What’s in a name?
The name for my main character Tori came easily to me. I
wanted it to be a simple, short name that wasn’t too common. I like names with vowel
sounds as I knew them when I grew up – call them Italian, German or Māori –
rich or open a, e, i, o, u sounds, not their English counterparts.
I can’t remember when the title “Teaching Tori” came to me. I
think it was right at the start. Initially, I called my work in progress Tori
and Tom, but then I found “Teaching Tori” describes what happens in the novel much better.
It plays with the two meanings of ‘teaching’ – one as a verb,
the other one as an adjective (Actually, I think it’s called a gerund - I need
to find out the correct grammatical term because I am a grammar nerd.)
Teaching Tori shows Tori in her job, as opposed to
‘singing’ Tori or ‘typing’ Tori. She is a primary school teacher and lives for
her job and the lives of the children in her class. She is ‘teaching Tori’ –
Tori, who teaches.
But the novel is also about Teaching Tori, meaning that people
are teaching her (or in the case of Tom, he is trying to teach her something, but she is quite a reluctant learner.)
Throughout the story, various
people teach Tori various things, which, hopefully, lead to her learning some
important lessons in life.
I am very comfortable with the choice of my title. It is the
kind of title that would catch my attention – I would want to find out what or
who she is teaching, or if someone else is teaching her.
What attracts you to a book title?
Best ever seen.
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