When a person picks up a magazine or newspaper, he first pays attention to the headlines and photographs on the page. And only then, if something interests him, does he proceed to examine the material in more detail. So a good article title is at least half the battle.
But how do you come up with an effective headline for an essay?
The art of writing a headline is not taught anywhere. And not all, even professional
journalists, know how to do it. Therefore, the solution to this important task in many editorial offices entrusted to the shoulders or editors, or special people with the appropriate talents.
But a good headline is always and everywhere catastrophically lacking.
Meanwhile, giving away a dozen decent titles for your article is not that difficult. For this - nothing - you need to understand the rules by which they are constructed.
But do not be alarmed!
Techniques for creating good headlines, too, not so much.
But first define the main task, which is intended to solve the title.
First and foremost is to attract the attention of the reader.
The name of the article, like a hook, must lure people, prompting him to swallow the dish you cooked, that's called - in one sitting. Preferably, without chewing.
It is also not bad if the subject of the conversation will be roughly defined. After all, it makes little sense, for example, to force the housewife to read an article about football. In any case, she will spit as soon as she understands what it is all about. True, the latter is true only of the print media.
The situation is different in Internet journalism, where the majesty of the "click" reigns supreme. Here one can go to all lengths.
Tricky headline itself is able to provide a constant influx of visitors to your page, even if the relevant article does not exist in nature.
But let's cut to the chase.
Analysis of various ranking publications suggests that there are a number of techniques to get consistently good results at this stage of creativity.
Consider them in order.
1. Straightforward headline.
- "Obama elected President of the United States"
- "Nevsky Express blown up again"
- "How do we protect ourselves from bird flu?"
- "Chinese are twice as likely to die from lightning"
- "Faulty gramophone causes domestic murder"
- "Traffic cop eats bribe in front of takedown team"
Such headlines capture the essence of the proposed article in the briefest form possible. They only work if the event is sensational or unusual enough to excite the interest of a wide range of readers. If you have written such a story, there is no need to get clever. A straightforward headline is the best you can do in this situation.
