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, 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!!
Inadvertently got a very creepy story from this!