Week 11, Headlines That Work, Here's Seven

I had a great time learning about headlines and finding headlines. I actually got distracted because excellent headlines caught my attention and I ended up reading the articles. I read all sorts of random articles due to the catchy headlines that preceded them. Here are some of my favorite headlines. I found seven because it rhymed with 11 and I wanted my headline to catch your attention.

1. The Bridge Wobbles. So Do You. That’s When the Trouble Starts.-- I thought this headline was awesome. The author somehow managed to use a three-sentence headline and it didn't feel like a lead or a bad headline. It caught my attention and the article aligned with the headline.

2. Welcoming Worshipers With Open Arms and Concealed Ones, Too-- This headline was very clever. Maybe I'm biased, but I like the use of upstyle headlines because they feel more like a headline to me. Some headlines that are just normal punctual sentences feel like a lead to me. I also liked the author's wordplay.

3. How To Do Thanksgiving Like a Pro-- I loved this headline, I clicked on it and the article really explained how to do Thanksgiving like a pro.

4. Families of Newtown Victims Pursue Suit Against Gunmakers-- I thought the use of the word "pursue" was a nice strong verb that gave the headline a different feel then if the author would have chosen a weaker verb.

5. ‘Tell Your Story to Everyone’: Readers Affected by Mass Killings Offer Advice for Fellow Survivors-- I'm a sucker for inspirational stories. I think it's harder to get people to click on inspirational stories, but the author of this headline made it clear and catchy.

6. America’s Wildest Place Is Open for Business-- I thought this headline was clear and concise. It didn't use the name of the place because people probably wouldn't have been interested in reading it had the headline said, "The Ipnavik River is Open for Business."

7. Where Self-Driving Cars Go to Learn-- I liked this headline because it was clear what the article would be about and made you want to read more. A tip I liked in the powerpoint was to "make writing headlines fun." This headline author did just that.

Here are some bad headlines.

1.  "Your Horoscope This Week"-- I found this headline on Yahoo.com and I thought it had no creativity behind it. It didn't really show any effort in trying to get me to click on the article.

2.  Can My Children Be Friends With White People?-- After learning about sensitive language last week, I felt like this headline might come off a little insensitive to some people because it's identifying people by the color of their skin.

3. Debating Whether Reptiles or Amphibians Should Be House Pets-- I think the article was actually more interesting than the headline. I think they could have revised it to sound more appealing and interesting to all readers rather than people that just care about reptiles or amphibians as house pets.

4. I don't know where this headline was from, but it was too funny not to post it.



This week's mistake:

"If your Instructor has included any class notes, you will see them below:" 

I found this in an email from the American Heart Association. They capitalized instructor. It makes you realize that it's important not to double check your sentences. I'm sure it was a bad autocorrect mistake.