diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 92351f0..50a57b0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -180,6 +180,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "lazy_static",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "deunicode"
+version = "0.4.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "850878694b7933ca4c9569d30a34b55031b9b139ee1fc7b94a527c4ef960d690"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "difference"
 version = "2.0.0"
@@ -194,6 +200,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "color-eyre",
  "directories",
  "edit",
+ "rprompt",
+ "slug",
  "structopt",
 ]
 
@@ -512,6 +520,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rprompt"
+version = "1.0.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b386f4748bdae2aefc96857f5fda07647f851d089420e577831e2a14b45230f8"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rust-argon2"
 version = "0.8.3"
@@ -607,6 +621,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "loom",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "slug"
+version = "0.1.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b3bc762e6a4b6c6fcaade73e77f9ebc6991b676f88bb2358bddb56560f073373"
+dependencies = [
+ "deunicode",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "strsim"
 version = "0.8.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index a5054eb..76caa8e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ path = "src/main.rs"
 color-eyre = "0.5.10"
 directories = "3.0.1"
 edit = "0.1.2"
+rprompt = "1.0.5"
+slug = "0.1.4"
 structopt = "0.3.21"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
diff --git a/src/write.rs b/src/write.rs
index 46efbfa..e1885de 100644
--- a/src/write.rs
+++ b/src/write.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,49 @@ pub fn write(garden_path: PathBuf, title: Option<String>) -> Result<()> {
             .map(|maybe_line| maybe_line.trim_start_matches("# ").to_string())
     });
 
-    dbg!(contents, document_title);
+    // get the filename to use for the file
+    let filename = match document_title {
+        Some(raw_title) => confirm_filename(&raw_title),
+        None => ask_for_filename(),
+    }?;
+
+    dbg!(contents, filename);
     todo!()
 }
+
+fn ask_for_filename() -> Result<String> {
+    rprompt::prompt_reply_stderr(
+        "\
+Enter filename
+> ",
+    )
+    .wrap_err("Failed to get filename")
+    .map(|title| slug::slugify(title))
+}
+
+fn confirm_filename(raw_title: &str) -> Result<String> {
+    loop {
+        // prompt defaults to uppercase character in question
+        // this is a convention, not a requirement enforced by
+        // the code
+        let result = rprompt::prompt_reply_stderr(&format!(
+            "\
+current title: `{}`
+Do you want a different title? (y/N): ",
+            raw_title,
+        ))
+        .wrap_err("Failed to get input for y/n question")?;
+
+        match result.as_str() {
+            "y" | "Y" => break ask_for_filename(),
+            "n" | "N" | "" => {
+                // the capital N in the prompt means "default",
+                // so we handle "" as input here
+                break Ok(slug::slugify(raw_title));
+            }
+            _ => {
+                // ask again because something went wrong
+            }
+        };
+    }
+}