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Ten-Second Story Ideas
By Deb Gallardo
Today’s 10-second story inspiration comes from clever titles that immediately made me ask “What’s this story about?” These titles are fun, but more importantly, they are compelling. How can you create a similarly quirky title (and story) that sets your imagination soaring and will drive people in droves to your book? Let’s look at the sources of these titles before they were so cleverly transformed.
“The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse” “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” herald the end of the world as we know it.
“The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime”
“Thursday Next: First Among Sequels (Book 5)” 
“Duncan Delaney and the Cadillac of Doom”
Notice how, in the first title, juxtaposing (I love that word) chocolate bunnies and the apocalypse makes an immediate statement. It sets the mind to wondering what chocolate bunnies have to do with the end of the world.
In the 2nd title, we know from the outset that this is probably about Humpty Dumpty, but that he didn’t just fall. He was murdered.
With the 3rd title, even if you aren’t familiar with this delightful series, you can tell it has something to do with books and politicians vying for position.
Finally, the last title just jumped out at me with its Cadillac of Doom phrasing. I have no idea what this story is about, but I can brainstorm about cars of doom for quite awhile. Or ask:
- What if the Cadillac is a portal into another dimension?
- What if the trunk of an abandoned Cadillac is the entrance to a secret underground facility?
- What if the Cadillac is haunted by the ghost of a girl who spent 10 minutes of adolescent passion in its backseat, never to hear from the boy again so she kills herself?
- What if the Cadillac curses its owner with too much good luck?
Set your imagination free!
You can buy any of these books through my links at Amazon if they pique your curiosity as much as they did mine! I may go broke buying books…
Note, if you purchase through my affiliate links, I may receive a small commission. See my Material Connections page for more information.
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- Psychology of Writing – Procrastination & Perfectionism
- Story Ideas – You Need Something to Say
- Story Ideas – Donna McDine Virtual Book Tour
1 Comment »
March 25th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Love the idea of finding story ideas from wacky titles. Powell’s Books, here in Portland, always has a display in its front window of books with crazy titles. Many of them are old. Next time I’m there I’m going to stop and write some down for future ideas!