Some of you have asked how I came up with the title for this blog and until now I have kept that secret, as if it were the eleven herbs and spices developed by Colonel Sanders.* However, because I aspire to be as generous a person as I am modest, I have reconsidered.
Also, I needed a blog topic for today.
Also, I get to use diagrams and pointers and wear my ex-professor face — which is to say it will be great and goodly fun and possibly involve chalk. Are you ready? *rubs hands* Isn’t this thrilling?
This is how the title “Tartitude” came into being:
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I decided to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a Nobel Prize-winning author.
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Wrote 90% of my first seminal work, discovered it was neither seminal, nor working.
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Searched the Interwebz for something/anything to make sense of my morass of words.
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Discovered The Cherry Forums — a writing board founded by Jennifer Crusie
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Began a thread where people set writing goals. Cheered as they achieved them.
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Got kicked out. Changed the thread until it no longer fit the mission of the rest of the Forums. (I had help in this!)
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Created a Facebook group with other Cherries to continue the above festivities. Named it the Cherry Tarts in a nod to our origins.
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Upon welcoming a feisty new member, typed without thinking: “You’ll fit in just fine here with your attitude of Tartitude.”
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Having been on the search for a suitable blog name, recognized the gift I had been granted through pure serendipity.
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Did a quick search to make sure it wasn’t a famous name from elsewhere, and voilà!
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Now how about you folks? Some of you I know from other places, some not. If you blog, what’s the name of your site? What procedure did you use to arrive at its title? Does your title match your blog mission, or are you like me in the sense of getting the name, and then having to shoe-horn in the rest of your blog’s concept to match its moniker?
This is the place to toot your horn, so please do! As long as it isn’t a vulvezula, I’m a-listening. 😉
*Artistic license. A few people already know this story, but I haven’t yet published it out on this blog.
How did I come up with, “The Highly Uninteresting Misadventures of Average Girl?” Well, it’s just the rotten truth of my life, my friend. (Also, the fact that I wrote a story that I loved for a children’s mag with a similar title could have something to do with it). Aren’t moments of serendipity delicious? Your blog could have ended up as something like, “Oranges — yum.”
Mine was pretty simple (read: boring). I knew from the start that it would co-authored with my husband, so I couldn’t use my first *and* last name. I went with just the last name, Sharp, since we both share it, and added Angle because I liked the ambiguity. The blog is about our (sometimes odd) views about the writing life and our opinions in the form of book and movie reviews. The Sharp Angle seemed to fit.
Like I said, boring. But I assure you, the blog content is much more interesting than its title. 🙂
Mine is pretty boring — it’s a title of one of my favorite songs, “Never Move On” by Meredith Andrews. I’m pretty bad at thinking of blog names, and they usually change really fast.
First, I loved the Tartitude story, because I’ve always wondered how that came about!
I wanted to call my blog the BookWyrm, because the funky spelling of worm tied into my novel and I thought BookWyrm was cute. So apparently, didn’t several other people, because when I Googled it, I found several blogs with that name.
So I thunk and I thunk and I thunk . . . and my novel uses a few Latin phrases . . . so I thunk some more, and finally looked up bookworm in Latin. Helluo librorum was born.
I didn’t want helluo librorum to be just about me. I wanted it to be like a house where people could meet and share ideas. That’s why I didn’t name it for myself and don’t make it about me. I want the blog to be about writers and writing. That way if I don’t make it as an author, I can still have fun with my blog. ;-D
Neat post, Jan!
Average Girl, I love the irony in your blog title. 😀 Another confession of mine: the oranges were not planned. First I had the title, then I knew I wanted a template that would be visually appealing and went searching for suitable art. When I discovered the oranges, it fit in with the title, and the rest, as they say, became history.
Lydia, I love your blog’s title! It’s clever and works in your name, so that will be helpful when you get published.
Spamwarrior, so you get bored and change the name? Does that make it challenging for your readership to find you? Or does keeping the url make that a non-issue?
T, I have seen bookwyrm in many a place, regretfully. It would be fun. But while it may have been your second choice, I actually love your blog’s title. You have made your site about more than you, but I can see your stamp on it from a mile away.
Cute story. And I think you’ve got great Tartitude.:)
OK, the truth: I’m a Star Trek fan. I wanted to start a parenting blog, I had a difficult, colicky baby and this whole, new-parent thing was so damn confusing and the more I talked to people, the more I realized that nobody knew what he or she was doing the first time out. It was a completely uncharted course, an “uncharted planet” for everyone. So I didn’t really even have to think about it. As soon as I decided to do the parenting blog, the title and the tag line just came to me: “Uncharted Parent – Because every parent goes where no parent has gone before.”
