Yesterday I dropped in on Winston Roberts (aka Kenny Norris)’s blog for a chat about story titles. I met Kenny at a workshop I did a while back and the titling of stories was something I briefly covered, and as he says it’s a subject that doesn’t always get much attention. Odd thing, titles, sometimes they can be so important and sometimes almost a throwaway thing. I’ve been reading Raymond Carver lately and I’ve noticed that a lot of his stories tend to have titles that pick up on apparently insignificant details and amplify them. Although it’s interesting that even he (or perhaps Gordon Lish?) didn’t always have the confidence in the reader to go hunting – “The Bridle”, for example, ends with a rather blatant bit of additional signposting.
In fact, yesterday was quite busy because I also had a live chat with Danny Smith on Radio Verulam (even if, strictly speaking, I’m not entirely local any more – but keep that between you and me, OK?). We chatted about “Dot Dash”, how it came about and the vexed question of how to go about getting those ideas bouncing around in your head down onto paper.
Last but not least, the estimable Scott Pack has put up a truly magnificent review of the first two stories in “Dot Dash” on his Me and My Short Stories blog. As you may imagine, this last paragraph is going straight into my publicity materials:
It would be easy to devour this book, this collection of dots and dashes, in one or two sittings but I am trying to eke it out for as long as I can. It has all the makings of a bit of a modern classic.
Wow.
It is a great review, and well deserved. I really enjoyed “rZr and Napoleon” when I read it in the Bristol antho.
I’m having to wait to read the rest of the dots and dashes as I’ve ordered the book from an indie bookshop that’s nowhere near where I live. Won’t be too long before I can get over there and pick it up, I hope.
Thanks, Dan! Hope it’s worth the wait 🙂