Down with Deb Ng! Headline Writing 101

Headlines are an important, often overlooked part of article writing. They are what prompt readers to click the link, pick up the magazine or buy the paper. Blog posts, magazine articles and news articles have unique characteristics that will be addressed individually in follow-up posts, but there are a few guidelines that apply across the different styles and medium of the articles.

Interesting & Descriptive

Headlines should attract reader’s attention while giving a brief overview of the article’s content. Sounds easy right? Well, given the dearth of boring and vague headlines in media there’s got to be more to it. A headline should:

• Include action words. Tell readers to stop doing something, start doing something, give something, take something, learn something – spur them to action and translate that action to reading.
• Avoid jargon, abbreviations or profanity. Unless writing for a specialized niche publication in which it is assumed all the readers will have a working knowledge of your niche language or abbreviations/acronyms, don’t use it.
• Be creative. When not a news headline, which tend to be very clear cut and straight forward, interesting plays on words or catchy titles work in grabbing a reader’s attention.
• Use punctuation. Commas, for example can be used instead of the word “and” in headlines. Utilize limited headline space by eliminating word clutter.
• Avoid exclamation points *most of the time. There are some exceptions, but most articles with exclamation points either cry of desperation or sales pitchy-type pieces. If you use one, make it count!

Non-Inflammatory & Clear

“Down with Deb Ng!” I’ve used an exclamation point, unclear language and inflammatory wording to get to you to click the link for this article. It worked, you’re here and it’ll probably work on the search engines. The problem is, the article is not about Deb (a true sweetheart), it was truly only written to prove a point – there are inflammatory, wildly inaccurate headlines all over publications today. This causes a problem for writers, publications and their readers because when you pull a bait and switch it is not only annoying, you’re readers begin to distrust your work and your wolf cries begin fade into the background of the rest of the media noise.

The post title is also unclear. “Down with Deb Ng!” could mean I’m banding together with a group of wild freelancers to crush poor Deb under our boot or it could also mean that “Right on, I’m down (or supporting) Deb Ng!”

The other no-no of this headline is I’m clearly using the Google juice of Deb’s name to boost the blog hits. All around it’s a stinker of a headline and readers are not stupid, they can smell sensationalism a mile away and are usually annoyed by it.

Take the time and make your headlines a priority not an afterthought. The next few blog posts will cover the specifics of writing headlines for different types of articles including blog posts, magazine articles and news.

When do you write your headline, before or after you write the article?

Creating an Outline that Works for You

While creating an outline is an important part of the article writing process, it doesn’t have to be your 6th grade English version of an outline. Outlines can be made to fit your style including as many details as you’d like, however there are some parts of an outline that you must include in order for it to really work as a framework from which you can base your article:

How it begins

When outlining your article, it’s best to formulate your lede (lead) paragraph. The lede paragraph, depending on the type of article, can tell the readers what they’ll learn from the article, how the article’s information will affect them, or share an anecdote that relates to the information that follows. Creating this paragraph will tell you how to formulate the rest of your outline.

How it ends

The conclusion is usually not chronologically created after the lede, however it is second in importance only to the lede. The mark of a good article is a great beginning and a strong ending. The lede and the conclusion are often the sections on which writers spend the most time. Ask yourself, what do you want to leave the readers thinking about from the piece? Whether the reader comes away feeling satisfied that they’ve read good information or they are left with an action prompt, the one thing is to never leave them wondering what happened or worse, looking for whether the article continues on the other page.

The middle shouldn’t meander

An outline is designed to keep you and the article on task. List the points you want to cover chronologically with sub-sections. Every section of an outline can be complete sentences or fragments that serve as writing prompts for each paragraph/section.

The article’s body should be outlined to include source information, especially professional titles and quotes. It shaves time off writing if you have Dr. Snuffilumps, chief medical yogi and OTRA certified’ practitioner’s info right there on the same sheet. It helps the writer decide whether some information will be used as a pull out quote or clarified in shorter, easy to understand bullet points.

Play time counts

Outlines and their formats allow you to play with your article to enhance flow and accuracy awithout reworking an article repeatedly. Play around with the style that works best for you. List every detail or coordinate general ideas. This tool is also helpful in addressing any concerns your editors may have about your piece and vice versa. When an anxious editor wants to see your progress they can see the direction your piece is taking by viewing your outline.

It can also help protect a writer from writer’s block. Plugging information into an outline is like completing a jigsaw puzzle, there’s no pressure like there is when you finally start writing the article.

Here are some great article structure resources:

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE OUTLINE

Newspaper Article – Raft Pyramid

How to Write an Outline

Outline Your Way to A Better Article

All great works start with good foundations and articles are no different. An outline is a great tool to give your article solid support and using one has many benefits:

Faster Writing

Many writers think taking the time to write an outline adds one more time consuming step to the writing process. The truth is, having an outline speeds up the writing process by giving writers a road map to their article. It is much harder to write a clear, focused and coherent article off the cuff. If you tend to write your articles straight from your head, how many times do you stop to think about what direction to take? How much time do you spend editing things on the back end? An outline cuts time off of both processes dramatically.

