Often a title will declare itself as I work. But I also keep a list. I jot down stuff as it occurs to me, then flip through the pile from time to time, see if anything in my experience can be recalled by the title or worked to fit it. I have hundreds. Here are a few: "Selections from the Disaster Songbook"; "Apocalypse Pretty Soon"; "An …
Often a title will declare itself as I work. But I also keep a list. I jot down stuff as it occurs to me, then flip through the pile from time to time, see if anything in my experience can be recalled by the title or worked to fit it. I have hundreds. Here are a few: "Selections from the Disaster Songbook"; "Apocalypse Pretty Soon"; "An Incomplete History of the Future"; "Are We Related?"; "Little Republicans"; and "The School of Fine Hearts". If nothing comes, it goes back in the pile for next time.
Not sure, but seems similar to what I do: keep a list of titles, mostly non-fiction, that have popped into my head at odd moments, and wait patiently—sometimes years—for me to add the body. “In the Keeping of Men: An Inescapable Condition of Woman” (inspired by John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing”), “The Short Life of Long-Term Memorization: Cram It In While You Can,” “From Poor to Middling: the Joys of Reaching Mediocrity,” “The Illusion of Ownership,” “Gathering in the Dark: Why Movie-going Endures.”
Fun, Roseanne! Always love a play on words, so always love a play on other titles. :) A recent personal favorite, for the play on words, Machines Like Me (Ian McEwan).
Often a title will declare itself as I work. But I also keep a list. I jot down stuff as it occurs to me, then flip through the pile from time to time, see if anything in my experience can be recalled by the title or worked to fit it. I have hundreds. Here are a few: "Selections from the Disaster Songbook"; "Apocalypse Pretty Soon"; "An Incomplete History of the Future"; "Are We Related?"; "Little Republicans"; and "The School of Fine Hearts". If nothing comes, it goes back in the pile for next time.
Not sure, but seems similar to what I do: keep a list of titles, mostly non-fiction, that have popped into my head at odd moments, and wait patiently—sometimes years—for me to add the body. “In the Keeping of Men: An Inescapable Condition of Woman” (inspired by John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing”), “The Short Life of Long-Term Memorization: Cram It In While You Can,” “From Poor to Middling: the Joys of Reaching Mediocrity,” “The Illusion of Ownership,” “Gathering in the Dark: Why Movie-going Endures.”
I would read any of those!
Fun, Roseanne! Always love a play on words, so always love a play on other titles. :) A recent personal favorite, for the play on words, Machines Like Me (Ian McEwan).