Wednesday 30 January 2013

[insert title here]

I need your help!

Over the last couple of years I've had a dozen or so very short stories published here and there (oh, and this one yesterday on 1000 words) and I'm hoping to bring out a collection of short fiction as an ebook. Trouble is, I'm really struggling to come up with a title.

Along with mistaken identity and a couple of domestic stories where somebody's earth shifts - or fails to - there are a couple of supernatural stories.  Common themes to them all are shifting reality, things or people seeming one thing but being another, uncertain ground, misconceptions.


My options are:
  1. Come up with a title that encapsulates common themes but doesn't refer to a particular story. 'None of the above' seemed to fit
  2. Choose a representative story's title as the collection title. 'Brother - killed by radiator' is the most intriguing title in the collection.
  3. Think of a good, quirky title for it and write a brief story using that title
      


Other possible story titles I could use are: Kitchen Sink, Parallel Conservatory, Birdsong Tinitus, Prosthetic Granny...

Your thoughts, as ever would be welcome... any bright ideas, any of the covers or titles mentioned leap out as great or shite?

18 comments:

  1. 'None of the above', definitely. Or as a wild card, how about 'Where was I?'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the vote! I like the title but I think the image needs work, though, doesn't it?

      Delete
  2. I liked the story I think attributed to Hemingway (by my Dad):

    Eager young novelist craves audience with Hemingway and thrusts his manuscript at the great man asking if he could read it and suggest a title.
    "Are there any Trumpets in it?", enquires Hemingway.
    A bemused young man answers no.
    "And are there any Drums?"
    Again, the answer is no.
    "Then call it 'No Drums, No Trumpets'!", says Hemingway, handing the manuscripts back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't offer anything to beat the Hemingway method. Of course, if you've included a story about someone who reads tea leaves in oversized cups, try 'For Whom the Bowl Tells'.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Briefs? (I like short titles!).

    Or write a quirky short short about some one trying to think of a title....? What's in a Name? By Any Other Name?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like that as a title - but not for this collection! (I've got a story in an anthology called 'Quickies' and I do like a short title. The 'Written' cover above was one I thought of, but I thought it might throw up all sorts if anyone was actually trying to search for it, which is why I veered towards a longer title! I quite liked 'Other' as a possible too.

      Delete
    2. Brief Encounters? But you are so right about titles. My publishers didn't like the name I wanted for Birds and Bees. Result? Poeple who look it up,are, of course, looking for books about sex!

      Delete
    3. I better hadn't call it 'Meat and two veg' then, eh? ;-)

      Delete
  5. How about Philologus Absentis? Can't go wrong with a little Latin right?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Replies
    1. I like it, H - I'd been thinking about tectonics and stuff and have a story where it's mentioned... hmmm... strokes imaginary beard

      Delete
  7. I like None of the above. Options 2 and 3 are cheating, I think.

    Sticking with the bureaucratic theme, you might call it Other (please specify), or perhaps Detach and keep.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Philip. Nice ideas, the only trouble is there isn't really a bureaucratic theme... that's a whole other collection!

      Delete
    2. Problem solved, then. Just call it Not a Whole Other Collection.

      Delete