This is post by Frank McKinley. He is a writer, published author and writing coach. Today Frank shares with us helpful strategies for writing better headlines.
Your headline is the most important sentence of every blog post you write.
So when should you write it?
Write it beforehand and you can use it as a writing prompt.
Write it afterward and it will point to your best idea.
Whenever you write it, remember this:
You can only have one main idea.
Formulas are great, but…
Headline templates are a Google search away.
Grab a good list and you can fill in the blank with whatever you’re writing about.
Here’s a few of mine:
J.K. Rowling’s Advice for Writers With Big Dreams
How to Find and Develop Your Unfair Advantage as a Writer
Stop Feeling Guilty That Your Writing Isn’t Perfect
Formulas are great tools. Your headlines will be better when you use them. But it’s even more important to know why they work.
Here are three reasons.
Make a promise.
What promise do those three headlines make?
If J.K. Rowling is giving you advice, you better listen.
An unfair advantage? Sounds a bit sketchy, but who wouldn’t want an advantage?
I don’t have to feel guilty? I’m so ready for that.
The first promise is about status. You can raise yours if you do what J.K. suggests.
The second is about maximizing something you already have (but don’t know about). Success means attention for writers – and possibly money.
The third promises relief. Guilt can be heavy – so heavy it makes you want to run and hide, give up, and do anything to make it go away. Get rid of it and you free yourself to write your best.
What promise can you make?
Use appealing words.
The best way to get people to click your headlines is to evoke their emotions.
Trigger words like guilt, success, happiness, and money appeal to most of us. We all want to be happy, healthy, and wealthy.
Write 10, 20, or even 30 headlines for your post. Then take a break. When you return, forget that you wrote them. Ask yourself, which of these moves me to do something?
If you’re really ambitious, see which headline gives you goosebumps.
That’s the one.
I know it sounds manipulative. But let’s face it. There are countless choices out there. You’ve got to be audacious to get noticed.
Use words that move people.
Have a specific reader in mind.
You’d love everyone to read your posts, wouldn’t you?
Don’t worry. Everyone won’t.
That’s okay. You want to be specific. When your writing sounds like a friend’s voice, people will listen.
My three headlines are for writers. I want to build a library they can read and benefit from.
I can’t do that if I water down my words to reach the masses.
Consider this. When the President speaks, he speaks to the masses. But he’s speaking to specific issues. He’s appealing to a specific point of view. Some will love it; others won’t.
Make your headlines meaningful to particular people and you’ll get clicks.
Do This Now
Before you write your next blog post, set aside 15 or 20 minutes to craft your headline.
First, choose your main idea. Limit it to one thing. Take a deep dive into why it matters. Make a list of the idea’s benefits.
Next, pick a standout benefit and write headlines from it.
Write as many different headlines as you can. Play with the words. Inject some emotion into them. The most powerful ones are pleasure and pain.
And be sure to throw in some urgency for good measure.
The more you do this, the better you’ll get.
With these strategies, you’ll attract all the readers you could ever want. Good luck!
Let’s hear from you!
What strategy do you use for creating attention grabbing headlines?
This is an article contribution by Anne Peterson. In this post Anne encourages you to tell your story and explains how doing this can offer hope to others.
Some stories we know by heart. That’s what happens when you tell them over and over.
The facts are: My sister was a victim of domestic violence. She disappeared September 12, 1982. We never saw her again.
I set out to write her story, when God told me, “I want you to share your story too.”
I said yes to God because I knew my husband would never agree. And then things became very real. Mike said, “If you think our story will help someone, do it.”
Some may wonder, Why in the world would anybody write a book about abuse? This is why.
Because it’s a true story
My sister, Peggy and me
There are a lot of good stories out there. They make us laugh and cry, but there’s something about stories that are true. We read them and say, “Yeah, me too.” Broken is one of those stories.
When our stories are fiction we can end them as we wish. Unfortunately,we can’t do the same with real life stories. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be things we gain, lessons learned.
There are a lot of broken people out there. And who better to write a story about being broken, than someone who is?
