By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief, Southern Writers Magazine
Remember the old movies
when the boy would stand on the street and sell newspapers…yelling “Read all
about it…(then give you the title of the story) Read all about it.” He always
used the title to persuade the people passing by to stop and buy a paper from
him. Then he would tell them something interesting and intriguing to create
more interest. Well of course, the paperboy on the corner is gone now but
titles aren’t.
That paperboy knew the
title had to grab attention if he was going to earn a living. It had to be bold
enough to stop them in their tracks and want to have that paper to see just
what did happen. We are the same way. The title has to grab us to make us want
to read further…whether it is the newspaper, blog post or a magazine. It’s the
title. You have a 10 to 30 second window to entice people to want to read what
is there. So make sure your headline /title seizes the reader’s attention.
Remember human nature
will pick something up and read it if it pertains to the following:
1. Unexpected death…someone well known; someone living in the
community or a child.
2. A Wrong going on in the community that has been uncovered or
righted.
3. Warning about something bad coming or going to happen.
4. Telling them they must take action to claim something good for
themselves or their family or business.
5. That they only have a brief time to make something happen.
6. An urgent matter that will pertain to them or their community.
These are only six ideas
to use to grab a reader’s attention. I am sure you can think of more…so don’t
forget to share them with us.
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