Title Schmitle
You’re probably asking yourself “what the f*ck” is this post about? I use the above post title to make a point. As you begin your chaotic path toward short story greatness, keep in mind that there’s more than one way to write a story. Sometimes, the best way is to simply come up with a messed-up title.
“Her Majesty’s Poltergeists” was a screenplay that a buddy of mine and I worked on about . . . 10 years back. He thought up this beautiful title but then gave me a plot that was so weird, so borderline Monty Python, that common courtesy prevents me from mentioning it on this blog.
But the title was so good that I wrote a screenplay around it. It was violent, funny, British, and had ghosts in it. A big difference between writing a short story and a 120-plus-page screenplay is that the short story’s a lot easier to do.
So, whenever you’re stuck for a short story idea, don’t always try to construct a plot in your head. Think of a messed-up title instead. In fact, think of a few and scribble them down somewhere. Hell, make a list of them and pick one. Then write a story around it.
IT CAN BE DONE. Think of “Machete”, wherein (movie god) Robert Rodriguez wrote a full-length movie around a fake trailer.
Now, I double-dog-dare someone (anyone) to write a short story around any 10 of the titles below. I just went to my day job and kept a piece of scrap paper nearby. By the end of the day, I had a healthy list of titles in my head (try it, this might work for you).
10 Titles
1. Party Cam
2. Love’s For Other People
3. A Soul For A Soul
4. Ghost Pimp (I finally wrote this one!)
5. Beauford The Ninja
6. Santa, version 12.0
7. My Kid The Rap Star
8. The Zombie Games
9. Samurai Nun
10. Why I Married A Dragon
You can write any genre you want – from a love story to horror to sci-fi. Don’t worry about length either. Just wrap your mind around the title and see what shakes loose. For copyright reasons, I don’t wanna see it. But if you want to post a one-line comment on what the story was about, I’d appreciate it.
“Her Majesty’s Poltergeists” was a screenplay that a buddy of mine and I worked on about . . . 10 years back. He thought up this beautiful title but then gave me a plot that was so weird, so borderline Monty Python, that common courtesy prevents me from mentioning it on this blog.
But the title was so good that I wrote a screenplay around it. It was violent, funny, British, and had ghosts in it. A big difference between writing a short story and a 120-plus-page screenplay is that the short story’s a lot easier to do.
So, whenever you’re stuck for a short story idea, don’t always try to construct a plot in your head. Think of a messed-up title instead. In fact, think of a few and scribble them down somewhere. Hell, make a list of them and pick one. Then write a story around it.
IT CAN BE DONE. Think of “Machete”, wherein (movie god) Robert Rodriguez wrote a full-length movie around a fake trailer.
Now, I double-dog-dare someone (anyone) to write a short story around any 10 of the titles below. I just went to my day job and kept a piece of scrap paper nearby. By the end of the day, I had a healthy list of titles in my head (try it, this might work for you).
10 Titles
1. Party Cam
2. Love’s For Other People
3. A Soul For A Soul
4. Ghost Pimp (I finally wrote this one!)
5. Beauford The Ninja
6. Santa, version 12.0
7. My Kid The Rap Star
8. The Zombie Games
9. Samurai Nun
10. Why I Married A Dragon
You can write any genre you want – from a love story to horror to sci-fi. Don’t worry about length either. Just wrap your mind around the title and see what shakes loose. For copyright reasons, I don’t wanna see it. But if you want to post a one-line comment on what the story was about, I’d appreciate it.
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