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:
- Come up with a title that encapsulates common themes but doesn't refer to a particular story. 'None of the above' seemed to fit
- Choose a representative story's title as the collection title. 'Brother - killed by radiator' is the most intriguing title in the collection.
- 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?
'None of the above', definitely. Or as a wild card, how about 'Where was I?'
ReplyDeleteThanks for the vote! I like the title but I think the image needs work, though, doesn't it?
DeleteI liked the story I think attributed to Hemingway (by my Dad):
ReplyDeleteEager 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.
Hmmmm. Thank you. That narrows it down.
DeleteI 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'.
ReplyDeleteThank you. *sigh*
DeleteBriefs? (I like short titles!).
ReplyDeleteOr write a quirky short short about some one trying to think of a title....? What's in a Name? By Any Other Name?
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.
DeleteBrief 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!
DeleteI better hadn't call it 'Meat and two veg' then, eh? ;-)
DeleteHow about Philologus Absentis? Can't go wrong with a little Latin right?
ReplyDeleteThe missing student? Hmmmm....
DeleteOr the Absent Scholar.
Delete"Uncertain Ground" is good
ReplyDeleteI like it, H - I'd been thinking about tectonics and stuff and have a story where it's mentioned... hmmm... strokes imaginary beard
DeleteI like None of the above. Options 2 and 3 are cheating, I think.
ReplyDeleteSticking with the bureaucratic theme, you might call it Other (please specify), or perhaps Detach and keep.
Thanks, Philip. Nice ideas, the only trouble is there isn't really a bureaucratic theme... that's a whole other collection!
DeleteProblem solved, then. Just call it Not a Whole Other Collection.
Delete