The Trouble with Titles...

Ten tried and true tips for writing terrific ones

Photo by Elisa Ventur on Unsplash

Hi friends!

Awhile back, I went to Twitter to ask what folks would like me to address in upcoming newsletters. More than one respondent asked for an article about the all-important flash fiction TITLE!

Everything that is essential to good fiction writing is even MORE key to good flash fiction! With fewer words at our disposal, every word counts. There are no throwaways and it’s vital that your title do at least some of the heavy lifting.

The title you give your story can illuminate the entire work in a way that becomes clear only when the reader reaches the end.

The key is resonance. What do you want your reader to take away from your story? What do you want to highlight? What extra layer does your title give to the story? How does it compel the reader? What tone do you wish to set?

Your title is your opportunity to intrigue, compel, or gently invite your reader into the house of your story.

The one thing I think you should work against, and revise for, is a weak title that does nothing or a title that's too on the nose. In other words, handing the reader your intention, forcing the take away, serving up meaning on a plate.

Extra long titles seem to be in fashion now, but consider too, that a very simple title can carry an enormous amount of power. Examples are "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid or "The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick. (If you haven't read these stories, do, and you will see what I mean).

Here are some tips for "finding" good titles for your work: 

1. Pull out a sentence fragment or line of dialogue that is particularly strong and speaks to the piece as a whole. I love these as a reader. I love encountering the title within the work. It makes me stop and think.

2. Use a fragment or sentence that you had edited OUT of the story. I've done this a few times! (My story title, "The Next Stanley Kubrick” is an example of this, taken from the line: "I wanted to be the next Stanley Kubrick” which I took out of the piece itself.) The bit that didn't work within the story is often the very thing for your title. You create resonance there because it obviously "fits" in some indirect way you hadn't planned for. I'm forever editing out the last sentence or two of my stories, but sometimes will pull it up to the top and make it my title. Look at your piece and see how that looks for you, see how it changes the story dynamic.

3. Place/Setting names as titles. When your setting has particular meaning for your story only! How perfect is "Winesburg, Ohio" for instance, by Sherwood Anderson.

4. The one word title. It puts a lot of pressure on the one word, but try this. It may be a word within your story or outside of it, but it should carry emotional weight if possible. Maybe your one word has more than one implication.

5. Character name. I like the simplicity of giving a character name as the title of the work. To me, it says, this is the story of a life. If your story is very, very character driven, the character name as title may be perfect.

6. Use something you believe your POV character might say, but doesn't. This establishes voice from the get-go and can be very fun as a title. One of my flashes is called, "Another Story About Me and Some Guy" which captures my narrator’s voice to a T and it's one of my favorite titles.

7. Sometimes an ironic title can be very effective.

8. Your title can answer or follow through on something unanswered from the story itself, so that when finished, the reader sees the title in a new light. I did this recently with a microfiction called "Imagine Your Daughter Is a Cherry Red Convertible."

9. The writer Michael Martone often writes very long titles for extremely short stories which is a fun approach. Basically the title is the bulk of the story.

10. Choose a title that tells us what kind of story we’re about to read. This is great for hermit crab stories, list stories, and hybrids. “Ten reasons I ….” or “Instructions for…” etc.

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Looking through the Table of Contents for Flash Fiction America (which released yesterday and you should absolutely purchase!), I found these excellent examples:

A Notion I Took by Joy Castro

Something Falls in the Night by Desiree Cooper

When Chase Prays Chocolate by Christopher Allen

I’m on the Side of the Wildebeest by Amy Stuber

At the Taxidermy Museum of Military Heroes by Steven Dunn

Shit Cassandra Saw That She Didn’t Tell the Trojans Because at That Point Fuck Them Anyway by Gwen E. Kirby

Gray by Bergita Bugarija (read the story to see why this simple title is perfect for the story)

James Brown Is Alive and Doing Laundry in South Lake Tahoe by Stefanie Freele

The Kiss by Pamela Painter (another perfectly simple title)

Varieties of Disturbance by Lydia Davis

All Your Fragile History by Jasmine Sawers

Chew by Venita Blackburn

Well, in truth, there are no weak titles in Flash Fiction America.

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YOUR PROMPT

Take an existing draft for which you’ve struggle to find a great title and try any one of the tips above or draw inspiration from the titles I pulled from Flash Fiction America.

It helps to:

Read your story aloud with the intention of “listening” for a possible title.

Be open to a title that may add another layer to the story you hadn’t previously considered.

Maybe your favorite line in the story works better as a title.

Finally, I’m going to say something that may sound discouraging but I hope it isn’t: If you’re really struggling to give your story a title it may mean that it’s not finished. Dig deeper for the story you’re really trying to tell.

I would love to hear how this goes for you so please feel free to leave a comment!

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BEFORE YOU GO

Though substack would very much like me to (which is understandable), I have no plans for monetizing this newsletter. But if you have found my craft articles, writing prompts, and recommended readings useful, and you’d like to thank me in some small, tangible way, I will not object!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment or question below.

(There are still some spots available in my popular “3 in 90” Live Webex (like Zoom) Generative Workshops. The first session, “Story Lab” is Saturday, March 11th from 1:00-2:30 p.m. Eastern Time). You may sign up for all 4 (best value) or pick and choose individual sessions. They are a lot of fun and you will come away with three fresh new flash drafts! Find more information HERE.)