Writing headlines (or heds) is really hard. I was really
surprised when the reading said that copy editors usually have about 10 minutes
to write them because I’m pretty sure if I stuck with the stuff I came up with
in 10 minutes, I’d get a zero on this week’s assignment. That being said, I
think being in a newsroom and listening to editors discuss headlines would be
so fun. It sounds like a hectic, yet organized environment.
As always, it’s crucial to stick to basic rules of writing:
use active verbs and follow rules of grammar. But writing headlines offers a
little bit of wiggle room. For example, many news organizations omit articles
(a, the, an) and replace words like “and” with commas.
It’s important to note that different news organizations
have different styles. In addition to differing policies concerning type and
layout, some news organizations use upstyle, which means they capitalize all
the words in the title except for articles. Other news organizations use
downstyle, which means they capitalize only the first word and proper nouns.
While I did the “Find Headlines” assignment this week, I
found that my favorite headlines are the sports heds. They usually use the most
creative active verbs. Additionally, a lot of the ones I found played with
names, which is not a flexibility in hard-hitting news articles. For example, I
saw a lot of headlines about Seattle Seahawks’ win over the New York Giants on
Sunday that referred to running back Marshawn Lynch as “Beast Mode.” Below is a
headline I retrieved from Yahoo.com News about the game:
And run he did! P.S. In
case you couldn’t tell, I’m a Seattle fan.
From last year's Super Bowl Media Day: "Laid back, kicked back,staying in my own lane." - Marshawn Lynch; that is one of my favorite quotes ever, and if you can't tell I am a Seahawks fan too as I am originally from Seattle. I agree that to create a great headline in just 10 minutes would be difficult. I found when doing the "Writing Headlines" assignment this past week I had a difficult time coming up with headlines quickly. I suppose it just takes practice, and I agree that using active verbs helps to write a more engaging headline.
ReplyDeleteWow I don't think I could write headlines in ten minutes. I write and rewrite too many times!
ReplyDeleteI love the title of your post. Because I have a headache too! I also can't believe that people can write a headline in 10 minutes; it took me a lot longer.
ReplyDelete