I really enjoyed this week's assignment. I have always been one to read the news articles both in the newspaper and on KSL.com online. I have a very different perspective now after studying and learning about writers and editors and their thinking process. I have been quite impressed with many of the headline writing and how different rules have been followed.
The Writing Headlines article had so much useful information in learning to write headlines. Learning the jargon words like "hed" and "lede" was fun. There is so much that goes into writing a headline and it is amazing how important that headline really is to the rest of the article. Bad headline equals unknown article (no one is interested in reading it.)
One of the headlines that I found was about a school article written.
"Time to get kids ready for back to shcool"
So sad. And I was so thankful that my kids didn't go to that school. What it told me was maybe it is time for whoever wrote this headline to go back to school!
So the big tip for the day is: Check your work and double check your spelling before it prints!
One of the great headlines that I really liked was quite eye-catching that I had to reread to see what they were referring to.
"A Tiny Stumble, a Life Upended"
It was about older Americans and how they seem to be more clumsy and fall more often. There was a picture below of an older lady that was walking down the stairs and you could tell she was getting ready to fall. Then they went on to discuss the effects of falls and broken bones and how they don't heal as quickly. Great headline!
Tip for a good headline: Use words to make something that might not seem too exciting to some still want to read it.
The punctuation error that I found was a great one that I have been guilty in doing. When using the ellipsis, the AP Stylebook says that it is to indicate the deletion of one or more words in condensing quotes, texts and documents. It can also be used to indicate a thought that the speaker or writer does not complete.
In this example, I am not really sure what is missing or that though that they don't complete, because it isn't used at the end of the phrase but in the middle.
I Hate Annuities ...
and So Should You!
The New York Times, Nov.4, 2014
I agree that using words to make something sound exciting that otherwise may not have been so is an effective tool for writing good headlines. That was a difficult aspect for me the "Writing Headlines" assignment this past week; with the the limited space due to the shorter columns, I had a difficult time using words that I felt were interesting but at the same time were a bit longer.
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