The Art of Good Headline Writing

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The Art of Good Headline Writing
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(No Transcript)
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Headline Writing as an ArtOriginal, duh titles
-- headlines

• Away We Go (title of famous musical)
• "Oklahoma!"

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Headline Writing as an ArtOriginal, duh titles
-- headlines

• 3,000 (title of Julia Roberts movie)
• "Pretty Woman"

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Headline Writing as an ArtOriginal, duh titles
-- headlines

• Tomorrow Is Another Day (title of famous novel
  and then movie)
• Gone With the Wind

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Headline Writing as an Art

• August Rodin, asked how to sculpt an elephant, is
  said to have responded
• Take a big block of marble and carve away
  everything that doesn't look like an elephant.

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Carving Away Everything That Does Not Look Like a
Headline

• Toss some words up on the screen.
• View them like a lump of formless clay.
• At first, disregard the "count" and write the
  head the way you would like it to appear.

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Carving Away Everything That Does Not Look Like a
Headline

• Then begin to carve away.
• Make as few changes as possible to fit the
  headline.
• But stay close to your original thought
• Drop the most expendable words
• Switch to better-fitting words
• A thesaurus or your synonym finder may help.

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Carving Away Everything That Does Not Look Like a
Headline

• Identify the key angle and key words.
• Follow the checklists that help achieve
  consistency and quality.

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Carving Away Everything That Does Not Look Like a
Headline

• Recognize that headlines tell the story best when
  they are
• Clear
• Specific
• Precise
• Dense with information.

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Headline Writing as Art Reaching for a Higher
Level

• Try brain-storming around word association
• To approach the headline from less obvious
  tangents
• Come up with some key words
• Free associate internally
• Free associate while digging through reference
  texts
• A dictionary
• A thesaurus
• An encyclopedia
• A book of quotations

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Headline Writing as ArtGood Wordplay vs. Bad
Wordplay

• Good wordplay
• Uses contrast
• Twists a phrase
• Twists a cliché
• Pleases the ear
• Does not rely solely on alliteration or assonance

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Headline Writing as ArtGood Wordplay vs. Bad
Wordplay

• Bad wordplay
• Is a groaner of a pun
• Magnet Manufacturer Attracts Earnings
• Is an obvious thread-bare cliché
• Relies solely on alliteration or assonance
• Feds Find Fraud at Fannie

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Headline Writing as Art Example of Bad
Wordplay

• This example is adapted from the editing blog
  FirstDraft at www.timporter.com/firstdraft/

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Here's to You, Cliché Writers Everywhere

• The death of actress Ann Anne Bancroft this week
  produced a gaggle of "Mrs. Robinson" headlines -
  and the subsequent send-up of same by sharp-eyed
  (and sharp-tongued) headline watchers.
• They rightly skewer the "Here's to You" heds as
  predictable clichés.

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Here's to You, Cliché Writers Everywhere

• I'll go one step further.
• Clichés are the bane of good writing and their
  ubiquitous presence in newspapers directly
  undercuts efforts to reach younger readers, who
  prefer "surprise and humor."
• Read The Readership Institute's work in at the
  Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Readership Survival
  Lessons for the Future from Minneapolis.

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Here's to You, Cliché Writers Everywhere

• Brian Montopoli of CJR Daily slices and dices the
  Bancroft heds most deftly in this piece, "Hard
  Day on the Rim." He writes
• "There's gotta be something in the song, you
  think -- go back to the song.
• You get up from your cube, stare out the window.
  Start singing to yourself. Wait -- shit -- that's
  it! The chorus! It's so obvious! There's that
  part where Simon and Garfunkel croon, "Here's to
  you, Mrs. Robinson." Why not just that? Here's to
  you, Mrs. Robinson.
• It's so simple, but it says everything.
  Everything.
• You type in the headline, sit back, and rub your
  eyes. You're smiling, for the first time in days."

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Here's to You, Cliché Writers Everywhere

• Brian Montopoli of CJR Daily slices and dices the
  Bancroft heds most deftly in this piece, "Hard
  Day on the Rim." He writes
• "There's gotta be something in the song, you
  think -- go back to the song.
• You get up from your cube, stare out the window.
  Start singing to yourself. Wait -- shit -- that's
  it! The chorus! It's so obvious! There's that
  part where Simon and Garfunkel croon, "Here's to
  you, Mrs. Robinson." Why not just that? Here's to
  you, Mrs. Robinson.
• It's so simple, but it says everything.
  Everything.
• You type in the headline, sit back, and rub your
  eyes. You're smiling, for the first time in days."

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Here's to You, Cliché Writers Everywhere

• "The test for stories like this is Does
  something jump immediately to mind?
• "If so, whatever jumps immediately to mind must
  be rejected on the grounds that everybody else
  will have the same idea.

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Here's to You, Cliché Writers Everywhere

• Nicole Stockdale, a copy editor, rounds up a
  collection of Mrs. Robinsons heds on her blog, A
  Capital Idea
• Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson (Atlanta
  Journal-Constitution 1A promo)
• To you, Mrs. Robinson (San Antonio Express-News
  1A promo)
• Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson (St. Paul Pioneer
  Press)
• Here's to you, Anne Bancroft (USAToday.com)
• And here's to you, Ms Bancroft (London Times)
• Here's to you, Mrs Bancroft (The Age of
  Australia)
• So here's to you, Mrs Robinson ... (Scotsman.com)
• 'Graduate' co-star dies Here's to you, Mrs.
  Robinson (San Jose Mercury News)
• And Here's to You... Remembering Anne Bancroft
  (Slate)

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Headline Writing as Art

• Story about a police dog retiring from the force.
• Key Words?
• Long arm of the law
• Bow out
• Dogs bark bowwow

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Headline Writing as Art

• Long paw of the law bowwows out

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Headline Writing as Art

• Roller coaster manufacturers tout their new, much
  more exciting products for the upcoming summer
  season. The most exciting ever, they say.
• Key Words?
• Roller coasters
• Promoters / Carnival Fairs barkers
• Promise / assure vow

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Headline Writing as Art

• Roller
• coaster
• barkers
• vow wows

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• Story about school district banning prayers at
  graduations
• Key words?
• Schools ordered/told/commanded not to allow
  prayers
• Think about it write one in your head.

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• Thou shall not pray at graduations

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Headline Writing as Art

• Babies go from drug exposure to hug exposure

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Headline Writing as Art

• Radio waives fidelity to facts
• Contest loser takes exception to stations
  deception

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Headline Writing as Art

• Catch a wave and a viral-caused infection
• Pollution has ruined Malibu beach, water lovers
  say

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Headline Writing as Art Now, you try

• Subject A story about high school boys caught
  looking through a hole in a shower wall at girls
  in the locker room next door.
• Boys get in trouble.
• Story reports that the girls were very angry with
  their fellow students.
• Write down some key words
• Write a headline
• Send me a copy of your headline by e-mail by
  Monday at 9 a.m.
• Work together if you like put all your names on
  submission