The Secret to Writing Great Headlines for News Stories

The Secret to Writing Great Headlines for News Stories Youve edited a news story for grammar, AP Style, content and so on, and are laying it out on the page, or about to upload it to your website. Now comes one of the most interesting, challenging and important parts of the editing process: writing a headline. Writing great headlines is an art. You can bang out the most interesting article ever written, but if it doesnt have an attention-grabbing headline, its likely to be passed over. Whether youre at a newspaper, news website, or blog, a great headline (or hed) will always get more eyeballs scanning your copy. A Challenging Endeavor The challenge is to write a head thats as compelling, catchy and detailed as possible, using as few words as possible. Headlines, after all, have to fit the space theyre given on the page. Headline size is determined by three parameters: the width, defined by the number of columns the hed will have; the depth, the meaning is the head one line or two (known by editors as a single deck or a double deck;) and the font size. Headlines can run anywhere from something small - say 18 point -Â  all the way up to banner front-page heds that can be 72 points or bigger. So if your head is designated as a 36 point three-column double-decker, you know it will be in a 36 point font, running across three columns and with two lines. Obviously, there are many different kinds of fonts; Times New Roman is one of the fonts most commonly used in newspapers, but thats something each individual paper or website decides on. So if youre assigned to write a five-column, two-line, 28 point double-deck hed, you know youre going to have a lot more room to work with that if youre given a two-column, one-line hed in a 36 point font. Whatever the length, the headline should be the best one possible within the space allotted. Unlike newspaper pages, stories on websites can, in theory at least, be much longer, since space is less of a consideration. No one wants to read a headline that goes on forever, and website headlines need to be just as catchy as ones in print. Indeed, headline writers for websites use Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, to try to get more people to view their content. Here are some headline-writing tips to follow: Be Accurate This is most important. A headline should entice readers but it shouldnt oversell or distort what the story is about. Always stay true to the spirit and meaning of the article. Keep It Short This seems obvious; headlines are by nature short. But when space limitations arent a consideration (as on a blog, for instance) writers sometimes get verbose with their heads. Shorter is better. Fill the Space If youre writing a headline to fill a specific space in a newspaper, avoid leaving too much empty space (what editors call white space) at the end of the head. Always fill the specified space as best you can. Dont Repeat the Lede The headline, like the lede, should focus on the main point of the story. But if the head and the lede are too similar the lede will become redundant. Try to use slightly different wording in the headline. Be Direct Headlines arent the place to be obscure; a direct, straightforward headline gets your point across more effectively. Use Active Voice Remember the Subject-Verb-Object formula from news writing? Thats also the best model for headlines. Start with your subject, write in the active voice, and your headline will convey more information using fewer words. Write in Present Tense Even if most news stories are written in the past tense, headlines should almost always use the present tense. Avoid Bad Breaks A bad break is when a hed with more than one line splits a prepositional phrase, an adjective, and noun, an adverb and verb, or a proper name. Example: Obama hosts WhiteHouse dinner Obviously, White House should not be split from the first line to the second. Heres a better way to do it: Obama hosts dinnerat the White House Make Your Headline Appropriate to the Story A humorous headline may work with a lighthearted story, but it most definitely wouldnt be appropriate for an article about someone being murdered. The tone of the headline should match the tone of the story. Know Where to Capitalize Always capitalize the first word of the headline and any proper names. Dont capitalize every word unless thats the style of your particular publication.