JennW, great to see you! And thank you. I aim to be feisty and courageous, so it’s wonderful to hear people think I embody that at times.
Tracy, hoo boy, I hear you about the parenting and colic. Not fun in the least. And you needn’t apologize for being a Trekie, LOL. I love your serendipity too, and the title that emerged from it.
I’ve always wondered…. 🙂 Thanks for clearing that up!
My husband started referring to me as his brew wench (as in “hey, wench, get over here and help with this carboy!”) when he took up making mead. So when I signed up for AW, I kept the wench and stuck “ink” in front of it. And then that became my blog.
Tracey, I want to know if the Wench title comes with an eyebrow wiggle. If it doesn’t, tell them mister I said it should. 😉 And I’ve always liked the word “wench.” It’s reasonably close to Tart in meaning.
Jan, I love your story. I want ‘Attitude of Tartitude’ on a T-shirt.
I wanted my blog to be Red-Headed Writer, but that had gone. Then one evening I was sitting around with friends and we were reading each other trivia from the bookshelves. Someone pulled out a book about 18th-century London and informed the rest of us that Fortnum & Mason used to sell a confection called Dirty White Candy.
‘Dirty White Candy’, we chorused. Sounds like an album title. How modern 18th-century gourmands were with their names. Imagine Dr Johnson indulging in a nibble of Dirty White Candy.
I use it as my blog name because the stories I like surprise us with something unpredicted we connect to, characters who are just like us but not like us. And because inspiration comes at random from the most unexpected places.
Jan, thanks for sharing the story of your origins. I can now cross that mystery off my list. 🙂
I wanted “writing” somewhere in my blog, but it seemed like everything I thought would be spectacular had already been taken. I kept pondering, and then one day I was having a discussion with someone about a crazy idea for a book, and I said that phrase all of us hear constantly — it’s “all about the writing”. To my amazement, that had not been taken, so I snatched it up for my blog! It lets me give my opinions about the writing journey, as well as share some of the Yay moments that happen along the way.
Roz, “Attitude of Tartitude” would make an excellent t-shirt, as would your blog’s name. Sometime I’d love a description of the candy that inspired your title. I’m intrigued…
Donna, LOL, I had no idea so many people were interested in this blog topic or I would have done it a while back. As for your title, serendipity was at work for you too. Neat.
Jan – looks like Tartitude shirts or aprons or coffee mugs or juice glasses would do well at Cafe Press:)
… and as a Tart I’d love to have a set of 6 with my free toaster.
Jan, I loved reading this story, and I’m a big fan of serendipity. I think it happens all the time to writers.
When I sat down to name my blog, the first thing that came to mind was “how in the world will I ever find time to write, really?” With two small kids, work, life, my writing time gets squeezed more often than not. So, the name fit my situation.
It still fits, especially on Wednesdays when I squeeze out a flash fiction or short essay on the word of the day – start to finish in 24 hours or less. I guess I like working under pressure 🙂
I love this post! I, too, had wondered about the origins of Tartitude. Even more, I had wondered why the cherry tart in the URL. Makes a lot of sense to me now. It was also really enjoyable to see how everyone else got their ideas for titles.
A while back, I tried to start a blog with a title from Alice in Wonderland. I really wasn’t ready to take on a blog at that time. When I started Glinda Says, the title was kind of a no brainer for me. I was doing so much editing of others’ work that I felt that I was losing my voice as a writer. The whole reason for the blog is to keep me in touch with my writing and my voice – hence the title.
I always wondered about your blog name. This explains everything. Tartitude is so colorful. I always liked the citrus theme.
I didn’t exert myself at all. My blog name is my full name.
Steph, you could be my marketing manager, LOL. You have a natural facility for it.
Christi, I do better with deadlines myself. I so admire someone like yourself, though, who pursues her dreams while her kids are little.
Glinda, your blog title is actually smart: easy to remember, refers to you. And yes, that’s exactly what is behind the cherrytart url. 😀
Medeia, LOL, I had no idea people had been curious about this. Thought I might have even explained it a few too many times. Just goes to show that even after a year of blogging, I never know what people care about and what puts them to sleep.
I think it’s not just a matter of being bored… I just haven’t found the right title yet. Or maybe I did, considering that I changed it again and hope to keep it for good this time. Keeping the URL usually keeps that a non-issue, but I just decided to make a new, nicer domain and transport my entire blog over to that. I don’t really have much of a readership as yet so I haven’t heard of it being an issue.
