I still remember one of my favorite headlines with a chuckle: “Skywalkers in Korea Cross Han Solo.”
I was enticed to click the head after spotting it while browsing a news website. The headline is so clever that it actually seems like a no-brainer to use.
But remember, the editor was only crafting a headline about tightrope walkers and the Han River. I wonder how long it took him to connect “Han” to Han Solo and if “skywalkers” came to mind immediately or if he had to play with words for awhile. (On a side note, I’m starting to realize my blog entries are portraying me as a Star Wars geek.)
I remember that headline now and again as I try to develop headlines that are clever without being too obscure—it’s not clever if I’m the only one who giggles when reading it—all the while staying true to the tone of the article.
It’s only been a few years that I’ve enjoyed writing headlines. (I still don’t love subheads, but I’m working on it.) I confess that in the past I’ve written some snore-worthy headlines or only the straightforward, newsy, takes-no-effort-to-come-up-with heads. But for the past few years, I’ve forced myself to take the time to brainstorm and play with words.
Slowly, headline writing went from being on par with doing geometry homework to finishing a mildly strenuous, yet rewarding, hike through the woods.
I have realized that my headline-writing strategy differs greatly from how I write articles. With story writing, I dive right in and start typing. But with headlines, I’ve discovered that I need a few tricks, mental games to fire up my synapses.
One such trick, “alphabetizing,” I read about in an interview with creativity consultant Sam Horn. Make a list of words that go with the article.
Then, take one of the words and replace the first letter of that word with letters from the entire alphabet, essentially finding words that rhyme with the original word.
For example, if the word is “play,” say to yourself (or out loud if you like to annoy your officemates), “away, blay, clay, day/delay …” I’m not advocating making all headlines catchy rhyming phrases, but this process helps me to think of unique word plays.
I have other tricks I use to turn my brain on to the fun of headline writing, but I’d like to hear yours instead. What tricks do you use when you are writing headlines or article leads or, for that matter, trying to develop anything unique and clever in your media jobs? (I just realized I’m now nervous to write a headline for this blog!)
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The Onion is best at this.
This is one area newspapers really still dominate after all these years.
A personal favorite: After Novak Djokovic beat someone handily in a tennis match, the headline read, “You got Serbed.”
Oooh, Cagey B, that’s a good one. Tom, I agree; I think the style of news headlines is why this works so well. With web, you have to be more straightforward and magazines are just a different beast, although mags have clever heads as well.