The most important piece of your writing is the title. Bar none.
People judge whether to read a newspaper article based on the title. I read the sports page. Obviously, some sports I have no interest in and glaze right over.
Those sports I am interested in (football, baseball, playoff and tournament time in basketball) I read the title or headline of the article to determine if it is worth my time to read.
Your readers will do this with your writing as well.
The title of your article, headline for your news piece, or title/cover for your book are everything.
They have done tests where a book was offered for sale with 1 title that bombed, all they did was rip off the cover and put a new one on the exact same material that was the contents of the book and sales soared by over 500%.
Clearly, you have to catch your intended readers attention AND interest. Without it you are dead in the water.
Salt the oats. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink is b.s. When you salt the oats he eats, then walk him to the water he will drink every time.
The "salt" for your title is some element of mystery, intrigue, curiosity, or magic.
See Spot Run
See Spot's Tale of Woe, Extreme Misadventures
Which of those titles makes you want to read more?
P.S. questions can also be good titles.
People judge whether to read a newspaper article based on the title. I read the sports page. Obviously, some sports I have no interest in and glaze right over.
Those sports I am interested in (football, baseball, playoff and tournament time in basketball) I read the title or headline of the article to determine if it is worth my time to read.
Your readers will do this with your writing as well.
The title of your article, headline for your news piece, or title/cover for your book are everything.
They have done tests where a book was offered for sale with 1 title that bombed, all they did was rip off the cover and put a new one on the exact same material that was the contents of the book and sales soared by over 500%.
Clearly, you have to catch your intended readers attention AND interest. Without it you are dead in the water.
Salt the oats. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink is b.s. When you salt the oats he eats, then walk him to the water he will drink every time.
The "salt" for your title is some element of mystery, intrigue, curiosity, or magic.
See Spot Run
See Spot's Tale of Woe, Extreme Misadventures
Which of those titles makes you want to read more?
P.S. questions can also be good titles.
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