44 Comments

These are great tips, thank you !

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Thanks for reading, Louisa!

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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).

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Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, Marlena! I love hearing that you found a great title for your memoir within the text itself!

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Yes. Mystery is good.

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Kathy, THANK you for sharing these incredible tips! I love all of these.

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Thanks for reading, Joy! Glad you found it useful!

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❤️

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Titles are my weak spot so this is gold. Thank you, Kathy!

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So glad you found it useful, Amanda! Thanks for stopping by!

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🤘🤘❤️

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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.

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Thanks for stopping by, Matt! I'm glad you found the article useful!

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🫰🫰

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Thank you, Kathy! This is such a thoughtful, helpful post!

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Thanks for stopping by, Nadia!

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Your stack looks interesting

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❤️

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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.

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Oh, excellent. I'm so glad to hear it, Ellen. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment!

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🔥🔥🤘

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This is wonderful! I read it with my students in class and posting it for them too!

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Oh that's great! I'm glad you found it useful for teaching, Edvige. Thanks for sharing!

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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

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Ah, I think I've seen this title generator! Do you have a link? I'm all for beginning with a title. I've done prompts in workshops to that effect and great stuff gets created that way@ Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Jessica!

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I love these, especially #2 and #3!

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Glad you found it useful, Tiffany! Thanks for stopping by!

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So useful, thank you! I'll be sharing this post with my flash fiction group!

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Oh wonderful! Glad you enjoyed it and are sharing, Sarah. Thanks!

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Interesting.

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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/

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That's a great title, Michael. I love your Sincere American Writing substack too. Thanks for sharing your journey and thanks for commenting here.

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Yes!!!

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Just what I needed today!!

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Glad you enjoyed, Abigail! Thanks for stopping by!

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Inadvertently got a very creepy story from this!

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Ha! Love it. Thanks for stopping by, Donna!

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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!

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I'm very happy to hear it was useful for you, Ami! Thanks for stopping by, and good luk with your novel and flash series!

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