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How to Write Magazine Titles

Writing titles for magazine articles is a narrow little art. People who are good at it are part advertising copy writer and part poet. They also are part marketing specialist. That's because a lot of magazines are bought off the rack by people who are attracted by the titles displayed on the cover. A lot of decent writers don't have a knack for writing good magazine headlines. And a lot of people who are good at writing newspaper headlines can't transfer that skill to writing magazine headlines. There are a few tricks to the trade.

Instructions

    • 1

      Make any headline you write for a magazine article interesting. Aside from writing libelous or wildly inaccurate titles, the worst offense you can commit when writing magazine headlines is to write something boring. Writing something boring in body type is bad enough, but being dull in big type is a grievous verbal offense. Use lively words and images. Keep your wording punchy, and sometimes make it edgy.

    • 2

      Tease or at least intrigue the reader. The purpose of both newspaper and magazine headlines is to pull the reader into the story. To do this, magazine headlines tease the potential reader a lot more than newspaper headlines. For example, a newspaper headline might say: <GOP eyes Huckabee and Cain as veep prospects>. That headline summarizes the story and is informational. But a magazine headline on the same story might say:< Who's on the GOP's short list for veep?.> That headline gives the reader less information than the newspaper headline, but it might do a better job of better pulling readers into the story, because the newspaper headline already has told readers the main thing they would want to know from the story.

    • 3

      Involve the reader in your headline, and aim it directly at the kind of people you want to read the story. For example, instead of just saying <10 places to retire on a modest income > you can say <10 places where you can retire on $25,000 a year >.

      The "you" gets the reader involved.

    • 4

      Remember that with magazine headlines, you can make the most of graphic and typographical devices. You might be able, for example, to emphasize certain words of phrases by setting them in a color that's different from the rest of the headline. Or you might want do do something creative with the spacing or arrangement of your headline words. You have all sorts of options, including coupling your headline with a piece of art in a creative way.

    • 5

      Study the headlines in good magazines. Cosmopolitan has sold countless copies of the magazine with intriguing headlines. Check out the news magazines, Sports Illustrated and Forbes to get a variety of styles.

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