Looking for a story idea? Here are a few titles that just might get you started.

• Say Bagels and Laugh
• The Book of Unhappy Endings



• Dumped by Paris

So write that novel—but what’s the plot? Share your craziest idea for a book with any of the above titles in the comments!

Photo by Georg Mayer

I have the hardest time coming up with titles for my works. I usually don’t settle on a title I like before the fourth draft. But I know some writers actually start there. Are you looking for a story idea? Here are a few titles that just might get you started.

• Ninja in Airwalks (or more generically, Sneakers)
• Pickled Justice
• A Faithful Lie

So write that novel—but what’s the plot? Share your craziest idea for a book with any of the above titles in the comments!

Photo credit: typofi

And now, we interrupt the blog series on deep POV for something completely different.

If Hemingway were alive today, he’d probably sue me for this. But he’ll have to be content to roll over in his grave.

Ernest Hemingway is often hailed as the greatest writer of the 20th century. My favorite story of his [supposedly] was allegedly the product of a $10 bar bet to write a story in six words:

For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

For me, no matter how many times I hear this story, it never fails to evoke an emotional response. That’s some powerful flash fiction. It has inspired several anthologies of flash fiction, including Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure, Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak: by Writers Famous and Obscure and I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure.

But today I was thinking: what if Hemingway were alive today, in the age of the Internet? What would his poignant ad look like on, say . . . eBay?

Technically, I believe that’s still only one word . . .

How would Hemingway’s story look on craigslist? A local classifieds site? What should my other five words be?