Top Ten Most Common Short Story Names

[Ophiucha]

Just read a blog post from the head editor at Clarkesworld Magazine, Top Ten Most Common Short Story Names.

I just noticed that we crossed the 50,000 point in our submissions system sometime in the last month. I thought it might be fun to do a quick analysis of the most popular story titles in that pile. Here’s the results:

1st Place — 18
Dust

2nd Place — 16
The Gift, Home, Hunger, Homecoming

3rd Place — 15
The Box

4th Place — 14
Monsters

5th Place — 13
Lost and Found

6th Place — 12
Sacrifice, The Hunt, Flight

7th Place — 11
Heartless, The End, Alone, Legacy, Adrift

8th Place — 10
Red, Reflections, The Visit, Broken

9th Place — 9
The Other Side, Rebirth, Voices, Genesis, Awakening, The Collector, Disconnected, The Wall, The Prisoner, Deus Ex Machina, Hero, Skin Deep, Memories, Skin

10th Place — 8
The Machine, The Tower, Coming Home, Rain, Going Home, The Dark, Inheritance, The Door, The Choice, Happiness, Perchance to Dream, Last Call, The Fall, Night Terrors

There are some great stories, novels or otherwise, published with these names, so I don't think the simplicity or cliché of a title is damning on its own -- but it's interesting to know. And Dust doesn't surprise me at all. I can name a few things from the past couple of years that have that title...

 

[Penpilot]

Well slap me silly. Hahha... I wrote a story titled Dust a bunch of years back.

 

[Tom]

I've used Homecoming and Flight before...

I think the appeal of these titles lies in their simplicity. They're short, they have impact, and they can be applied to a broad range of themes and plots.

 

[Incanus]

Interesting list, thanks for sharing this.

Can't say whether its good or bad, but I haven't used any of these. However, I do have a couple that seem to be in the ballpark:

The Stream
The Draw