An outline gets your brain thinking about the order in which to present your information, which information is key to the piece and which information may not be as significant or may need to be presented in a different way i.e. bullet points or pull-out box. It also helps you identify your lead and conclusion, arugably the hardest parts of the article to produce.

Better Organization

Outlines are essentially organization tools. They are your thoughts, research and interview information gathered and structured – they are the bones of your piece. When writing off the cuff, writers often have to stop to go over notes, scroll through interview transcriptions, etc. An outline forces you to go over the information before writing the piece. You can even make an outline detailed to note pages and transcription time or notations, if you choose.

An outline doesn’t have to be the tightly structured, rigid writing technique you learned in middle school. It can adapt to your writing style and needs, remember, it’s to help you get organized, you won’t have to turn it end with your finished project at the end of class! Tomorrow we’ll look at some outline techniques and formats in an effort to find a few that the FWJ community can adopt for your own use.

Do you use an outline before writing an article? What about blogs? Tell us how it works for you!

Brainstorming Technique #2 Freewriting

Freewriting. It sounds like a cool, pill induced experience, but it is actually a perfectly normal way to get all your ideas on paper without stopping to edit or organize. Freewriting is simply writing without stopping.

This technique is actually a great way to start the writing process before you move on to outlines. It allows you to see everything all at once and this often leads to stand-out elements and angles for the article like ledes, quotes and important facts. Another great outcome of freewriting is it is actually freeing!

Often writers get bogged down in the process of writing, with rules and form stiffling creativity and freewriting can open the mind back up to the article’s potential. It helps clear the roadblocks and breathes life into the process.

Here are some great sites on freewriting you may want to bookmark:

Brainstorming – UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center

Pre-Writing – Empire State College

Do you use freewriting or have you used it since this article? Tell us about it!

Driving Rules for Getting to the Point with Your Lede (Lead)

The other night The Wizard of Oz was on and I watched Dorothy and her crew sing about following the yellow brick road. It was a simple instruction, but it dawned on me the yellow brick road was a terribly convoluted roadway, with twists and turns all over place. Who were the city engineers on that project? Sheesh!

Some ledes are the same way. They are good enough to hook the reader, but take so long to get to the point readers lose interest and turn the page or hit the back button. Here are a few rules of the road:

Red Light – Tickets and Fines

• Five to six paragraphs in and the writer is still introducing the subject. Be advised, more than two introductory paragraphs in a typical magazine article prompts “Are we there yet?” Keep it to one paragraph for most web articles.
• Anecdotes that need explanation. Just like having to explain a joke makes it less funny, having to explain an anecdote kills the momentum of the article.
• Over-hyped statistics. “Ninety-nine percent of women hate men.” That’s a banger of an opening, but after the writer explains 99 percent of women said they hated men who kicked puppies and not all men in general, there’s going to be a large segment of readers ticked off.

Yellow Light – Speed bumps ahead

• Ledes that introduce a difficult concept. If a publication’s readership doesn’t have a firm grasp on the concept go easy on the jargon and take care not to hit the gas on information – slow down.
• Cutesy or goofy puns. When Katie Couric first began hosting the evening news I spent a month cringing at the plentiful puns peppered throughout the newscast. Oh sure my local news hams it up, but I expected more out the national news. Leave the puns for broadcasters unless the audience expects kitschy humor.

Green light – Open road

• A web article with a quick hook and quick delivery. The web isn’t for novelists or Sunday drivers, it’s the Super Highway designed for people who have a fixed destination and need to get there quick.
• A magazine article with an engaging, teasing lede. Magazine readers are invested in the article. They like to sit back and let the scenery unfold before them. Think of Christmas light tours with cars full people who have a lot of time if not the best attention span. Make it interesting so they’ll linger in front of the display.

Ledes are often the most difficult part of writing and article. Its success depends on those first few paragraphs. Get to the point in the lede and keep the reader for the long haul.

Got a suggestion or topic idea for Article Writing? Email me (Terreece@TerreeceClarke.com) and put “Article Writing” in the subject line.

Lede This! #2

Ok, the first Lede (Lead) This!” didn’t go so well as we had no participation. Maybe it was the stunning cuteness of my little lion or the (hopefully) super busy week all our FWJ writers had, whatever the case we are going to try again. I’m a little late getting this up, it’s been a crazy week over here as well.

Remember a good Lede (Lead) is what captures your audience’s attention and gets them to read the article. Brush up on your skills and get featured here at FWJ – the number one site for freelance writers!

The Rules:

I post a picture, you write your lede in the comment section below, give the type of publication you wrote it for and the subject of the article. No need to write a full article, actually, please don’t write an actual article I don’t want to read it all :0) On Sunday I’ll pick the best one, contact the poster & your lede and website will be featured on Monday. Sounds good? Okay go!

The Photo: