Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Titles From Quotes or Old Sayings

This is topic Titles From Quotes or Old Sayings in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :

I gave up on the cuss word phrase for my WotF story and came up with the latter part of an old saying that I think works quite well. My problem is how to make it gramatically correct. Here's an example using another old saying so I don't reveal my title:

"...Keeps the Doctor Away"

Is this the way it should appear as a title instead of?:

Keeps the Doctor Away

Almost anyone would know that the first part is "An Apple a Day"

Like I said; this isn't my title. I'm using something else, but the principle is the same.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

You don't need quote marks or ellipses when you use a known phrase as a title. Just use the phrase.

In fact, you don't have to quote the phrase exactly to get the idea across. Your title could just as easily be something like

Keeping the Doctor Away

And such a title might work better, because it might "feel" more descriptive of the story.

Such titles are intended to make the reader think of the known phrase, or the story the phrase came from, or the myth or scripture or whatever, and they don't need to be exact quotes in order to do that.

Examples:

To Rule Them All

could also be Ruling Them All

or One Ring to Rule

or One Ring Ruling

or One Ring Rules

or even The Rule of One Ring (though that seems a little challenging to say--moreso than some of the others above).

Just some examples (I love those books, in case you couldn't tell).

Posted by WouldBe (Member # 5682) on :

James Patterson titles below. Once he created the Alex Cross character, he used different title stylings.

Along Came a Spider
Kiss the Girls
Jack & Jill
Cat and Mouse
Pop Goes the Weasel
Roses Are Red
Violets Are Blue
Four Blind Mice
The Big Bad Wolf
London Bridges
Mary, Mary

[This message has been edited by WouldBe (edited July 29, 2011).]

Posted by History (Member # 9213) on :

I've done this numerous ways, and I'm uncertain there is a rule that requires one specific way.

My Q4 entry has no quotes in the title which is drawn from Scripture.

My newest story in progress is a less recognizable quote and I've chosen the "...TITLE" option.

Then again, I'm not a professional author.

Respectfully,
Dr. Bob

Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :

What Kathleen said.

I'd recommend staying away from using quotation marks as part of a short story title, because you're supposed to surround a short story's title with quotation marks when referring to it. It gets complicated.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I looked it up online...the earliest cited usage, phrased slightly different, is from 1866, in Wales.

Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :

I like Keeps the Doctor Away, as a title. I don't think quotations or the ellipsis are appropriate.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

An example of what I mean about adapting a quote to create a title:

Just finished reading THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE, by Alan Bradley, which is an award-winning first book in a mystery series. The quote the title comes from is found inside the cover of the book:

quote:
"Unless some sweetness at the bottom lie/Who cares for all the crinkling of the pie?" William King, THE ART OF COOKERY (1708)

The title is not an exact phrase from the quotation, but it arises from the quotation, and alludes very nicely to it.

So you don't have to quote exactly to get the idea from the reference across to the readers.