For example, you know those before-and-after pictures in a magazine like People? The ones where you have to spot the ten little things that are different between them? Well, I’d rather do that than a crossword puzzle because I can usually pick up the things that have been Photoshop-ed in right away. Unfortunately the only time I’m successful with a crossword puzzle is when I Google most of the clues.
When I think of a word, a picture almost always comes up—even if that word is an abstract one. For example, I know I’d like to “write” another “book” and the first thing that that popped into my mind was one filled with random pictures that didn’t seem to be connected to each other in any obvious way. Apparently it would be up to the reader to unite things visually and come up with a story.
I did get a title though: The Book of Life.
Naturally I went straight to Google, and it turns out that The Book of Life is mentioned in Christian and Jewish spiritual teachings, and is also the title of by a 1921 novel by Upton Sinclair. You can’t copyright a title of course, but I think I’d shy away from using something someone else has already come up with.
I’ve heard writers like Wayne Dyer, Dean Koontz and Neale Donald Walsch all say they can’t start writing until they have a title. In Wayne Dyer’s case, he even visualizes the cover and has a mock-up done by his publisher to inspire him during the writing process. As for me, there’s no cover yet, but there’s already something inside.
