’s perspective.
When constructing a book title in an essay, follow the following steps.
- Decide The Goal Of Your Book: The goal of your book usually decides the title of your book. Depending on your targeted audience, you need to structure the title of the book. Ask yourself the following questions when deciding on the goal of your book.
- Which age group of audience am I targeting?
- How am I looking forward to advertising for my book?
- Is the title I am deciding on, giving away too much or way too little information about the book?
- Just Start Free Writing: Start with anything that comes into your mind. Randomly start putting throwing in words and phrases. You will be surprised as to how unique and aesthetic titles you can come up with such a strange exercise.
- Search for Set Formulas Or Set Phrases: Try playing around a few primary formats but avoid plagiarism. These set patterns are not the only ways you can title your book. This method will work for specific genres.
- Use The Characters As Inspiration: If the central character of your book has a quirky or catchy name, you can use the name. Working with character names as the book titles is the sure-shot way to get some titles down.
- Find Inspirations From Works: It is surprising how many ideas and inspirations you can get by referring to other works of various writers. You need not copy the entire idea but get some idea from it.
- Avoid Confusion With Other Book Titles: You will want to choose a title for your book which unique and different from other books to avoid readers getting confused between two books. Especially for self-published writers, discoverability is a big deal. You will want your audience to be able to find your book and not a book that sounds like it.
Brainstorm as many ideas as you want. You are the writer, the master of your book. You are the best source of creativity. Make a list of all the exciting titles that you come up with. Ask yourself the question that what your book is all about and answer in three to four words.
Book Title In An Essay Format
There is no such fixed format for a book title as authors are given the creative freedom to exercise their creativity. However, the following points might help develop a book title.
- Unique and Catching The Reader’S Attention: A unique title captures the essence of the book. On reading it, a person should have a clue about what the book is about without having a clear idea about what’s inside.
- Create a Title That Can Be Easily Remembered And Pronounced: Readers tend to remember the title of the books which are short, unique and sound pleasant to the ear. If the title of your book is easily remembered and easily pronounceable, it makes readers talk more about your book.
- Memorable, Searchable And Informative: Try and title your book with something that is easily memorable as it is not only the first thing that readers get about your book but also the piece of information that will lead readers back to your book.
Searchable covers make it easier for the book to be searched for when looking for in a book store or on online websites. Making the book title informative is very important, especially for a non-fictional book. The more comfortable that you make it for your readers to understand the subject of your book, the more likely you are to draw in more audience.
Be direct and straightforward with your book title; use keywords relevant keywords, especially for non-fictional books. Start with a long title and then edit and work your way to a shorter one. The goal is to keep the title short and compact. You can also make a promise of a benefit to your readers but remember to not bluff. Keep it real, and don’t mislead your audience.
FAQ’s On How To Write A Book Title In An Essay
Question 1.
What are a few points to keep in mind when building a well-structured book title?
Answer:
When framing the title for your book, follow the following rules;
- Stick to the genre of your writing. We all know every book is written in a particular genre. If the title suggests a mystery book, it should be a mystery book and not a thriller one. The goal is to give a subtle idea of what the book holds by not giving away the storyline. However, the author should not mislead its audience with the wrong information.
- Don’t use identical titles. Even though there is no copyright on book titles, but it is always suggested to come up with a title that is short, easy to remember and not similar to any other existing book titles. If you are an independent writer, you will want your book to gain popularity; having an identical title will prevent it from happening.
- Avoid titles with negative themes. Don’t give out a negative impression of your book to the readers. The audience will immediately tend to pull away from a book with the gloomy title.
- Don’t use derogatory language as it makes many people uncomfortable. You may think that adding any derogatory language to the title will add a shock to the readers and appeal to them, but in reality, a large number of audience will avoid such books.
Question 2.
Is it necessary to underline or italicize book titles in an essay?
Answer:
The answer to the question is, yes, you do. Ideally, if your essay is handwritten, it is better suggested to underline or italicize the book title in an essay. Some even suggest putting the name of your book in quotations when mentioning in the middle of a text. However, writers are suggested not to worry about it much. Just pick one style and keep following that throughout the essay.