The Magnificent Obsession?

 

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While stitching pieces of fabric on a Sunday afternoon, I kept tabs on a 1954 movie starring Jane Wyman and heartthrob Rock Hudson, titled Magnificent Obsession. The heartthrob enticed me to watch the movie, but the title drew me in and convinced me to follow through. I had to know what the obsession was.

     Titles of books have the same effect.

    In a recent issue of BookPage, a magazine that highlights new books across various genres, several titles reached out to me. Titles like: Everyone in the Group Chat Dies (sounds unnerving), The Bookbinder's Secret (intriguing), Two Truths and a Murder (what are the two truths?), Beth is Dead (who is Beth and how did she die?), My Husband's Wife (figure that one out), and Black Bear (I'm drawn to animals). I probably won't read any of those books, but the titles make me wonder about the characters and events that come alive on the pages.

    A clear title does one thing: it stirs my curiosity. It stirs me so much that I am willing to invest time and sometimes money in the author's story. It coaxes me into opening a book. 

    Titles, in all their simple significance, are difficult to write. I often sit staring at blank spaces, trying to come up with a decent title, as the clock ticks into forever. When I finally do come up with one, I change it. I haggle. I swap this one for that one. I make it shorter, longer, take out a word, then put the same word back in.

    When I write on Substack, creating a title causes twice the noise. Not only is there a space for a title, there is also a space for a subtitle! Most people would just turn to AI for help, but not me. I challenge myself and will continue to do so for as long as I write stories and newsletters, and I will try to keep in mind that a writer's work is not judged by its title.

    Before I finished sewing that Sunday afternoon, I discovered the magnificent obsession. It is the act of performing a kind deed under two conditions. (1) The receiver can never tell anyone about the good deed. (2) The receiver can never repay the good deed doer.

    While writing this piece, I remembered a time when I took part in a magnificent obsession without realizing it. It happened when a friend handed a gift to me and said, "I'm giving this to you, but you can never tell anyone." I accepted the gift and understood the stipulation, and to this day, I have upheld my promise. 

    Coming up with cute, catchy titles and subtitles can be frustrating, but being a super-duper secret keeper is easy. It's my magnificent obsession.

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