How to Write Intriguing Headlines

Select a comfortable place to write headlines.

Headlines are an important part of a wide range of media including television, newspapers, websites and magazines. The large volume of headlines in the modern world makes it necessary for writers to create unique headlines that capture readers' attention. Intriguing headlines do not simply invite readers into their world; they pull readers into the rest of the story.

Instructions

Tips

1. Use words that evoke a lot of emotion. Words such as "frenzy", "bonanza", "hot", and "explosive" all tend to produce emotional effects in the reader. Also, do not hesitate to use interjections such as "wow", "cheers", and "alas." Interjections can be the spark that draws the reader to your headline.

2. Use exclamatory sentences. Exclamatory sentences are good ways to emphasize a point in a headline as well as convey strong emotion. Writing that displays confidence and assurance can be intriguing in itself. When your headline shows that you are genuine and enthusiastic it rubs off on readers.

3. Emulate famous headlines from old newspapers and magazines. There are millions of articles with headlines that are good, bad, eccentric, and boring among other qualities. By studying famous headlines from presidential elections or murder trials, you can learn how those headlines once created intrigue and separated themselves from all the other stories.

4. Use superlatives. When you claim that something or someone is the best or worst of a category, it catches people's attention. Also, superlatives often challenge conventional thought and can thus spark the interest of readers.

5. Be succinct. The headlines should not be more than one sentence and that sentence should be as short as possible. If you are writing a story on the acquittal of a murder suspect, for example, you should use the headline, "Kraemer acquitted!" rather than using a headline such as, "Judge finds Kraemer not guilty".

6. Formulate the headline into a question. The question should ask the reader a rhetorical question that forces him to think about what your article is about or why you wrote it.

Tips & Warnings

• Use punctuation like exclamation marks to add more emphasis to your headlines.

References

• Modern Life: How to Write Great Headlines
• "Headline Writing"; Sunil Saxena; 2006