Kathy, thank you for this fabulous guide for finding a title. I've been writing a lot of poetry lately and for poetry in particular because of its compression the title often must do the heavy lifting. I especially appreciate this advice of yours AGAINST "a title that's too on the nose...serving up meaning on a plate." Also, as to #1 on your list, I found the title for my memoir within the pages of my manuscript some years ago (and it's a beauty).
Thank you for this article! I’m on the lookout for a title for a work-in-progress short story right now. Reading your suggestions energized me--couldn’t have come at a better time.
Love this, Kathy. Titles can be so hard, but it's so worth finding the right one to elevate a piece, especially in flash fiction (but really in all writing). Brilliant tips to find the perfect title in your list.
I love this newsletter Kathy! Thanks so much for these fantastic tips. If I’m stuck I won’t be averse to using a title generator 🙈 I’ll pick the weirdest title it suggests. Hello To Creamy Media is the only one I can remember offhand though. There’s been some real gems
Great ideas here, Kathy, thanks for sharing! There was a professor I had for a couple of genre studies classes in college... her bread and butter was poetry (mine is/was not, though I do appreciate it very much)... and she drove home for me the idea that titles were very, very important. I can't recall her thoughts word-for-word, so I won't try to scribe them here, but the reminder happened often. I CAN recall some awkward stretches of time when she was at the front of the class asking a group of non-poets, "Can someone please be brave and tell me what this title means?" Haha
Interesting article. I like it. Titles can be tricky for sure. Every time I read a book--and I read constantly--I write marginalia and highlight phrases or sentences, including good ideas for titles of my own writing, fiction and non. I named my newer Substack off a line from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment: ‘The Black Snake of Wounded Vanity.’ Longer one, yes. But I like it 🤘
Kathy this article was so helpful! I struggle with titles and this made the entire process so much simpler and fun!
I’m currently working on a series of flash fiction that focuses on snippets of backstory for my novel which will be published here as serial fiction. This article helped me to keep it all in perspective and better understand the power of a title. Thank you again! I’ll definitely come back to this article again and again!
Kathy, thank you for this fabulous guide for finding a title. I've been writing a lot of poetry lately and for poetry in particular because of its compression the title often must do the heavy lifting. I especially appreciate this advice of yours AGAINST "a title that's too on the nose...serving up meaning on a plate." Also, as to #1 on your list, I found the title for my memoir within the pages of my manuscript some years ago (and it's a beauty).
These are great tips, thank you !
Kathy, THANK you for sharing these incredible tips! I love all of these.
Titles are my weak spot so this is gold. Thank you, Kathy!
Thank you, Kathy! This is such a thoughtful, helpful post!
Thank you for this article! I’m on the lookout for a title for a work-in-progress short story right now. Reading your suggestions energized me--couldn’t have come at a better time.
Love this, Kathy. Titles can be so hard, but it's so worth finding the right one to elevate a piece, especially in flash fiction (but really in all writing). Brilliant tips to find the perfect title in your list.
This is wonderful! I read it with my students in class and posting it for them too!
I love this newsletter Kathy! Thanks so much for these fantastic tips. If I’m stuck I won’t be averse to using a title generator 🙈 I’ll pick the weirdest title it suggests. Hello To Creamy Media is the only one I can remember offhand though. There’s been some real gems
I love these, especially #2 and #3!
So useful, thank you! I'll be sharing this post with my flash fiction group!
Great ideas here, Kathy, thanks for sharing! There was a professor I had for a couple of genre studies classes in college... her bread and butter was poetry (mine is/was not, though I do appreciate it very much)... and she drove home for me the idea that titles were very, very important. I can't recall her thoughts word-for-word, so I won't try to scribe them here, but the reminder happened often. I CAN recall some awkward stretches of time when she was at the front of the class asking a group of non-poets, "Can someone please be brave and tell me what this title means?" Haha
Interesting.
Interesting article. I like it. Titles can be tricky for sure. Every time I read a book--and I read constantly--I write marginalia and highlight phrases or sentences, including good ideas for titles of my own writing, fiction and non. I named my newer Substack off a line from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment: ‘The Black Snake of Wounded Vanity.’ Longer one, yes. But I like it 🤘
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Just what I needed today!!
Kathy this article was so helpful! I struggle with titles and this made the entire process so much simpler and fun!
I’m currently working on a series of flash fiction that focuses on snippets of backstory for my novel which will be published here as serial fiction. This article helped me to keep it all in perspective and better understand the power of a title. Thank you again! I’ll definitely come back to this article again and again!