Picking a title

[designatedvictim]

Which is in ... ???

Exactly. I just wasn't sure if the reference was deliberate.

My bad.

Sorry, FIH.

 

[iwatchus]

I rarely start something without a title from the get-go.

Sometimes I have a title that drives it. But usually I have a working title, that sometimes gets used. To me, I want the story to name itself.

I have helped a writer here name two of her recent (finished stories) by picking a phrase out of the story.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Just another way to hook'em and reel'em in.

Give'em some words they'll recognize and take note of. 'Hey, this might be interesting!'

Me and You and a Dog Named Boo combined with another well known line ... a girl in a flat bed Ford slowing down to take a look at me. OK, so you mentioned three people and instead of a dog, nickname one of the characters Boo.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

That's... actually a pretty good thought.

I think I'm gonna stick with the current Jo, for Jolene.

While I love the use of Arizona as a name, calling her 'Az' for the whole story might be pushing things.

Might just keep that in my back pocket for the future, though.

Call her Ari

 

[Erozetta]

I've tried to do the porny title thing, but I can't. It makes me cringe. I also loathe titles that are just explicitly stating what the story is about.

I'm much more likely to read a somewhat artsy title than a porn title.

Many of my titles were the working title and it just worked and stuck. Most of my working titles are the titles of songs that have a similar vibe to the story. (Carless Whispers, Lyin' Eyes, Devil's Dance Floor, Dream a Little Dream of Me, Tainted Love, She Don't Want the World, Cranky Moon, How Villains are Made, You put a Spell on Me, Dancing in a Daydream, Bury a friend, I'll Stand by You, Lips of a Witch, etc.)

Some are based on a line in a song (For Some Reason, I Think of Home.)

Some are stupid alliteration that I liked.

They aren't trying to be artsy, they just suit the story in the same way I would title a mainstream novel. Part of the reason for that is I started writing erotica as a way to hone my writing skills around emotion and sensuality because I wanted to write novels that focused on the intimacy of a situation for those involved rather than the situation itself. I didn't want to write murder mysteries, I wanted to write stories about how people recover from the trauma of being caught up in a false accusation of murder, or delve into the mind of the murderer to see why they did what they did. The mystery itself is background noise to me. The interesting part is the people and how they have this big thing happen in their lives and what happens after..

 

[Statius]

That's... actually a pretty good thought.

I think I'm gonna stick with the current Jo, for Jolene.

While I love the use of Arizona as a name, calling her 'Az' for the whole story might be pushing things.

Might just keep that in my back pocket for the future, though.

Did she take Dolly's man?

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Did she take Dolly's man?

 

[OralAllOver]

Graduate gets schooled by sister

 

[Statius]

View attachment 2579599

Kinda always wondered that myself, actually

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Kinda always wondered that myself, actually

And she was already 36 when they made that movie!

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Jolene was Trans and packing a little extra, obviously.

 

[Statius]

And she was already 36 when they made that movie!

Can't imagine her hubby was actually tempted away but I don't know the actual story. Only that some woman was flirting with her husband.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Can't imagine her hubby was actually tempted away but I don't know the actual story. Only that some woman was flirting with her husband.

From the interweb of stuff, so it must be true...

Dolly Parton's song "Jolene" was inspired by a real-life situation where a flirtatious bank teller paid too much attention to her husband, Carl Dean, and the name "Jolene" came from a fan Parton met at a concert. Parton combined the name from the fan with the plot inspired by the bank teller to create the famous song about pleading with another woman not to take her man

 

[Statius]

From the interweb of stuff, so it must be true...

Dolly Parton's song "Jolene" was inspired by a real-life situation where a flirtatious bank teller paid too much attention to her husband, Carl Dean, and the name "Jolene" came from a fan Parton met at a concert. Parton combined the name from the fan with the plot inspired by the bank teller to create the famous song about pleading with another woman not to take her man

I mean I knew that part, but come on, he couldn't have been tempted, right? Right?!

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I mean I knew that part, but come on, he couldn't have been tempted, right? Right?!

I met Dolly backstage at a show she did in Austin about six-hundred-and-fifty years ago(1980-ish). She was honestly the nicest person I think I've ever met. If her husband was tempted, it was at the wrong end of a gun.

 

[Statius]

Nice! I've read that a lot about her. Funny too.

 

[YmaOHyd]

From the interweb of stuff, so it must be true...

Dolly Parton's song "Jolene" was inspired by a real-life situation where a flirtatious bank teller paid too much attention to her husband, Carl Dean, and the name "Jolene" came from a fan Parton met at a concert. Parton combined the name from the fan with the plot inspired by the bank teller to create the famous song about pleading with another woman not to take her man

Dolly herself tells basically that story:

I wrote this song about twenty years ago about this woman down in Nashville who worked at the bank. She was tryin' to take care of my husband while I was out on the road. Well that didn't go over too big with me. I fought that red-headed woman like a wildcat. She jerked my wig off and almost beat me to death with it. But I kept my husband. I got that sucker home and I beat the tar outta him. ... So here we go with the pitiful story of Jolene.

 

[designatedvictim]

Please tell me her beauty is beyond compare / with flaming locks of auburn hair / with ivory skin and eyes of emerald green.

After reading all the follow-up messages regarding Dolly, I have to add while I did, kind of have the name in mind from the song, I had zero recollection of the brazen hussy.

I can't remember the last time I ever heard it. Something may have stuck with me, internally.

Having said that, I don't recall any of the lyrics (I just looked them up, though), so my 'red highlights' in her hair was actually just my own personal thing, my own Kryptonite, where it comes to women.

I may just have to have the roommate make some sort of tongue-in-cheek 'hussy' comment along those lines to her in the story.

I haven't described the sister in too much physical detail. 5' 5"-ish, fairly slim, smaller than average bust, brown hair with red highlights. I specifically did not use the term auburn, although it applies, due to the MMC's internal dialog mentioning that he has been known to imagine seeing it on girls who really don't have such highlights. He's been known to delude himself on the subject.