THE X FILES

by Melodie Johnson Howe

I have files and files of ideas for short stories on my computer. I knew I should organize them, say, like my closet. So I decided to sit down and go through them and clean out what I don’t need and keep what I do.

I discovered there is no file that contains a list of ideas per se. Each file is a title and the rest is blank. My titles are my ideas. If I write out an idea it immediately seems trite to me and I lose the sense of urgency to write the story The title is heading an empty page waiting for me to begin. A list is something I never get around too.

Other files contain complete short stories with their working titles, which are not the ones they were published under. Since I also have those files, I should delete these old ones. But I can’t. Because they show me how important a good title is. “A Right to Privacy” became “A Hollywood Ending,” which was nominated for a Barry last year. As much as I liked the irony in the original title, it sounded more like an essay or a polemic.

“Not Love” (yuck) ended up being “The Talking Dead.” There is no way I would have started with that title because it came from a character midway through the story. When he spoke those words I knew I had a great title.

I came across a file called “Silver Mink.” What is that? I opened it and a short story I wrote for a Malice Domestic Anthology years ago filled my screen. It ended up being called “Acting Tips.” I remembered that it wasn’t until I framed the story by having the mink-clad narrator give acting tips while she goes about committing a murder that the title was changed.

“Sweet Sixteen” became “The Good Daughter.” The new title was sadder, more ironic and captured the theme of the story better than the original, which was too gooey for me. I decided not to delete these old files. Leaving them the way they were reminds me of the journey I have taken as a writer.

I discovered there were some journeys I didn’t complete. When I clicked on “Please Hold For . . . ” I found a great opening paragraph and then nothing more. I don’t know who was on hold or whom they were holding for, but I’ll eventually find out. When I opened “Poor Horse” (a terrible title) I was stunned to discover a completed short story. It needs a good rewrite, but it’s all there. Why did I abandon it? Maybe I grew to hate it because I couldn’t make it work. But something stirred inside of me when I began to read it again. I know I’ll finish this story and give it a better title.

“The Petrified Blonde” file turns out be another good opening and that’s all. Good openings do not always mean you have a story. Obviously they’re a start, but they don’t guarantee that you have a grasp of what you want to write. At least not yet.

As with my closet, I ended up not deleting anything. I could organize my files better, but I don’t have the time. I have unfinished short stories to complete.