Much of what I’ve known of headline writing came from reading the paper each day throughout high school and following their models. Once I started in journalism, I might not have known the exact rules, but I could still write a headline.
Dear Kershner,
Thanks for the rules.
Sincerely,
Me.
In all seriousness, though, I really did like how he laid everything out. Active voice is that one thing I always have to remind myself of. Part of that might have been the fact that the good ol’ local paper in high school had terrible headlines…or that my favorite high school English teacher had to beat it into me.
What I didn’t know — and I’m glad that I do now — is the semicolons for separate thoughts. Everything makes sense now.
I also really enjoyed the history lesson on font points. I had wondered where that came from, but never enough to actively look it up. To know that the system is older than computers gave me hope about the onslaught of technology. Knowing that it won’t cause everything to disappear is comforting.
You know what they always say… “it takes one to know one.” If you don’t know what a good headline is from your reading experiences, it’s hard to know how to write them.
You’ve heard me rant about that paper before. I just don’t understand it. I can’t read it now that I’ve had journalism classes. I just can’t.
SO what are some of your favorite headline-supplying newspapers. I personally like the Tribune Review (not only because it’s one of the only papers available on campus), but it really does have some good headlines. Do you think there’s a correlation between the size of a paper’s staff and the quality of the headlines?