How 2 Bad Timing · 9:28pm Jun 6th, 2015
Let me preface this by stating that what I am about to write is irredeemably stupid.
There, now that's out of the way.
As I write this, there remain three chapters and the epilogues to the story "Oathbound." That's it. Which is why this blog post is just so unforgivably ridiculous.
As I've been closing in on the climax of the story (which I just reached and will post up in the coming week or so), a recurring thought has taken a firm hold in my mind. Throughout the story, oaths and promises have played a prominent role in the actions and thoughts of many characters. And that's good. Themes and titles should match up.
But the problem is that the climax of the story doesn't revolve around an oath. Oh, they're certainly involved, but they're not the central focus. And as I recently realized while working at my job (in a bookstore, of course), a title that doesn't match the theme of the story is always a bad idea.
So, having said all that, here's the pinnacle of stupidity: I'm considering changing the title of "Oathbound."
"But wait, ChronicleStone! It's so late in the story! Won't it confuse readers who won't know what's going on? And you've already made the oath thing so prominent! And shouldn't you have thought about this before now?!" Look, I titled this post "How 2 Bad Timing." I understand that I'm not good at this. And if you know me, you know that I like to involve my readers in major decisions. So I'm asking: do you think it's a good idea to change the title of the story now? I'm not giving away the title it would change to (because spoilers at this point), but do you think it would make a huge difference to change it now? Gimme your thoughts!
Thanks again, guys. I really do value the input. Keep your eyes peeled here! Big things are coming...
~ChronicleStone
EDIT: After some serious consideration (and some story editing), I've come to the conclusion that there's no need to change the title of the story. Oathbound still works just fine. For what it's worth, the other title I was considering was "Inheritance." So, you can pretty much discard this entire post as meaningless, unless you want to use it as a clear-cut example of how indecisive and terrible at this I am. Which you're welcome to do; it'll be funny to look at down the road, I bet.
Ok this is a tough decision. On one end changing the title would be good to match the story (even though I don't know the name). On the other end the change in the name might mess up other new readers. But if you believe that the name you might change it will fit the story then I say yes to change the name. And I will respect whatever your decision will be.