-spamwarrior
I love seeing all these stories! Jan-I just figured you hung out with a bunch of people who made up words all the time like I do!
Watery Tart is a Monty Python tribute and I’ve been using the name for quite some time: at HPANA (where Harry Potter geeks bond and write fan fiction *cough*) posting earns you points… first you are a student, then a prefect, then a head girl… and EVENTUALLY, you get to choose a custom title. That was my FIRST use of ‘Watery Tart’. When I decided to blog, since I write in the bathtub, I decided it was appropriate that the title follow me. the ‘Confessions of’ piece I haven’t stayed as enamored with… there are a lot out there. I do tend to practice TMI though, so it is probably fitting.
Scandalous Jan!
Personally, words don’t flow from my mind as they do for most of the rest of you so I’ve simply taken to filling up the comment sections of blogs such as yours with useless drivel. I do enjoy the stories of others who are more fortunate with the gift of the gab however.
Obviously, the name is taking you in the right direction. Why change a good thing? Unique, eye-stopping, a one-word perfect moniker……………keep it!! (that iz if you are serious about changing…doubt that… why you already have your calling cards *in hand*!!!!!!)
Abby, I love new, shiny domains. Perhaps too much. And I suspect when you settle on the identity that best fits you, your readership will follow and start to complain and/or cheer when you make changes.
Hart, LOL, embrace your geekdom – another great site name that’s already been take. I checked. 😀 And I love “Confessions.” I think it suits your sites vibe.
Garnet, even non-author persons are
toleratedwelcomed at this site. Personally, I adore your sly sense of humor and suspect you’d do well if you decided to write satire. In the meantime, all the rest of us appreciate people who fill our comment boxes. (And no, that was not meant to be suggestive, people!)CBlaire, I’m not changing the title! Don’t worry. No, this post was merely to explain how this blog came into being and then learn how other people settled on their monikers.
So that’s why the url is cherrytart… cool. I love that the name developed from your work – truly serendipity. Love those moments.
My title isn’t exactly exciting and glam, but it sums up my personal philosophy…which was reiterated right back to me this past year by a faculty Chairperson. There is always something to learn in absolutely every situation in life. Its as simple as that. Kinda dull, but I try to include a bit o’ my sarcasm in the mix to keep it interesting (and hopefully readable..).
…Something To Learn, I’m a big fan of both ongoing education and snark. 😀 And yes, if only serendipity could be bottled.
This is a fantastic conversation! There are many blogs on here that make me wonder how they decided on their names — especially some of the, um, raunchier ones…
Mine is named after the wrinkled pages of favorite books, but lately it’s more like the wrinkled pages of my “friendly” rejections. Thanks for the story~
Amanda, re the raunchier names: sometimes it’s better not to know. 😉 And sorry about the rejections. Perhaps you can turn them into an object d’art?
Love the story, Jan. I’ve been an occasional very quiet lurker since the post on British ‘umor, ‘cos I reckoned I used my annual quota of comments all in one go 🙂
My blog name is way more prosaic. I’m going bald, I don’t take myself seriously, and I have views – partly meant to denote opinions, and partly a window into my world. How ordinary is that?
Botanist, you’re welcome to lurk all you like. It’s only in the past year I myself have begun to comment on blogs.
As for your title, I think it’s delightful you can laugh at yourself. Humor and self-deprecation are two of my favorite qualities in people.
I didn’t realize until after the fact that ‘scifi’ is a term that some high brows in the publishing industry look down on. I just wanted to let people know what kind of writing I do, so I combined that with aliens and viola: ScifiAliens. It has to be some kind of recognition that a ‘web registration service in China’ threatened to offer all the variation URLs to the world if I didn’t register it with them. I sent the email on to my web host for their legal department to deal with. I also suggested to the ‘registry service’ that since the contents of my writing tend to be none-communist they might wish to avoid directing traffic to it, even accidentally.
My slogan, ‘Putting Fun Into Scifi’ came about as a result of a discussion from the editorial evaluation team. On seeing how much humor was in my first novel they asked me if I wanted to be taken seriously. (Not really, no.) I find humor everywhere in daily life, why should science fiction be any different? IMHO, not putting humor into science fiction takes away the fun and makes for a dreary read. (Eventually I plan to switch to horror to see if people can laugh and scream at the same time. Don’t tell anyone.)