I'm going through my short stories in an attempt to put my first collection together. I have a total of 18 stories I feel like I could use. Those are the stories that I feel good about and/or have been previously published in the magazines and journals. I'm having some trouble figuring out the order. I've read lots of short story collections and done an MFA thesis that was basically a mini collection, but I'm still a little on just how to piece all this together. What are your thoughts on story order? What sort of things should be taken into consideration here? Also, I'm kind of used to seeing the title come from the title of one of the stories. That's not always the case, but it seems fairly common. What are your thoughts on that? And should it be the title of the best story or the story with the best title? I'm open to other suggestions. Thanks in advance for any insight you can share.
I'd chose the best title, or the one that best describes the theme of the stories, assuming the stories have a theme.
I tend not to really think about themes. I think a lot of the time aiming for any sort of theme can trip a writer up and/or interfere with clarity. I guess since all the stories are done it might be easier to connect themes, but I'm not really sure what that would do for me when it comes to titling the collection. I asked my lover which story title would be best for my collection. Picked one I hadn't even thought about, but the title for that one is catchy and it's also the title of what is probably my best story. I will be completely fine if the publisher wants a different title than whatever I label it. I feel like choosing a title should be more fun than it is.
Over all, I agree with you. Still, themed short story collections seem to be popular, and it's just another approach to naming.
The title should be the hook, the reason to pick up, the reason to read the back cover. The first step is selling the work, the second is making it live up to the reader's expectations.
