17 February 2022: Rethinking Titles

I've been working on Just Friends for at least seven years, possibly eight or nine, and the farther I get into this latest revision, the more I've begun to second-guess the title.

When I started the story in my college fiction workshop, not only was the plot different, but the characters' names changed and so did the title. Originally, the story was simply entitled "The Arrangement", which ended up being the title of chapter 1.

The book is a fake-dating story, following Jasmine and Leo as they begin the arrangement, all the way through to their HEA/HFN. The thing is, the title is a bit of a misnomer—Jasmine and Leo weren't friends prior to their arrangement and it feels like a lie.

So how do you know when a title change is necessary? Does the true title just reveal itself to me in the clouds one day? Probably not.

I figure it will become more clear as I finish this current draft (I'm currently on chapter 9 of a projected 17), but in the meantime, I've been brainstorming alternate title ideas:

• The Fake Date Dilemma

• Fake Dates & Doughnuts

• Sugared Charades

• Fake & Bake

• Just Desserts

• Sweet Deceptions

I don't know which is the winner, if any of these.

Now the question becomes "how many more dessert puns will I come up with before the draft is finished?"