Sometimes, the only thing holding up my submitting a short story is the lack of a title. Titles are not my strong suit. I can much more easily come up with a clever quip or a plot twist.
Necessity being the mother of invention, I always manage something. My favorite is “The Grift of the Magi,” which appears in Hook, Line, and Sinker: The Seventh Guppy Anthology. It’s about a divorcing couple squabbling over a painting of the Three Wise Men.
For
my next publication, however, the title came first.
One
day last fall I had five minutes before leaving for work. I jumped on Facebook
and saw a post speculating about an anthology inspired by the music of
Aerosmith. I commented that I would love to be a part of it, and about a minute
later the original poster asked me to select a song to write about.
I
figured the competition would be fierce for one of the band’s big hits like “Dream
On” or “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing.” A quick Google search yielded a list of every
Aerosmith song. I chose “Bitch’s Brew,” thinking I could come up with a story
about a coffee shop. Then I left for work, with a minute to spare.
Almost
immediately, the anthology found a publisher and I was at work on my story,
which needed to reflect my chosen song in a recognizable way. That’s when I
discovered just how terrible a song I had selected. The music is bad. The
lyrics are worse. The only thing going for it is the title.
I stuck with my idea of a coffee shop. It’s run by a woman who deliberately opened her business next door to the garden shop owned by the woman her husband dumped her for. I enjoyed the challenge of incorporating some of the song’s lyrics, and what little theme it has. I won’t go so far as to call myself a rock star, but in this instance, I think I give Aerosmith a run for their money. Readers can weigh in when the anthology, Janie’s Got a Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith, releases on November 8th.
The
next story I have coming out has a title suggested by the anthology editor to
replace the one I originally submitted. I only wish he had asked sooner.
Do
you judge a story by its title? What comes first in your writing, the title or
the story idea?
Titles for me have come after the story; at least so far. The only thing I hate about titles is when they give away the story's end. Then I feel cheated. I'm slightly aggravated when the title seems to have nothing to do with the story.
ReplyDeleteFun blog! Looking forward to reading what you did with Bitch’s Brew. Hysterical. Someone once told me that if the title comes first, you’re writing a short story, but if the story comes first, it’s going to grow up to be a novel. I’ve found that to be true for the most part, but it’s not a hard and fast rule.
ReplyDeleteI love those anthologies based on a musical group. I admire people who write the stories. Although I see inspiration for stories all around me, for some reason those don't "call" to me. I wish they did. I also get paranoid about musical copyright violations--I know the rules are strict.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Mary! Titles usually come first for me for short stories and novels.
ReplyDelete