Stop Doing This
Stop titling your stories, “What We _____ About When We _____ About ______.”
Seriously, stop it.
This is the literary equivalent of putting a bird on it. (If you don’t get that reference, please stop what you’re doing and go catch up with this joke. Ok. Thanks. Hi.) Using the “What We ______ About When We ______ About ______” title is no longer even an homage to Carver’s story and story collection, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. I don’t know what anyone is even trying to accomplish by re-using that title anymore. If I was still reading slush for a magazine I would automatically delete any entries with this kind of title. All a title like that says to me is this piece was written by a lazy pseudo-hipster.
People…people do that?
I feel like I should get some sort of credit for inspiring this post.
talk talk lie lie impress impress how cool am i?
these are lyrics from a song from my friend’s band. Title: What We Talk About When We Talk About What We Talk About.
Oh man, I didn’t know what you were talking about until I read some of the comments on Blake’s post. I actually had this in the drafts yesterday (weird) but yeah, MF, stop doing that.
Is it time for hate week yet or what
LOL! That’s crazy.
What People Do When They Do What They Do
Wait, is there a lot of published stuff like this? The only one I know of is the Murakami book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
That’s the only one I know of, too. And isn’t there a lit blog with a title that plays on this?
It baffles me that this is such a widespread problem.
when something is published that only means that it’s published.
it’s still a dumb title.
All jokes aside, it doesn’t seem as common for books, but you do see at times in individually published stories.
I see it sometimes in slush, but mostly variations, like:
“When We ________” [milk the cow together]
“We Do ___________” [the dishes]
“What We ____________” [want/love/hate/eat, etc.]
All jokes aside, it doesn’t seem as common for books, but you do see at times in individually published stories.
I see it sometimes in slush, but mostly variations, like:
“When We ________” [milk the cow together]
“We Do ___________” [the dishes]
“What We ____________” [want/love/hate/eat, etc.]
What about the 2nd person POV “how to” story? Just read a couple of those in the new Fugue. Really? I mean can we include that here?
Good call.
Those are so annoying.
Good call.
Those are so annoying.
shit. better stop writing that story, then.
What We Stamp Our Feet At When We Stamp Our Feet At Copycat Titles
Is there an online database of used up titles for things? Or can one be compiled? I would love it if I never saw anything else with the title “The Secret Life of _____” or even just “The ___ Life of ___” is enough to turn me off entirely.
There’s also “The Girl in ____” and her sisters, “The Girl With ___” and the “The Girl Who ____”
The ____’s Daughter
The ____’s Wife
The ____’s Husband
The ____’s Son (this one is rare)
not exactly the same but strongly reminds me of these: http://snowclones.org/
so what titles does everyone actually like? i think “my loose thread” gets my vote
how about any story that titled “How To ______”
those stories never actually teach me any new skills.
THE TITANIC QUEER’S SON
WHAT WE RAP ABOUT WHEN WE RAP ABOUT GUNS
what we talk shit about when we talk shit about talking shit.
The hipsters are now hating on the pseudo-hipsters. Awesome.
How to Chunder
What We Talk About When We Talk About When We Talk About ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love’
dubya dubya dubya bee
I always thought Carver got this from Augustine, who asked, “what do I love when I love my God?”
sorry to get overly serious in the thread but man do you remember getting woke up by that story? i do. so i guess i can excuse the want to give it its propers.
Damn, there goes the title of my new novel.
cringe
Also in need of a moratorium: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a _____.
Mostly journalists are guilty that one. Just as “What We…” isn’t homage to Carver anymore, 13…. no longer has anything to do with Wallace Stevens.
SUICIDE by Edouard Leve is in the 2nd person. You should check it out.
Also, online ‘How To Be Alone’ by Megan Boyle does something new with POV
I
Well, that’s one perspective.
“Will You Please Be Quiet Please”
That wasn’t intended for you, deaders, sorry.
Straight Outta Somewhere Beastly So Run Like Fuck, Pussy
my bad, but I don’t – apologies – think you’re really ‘sorry’ (no offense)
I rilly wish we hadn’t had to have this talk
It was meant for the general Carver-Title-thought comment-thread, deaders, I accidentally replied to yours, the bottom comment at the time.
I also wish we hadn’t had to have this talk.
But now that we have had this talk, I’m glad that we have had this talk.
Thanks.
that is the little talk we have when we have a little talk about the little talk we have when we have a little talk
(you owe me an apology for not realizing that I was making a joke about apologizing for the joke we make when we joke about apologizing)
Will You Please Forgive Me Please?
You mean the girl in the flammable skirt with curious hair, the dragon tattoo, & a pearl earring who kicked the hornets’ nest, could fly, disappeared twice, loved Tom Gordon, and circumnavigated fairyland in a ship of her own making?
I met her, she’s a bitch.
And, for pictures: “What I look like when I wanna look like I’m _________.”