This one is so damn easy.
And yet, so damn hard.
See, coming up with the new and proper titles for stories is a difficult act, sometimes — you either have the title going in (which makes it easy), or you need to think of a title for a story, and that’s when (for me, at least) it gets hella hard. Thinking of a title for a pre-existing story is the one time when I really get vaporlock in my writing. I just sit there, stammering. “THE… THING ABOUT THE STUFF. THE… THE NIGHT THE EVENT HAPPENED. THE HAPPENING. THE STUFFENING. THE SWORD OF THE NIGHT OF THE REVENGE OF THE RABBIT OH GOD THIS BOOK DOESN’T HAVE SWORDS OR RABBITS AND BARELY ANY REVENGE AT ALL.”
I’m not good at titles.
Ray Bradbury was famous for making up a list of titles and then writing stories to match those titles. And that’s a little bit of what we’re going to do here, today.
All I want you to do is come up with a title.
One title.
No more.
Then take that title and plop it into the comments below.
Next week, you will all have a chance to scout out the completed list of titles in the comments and write a story geared toward one of those made-up titles (one you did not yourself invent).
That’s it. That’s all. Easy, and yet, difficult.
GET THEE TO THE TITLEMOBILE
Johan says:
The Church at the Bottom of the Lake
September 20, 2015 — 7:04 AM
Janet Vandenabeele says:
Fair warning, I’m already taking this one!
September 24, 2015 — 9:40 AM
Janet Vandenabeele says:
So sorry, I was not able to finish this on time. But I won’t let it go.
October 2, 2015 — 11:16 AM
writerchick says:
Banjo and the Worm Hole
September 20, 2015 — 8:42 AM
Lani says:
The Lost War
September 20, 2015 — 9:20 AM
caseinmicelles says:
Clickbait and Sinker
September 20, 2015 — 10:17 AM
JAHaigh says:
Love it!
September 21, 2015 — 12:22 AM
Mark says:
Hateful Freeform Cops
September 20, 2015 — 10:50 AM
kimberleycooperblog says:
Don’t Play It, Sam
September 20, 2015 — 11:29 AM
christine says:
The Legend of Bobby Winters
September 20, 2015 — 12:33 PM
anonymous says:
Get Chuck Wendig to the Titlemobile
… *bah-dum-psh*
Okay, okay, okay…
An Oral History of Book-Title War One.
September 20, 2015 — 12:42 PM
Penquillity says:
The Charge of the Fright Brigade
September 20, 2015 — 1:04 PM
caroljforrester says:
The Day We Ran Out Of Tea
September 20, 2015 — 1:40 PM
mrdugdarley says:
The Day The Kettle Boiled Backwards
September 22, 2015 — 6:07 PM
glenavailable says:
And if you listen closely, when it’s ‘played’ backwards you can pick up the tune to the Beatles Yellow Submarine.
September 23, 2015 — 8:11 AM
caroljforrester says:
Haha, I love it. 😀
September 23, 2015 — 1:26 PM
glenavailable says:
Allright, revised title – MR DASTARDLY MEETS TOURNIQUET TED AT THE PREMIERE OF JASON VS FREDDY (The Serial Killer Chronicles Volume 10).
September 20, 2015 — 3:19 PM
dante says:
they keep getting better haha
September 20, 2015 — 7:52 PM
glenavailable says:
I’ve consulted the editors of the Passive-Aggressive’s Dictionary and according to them ‘Better’ means worse.
September 20, 2015 — 10:26 PM
moteridgerider says:
The Coat.
September 20, 2015 — 4:13 PM
vla22 says:
The Day The Aardvarks Came To Town
September 20, 2015 — 4:17 PM
glenavailable says:
Just to be clear – is that the sequel or the prequel to NIGHT OF THE AARDVARKS? (word on the street is the real life creature is classified as a nocturnal mammal)
September 21, 2015 — 5:52 PM
cchrisman says:
oh that’s good
September 29, 2015 — 3:07 PM
glenavailable says:
“Revenge of the Aardvarks” – shameless band-wagon riding, critics have suggested.
September 29, 2015 — 3:13 PM
David Marks says:
Made me smile.
September 21, 2015 — 6:47 PM
dcXLI says:
Armageddon’s Children
September 20, 2015 — 4:42 PM
Lola says:
Improbable Sunday
September 20, 2015 — 6:37 PM
rhythmandcrime says:
Hey Lola, thanks for my flash fiction title!
September 25, 2015 — 11:05 PM
Lola says:
Yeah! Someone picked mine! woohoo! I pictured Sunday as a person, so I can’t wait to see what you do with this!
September 29, 2015 — 6:00 PM
Ridley Kemp says:
I wound up ganking this one as well. It wound up being very much in my wheelhouse.
October 2, 2015 — 12:53 PM
zer_netmouse says:
Rage Walks Beside Me
September 20, 2015 — 7:26 PM
Melody says:
nice! lots of possibilities 🙂
September 25, 2015 — 2:01 PM
Asheleyweeks says:
The Last Will and Testament of a Public Defender
September 20, 2015 — 7:33 PM
decayingorbits says:
The Potato Goes In Front.
September 20, 2015 — 8:34 PM
Noel says:
I don’t know what it is, but I adore it. XD
September 20, 2015 — 9:19 PM
JAHaigh says:
I agree, quality title!
September 21, 2015 — 12:24 AM
Chad R Smith says:
The Stalin Protocol
September 20, 2015 — 8:42 PM
Tim says:
Last Time, I was Dead.
September 20, 2015 — 11:09 PM
mariahavix says:
I like this one. I think I’m going to try to take it out for a spin.
(Also there are so many amazing choices here! People are good at titles!)
September 27, 2015 — 1:02 PM
cchrisman says:
i also tried this one…in progress now!
September 28, 2015 — 6:47 PM
Jana Denardo says:
Into the Woods of the Asylum
September 20, 2015 — 11:44 PM
Joy B Tobin says:
The Gospel According to Saint Cuervo
September 21, 2015 — 12:10 AM
Doug says:
I’m gonna take this one! I feel it has potential!
September 29, 2015 — 6:51 AM
glenavailable says:
Inject the ‘potent’ into potential and bake us all a mouth-watering bonne bouche! (as the French would say).
September 29, 2015 — 2:28 PM
JAHaigh says:
Dunno if my comment got lost in the never-never or if I’m repeating myself… (wouldn’t be the first time.)
My title contribution: ‘By Anchor and Asphalt’.
September 21, 2015 — 12:28 AM
Natalie says:
Armageddon or else
September 21, 2015 — 2:29 AM
writefirster says:
Stuck in a Hole
September 21, 2015 — 5:30 AM
mrdugdarley says:
Bit late but I’m going for this one. See ya on the other post sooooooon!
September 29, 2015 — 6:21 PM
writefirster says:
Awesome! Let me know how it goes and when it’s finished!
October 1, 2015 — 5:29 AM
Katherine Hetzel says:
Follow the Yellow Sick Toad
September 21, 2015 — 10:33 AM
jasonsandeman says:
Seven Ways to Skin A Wookie
September 21, 2015 — 11:06 AM
Joe Harris says:
And after a solid half an hour of browsing I’ve decided on this 🙂
September 27, 2015 — 1:40 PM
AKjeldsen says:
The Terror of Knowing
PS: Almost every single line from ‘Under Pressure’ makes for a great title.
September 21, 2015 — 11:24 AM
Janet Vandenabeele says:
That is the truth! Most of the titles I could think of were probably song lyrics.
September 22, 2015 — 12:52 PM
vivek says:
Reaper’s Quarrel
September 21, 2015 — 1:56 PM
addy says:
ohhh i might take this from you 😀
September 28, 2015 — 7:59 AM
afternoonfiller says:
Severed Dimes
September 21, 2015 — 3:26 PM
Rachel E. Bailey says:
“Radamés Basingstocke & The Chrononaut Files: All My Tomorrows Are Yesterdays.”
(Feel free to break the title in two and use only the first or the last part of it. I was feeling ambitious when I brainstormed this.)
September 21, 2015 — 4:59 PM
Johnny Rosario says:
Flatline.
September 21, 2015 — 5:39 PM
ajturnwall says:
It is Illegal to Serve Hot Sauce to a Dragon in Grenada
September 21, 2015 — 5:40 PM
Hiliary says:
The Moment Stealers
September 21, 2015 — 6:11 PM
Jacksonious says:
A World Without Tampons
September 21, 2015 — 7:51 PM
J. Grace says:
The Next Time I Die
September 21, 2015 — 9:06 PM
Ed says:
The Time of Fiends
September 22, 2015 — 5:42 AM
erimeh says:
Gold Like Your Blood
September 22, 2015 — 8:33 AM
J. Grace says:
I like this one! Working on it now.
September 27, 2015 — 1:06 PM
Emily says:
String Buildings
September 22, 2015 — 12:31 PM
Jeff says:
My Brothers Tourniquet
September 22, 2015 — 12:49 PM
Jeff says:
Banjo to the Head
Steve Martin and Jason Statham action comedy.
September 22, 2015 — 12:54 PM
Varina Suellen Plonski says:
Ohmigawd I LOVE this! It’s frightening that I can see this being done!
September 26, 2015 — 3:08 PM
Tom Byrne says:
Sideswiped By The Serendipity Sisters
September 22, 2015 — 4:55 PM
glenavailable says:
I concur. While CELCIUS 451 doesn’t have quite the same ring as Ray Bradbury’s 1953 seminal dystopian masterwork FAHRENHEIT 451, when you reside in a Southern Hemisphere country such as Australia where that is the unit of measurement for temperature, well, when in Rome right? Then again technically speaking the conversion formula to go from Fahrenheit to Celcius would dictate that the title become the even less recognisable CELCIUS 233. For grins.
September 22, 2015 — 6:02 PM
mrdugdarley says:
Title and a word that has always freaked me out…
GREETINGS
September 22, 2015 — 6:06 PM
Johnny Rosario says:
Found my title.
September 27, 2015 — 5:28 AM
writing, writing, words words words. says:
Oh god, totally agree.
September 30, 2015 — 5:42 PM
Pleasant Street says:
I Ate All The Cake
September 22, 2015 — 9:13 PM
glenavailable says:
Someone inform the main character of this story it’s apparently entirely possible, Tony Robbins style, to have your cake and eat it too.
September 23, 2015 — 6:19 AM
Alice E Keyes says:
I choose this one, Thanks
September 29, 2015 — 12:15 PM
Pleasant Street says:
Love it 🙂
September 29, 2015 — 1:06 PM
thanosrules says:
Titan is all the Rage
September 22, 2015 — 11:07 PM
Jemima Pett says:
I might go for this – it’s a choice or you or…
September 27, 2015 — 7:09 AM
Jemima Pett says:
… or doing it later! http://jemimapett.com/blog/2015/11/27/friday-flash-fiction-titan-is-all-the-rage/
December 3, 2015 — 5:37 AM
lengray says:
‘The Spaces Between’
September 23, 2015 — 12:00 AM
glenavailable says:
Oh yeah!
September 23, 2015 — 6:29 AM
S.C Kross says:
Dahlia’s Doorstep
September 23, 2015 — 2:12 AM
glenavailable says:
Someone soon’s gonna ride this log over the “400 Comments” Falls and I hope they have fun doin’ it!
September 23, 2015 — 6:52 AM
Carlos Matthews Hernandez says:
A Dollar A Malice
September 23, 2015 — 12:08 PM