I wanted this book to be real, like life. But not so heavy it keeps the reader in the pain. I also tucked hope within the pages. Yes, you will read about struggles, but you’ll also read about victories and growth.
We’re told without hope, the people perish. All of us need hope. And when I wrote this book, the word hope was not even in the title. I changed it because readers kept telling me, “It’s a book that gives hope.” And that’s what I wanted.
All of us need encouragement. We need to know the thing we’re going through will not devour us. We need to believe we can get through it and that there is something better on the other side.
Sometimes we feel like we have no strength. And coming from a dysfunctional background, those lies are instilled in us.
Where we came from does not have to dictate where we end up.
Our choices carry a lot of weight. More than we realize. One decision opens a set of doors while another opens a completely different set.
But maybe some of you have never been abused. You have no idea what it would be like to grow up in a home like that. Is this a book for you to read as well? Yes.
Because not everyone has been abused, there are a lot of misconceptions about abuse. This book will give you insight to what that world is like.
If you know someone who you suspect was abused, it will help you to understand what they may have gone through, or what they are going through now.
We can relate better if we can seek to understand the other person. Then we can empathize.
Why I wrote this book
So, why did I open up my life and put it between the pages of this book, knowing there would be some who would not understand? And some who would criticize me for doing it?
Because it just might help someone. It might give someone the courage to make a hard decision. To get help or get out.
My sister was a beautiful person. She died 36 years ago trying to get out of her marriage. But she waited too long.
If you’re in an abusive situation, please don’t wait.
Call to Action:
If you know someone who would benefit from this article, please share.
Help me be a voice for my sister.
Previously published on Medium and used with permission of its author Anne Peterson.
This is a guest post contribution by Anne Peterson. She is a writer and the published author of 14 books. Today she shares her story of how writing from a broken heart opened new doors of opportunity for her.
How I got my poetry into stores…
“You have to do something with this,” my friend Arlyce said, hearing me recite one of my poems.
“Why don’t you take some of your poetry and put Mike’s art with it?”
Arlyce knew my husband was an artist. She also knew I loved to write.
I stood there, taking in her words, something that never occurred to me.
A couple of weeks later, Mike and I stood in a small print shop waiting.
We watched as our first piece of poetry art come eased out of the printer. We beamed at our creation.
And when I showed the finished pieces to our friends, they got excited too.
At that time, I was a returning student. Off to school, I’d go with books and a framed poetry piece under my arm.
Sometimes I came home with books and a check.
My English instructor loved my work.
An invitation to share
“Anne, I wonder if you’d be open to coming to my house and sharing your work with some of my friends?”
Was she kidding? I would love to do something like that.
And poetry parties were born.
I created invitations she mailed to her friends. Her house made the perfect intimate setting. I could sure learn to love this. And I did.
At the poetry parties, I sat, sharing my life experiences which led to the poems. People connected and then they’d buy the pieces.
Another open door
Another friend said, “I’d like to have an open house for you. I’ll take care of the guest list, you just come and share.
And so I did. It was a great time of connection and five women all bought copies of my one poem, I’d Marry You Again. At that time, I offered about a dozen or so different poems with different illustrations.
At the bottom of that piece was Mike’s drawing of our hands. A piece he drew while we held hands.
My friend, Nancy told me, “I’m going to show this to my boss, Lynn.”
“That’s fine,” I answered. But inside, my mind had been made up. I wanted to write, but I didn’t really want to write for anyone else.
Two days later Lynn Parker, owner of Creative Calligraphy wanted to meet with me.
“I have a proposal for you,” Lynn told me. I half-listened. It’s hard when we make up our minds and then close them.
After looking at our pieces they made an offer. They would pay me monthly for the use of my poetry. And later it would revert to royalties.
“Mike, I feel funny. Like I’m abandoning you,” I shared with him.
“I think it’s great they are interested, I think you should do it,” he responded.
And so I became one of the writers for a company. I did what I thought I would never do. I stretched my metal mind.
More than just a show
One fall, my friend Jenny called me, “Are you going to be in the craft show? There will be so many people there.”
It was true, Sycamore was the pumpkin town. Everyone came to the Pumpkin Fest. But the money was so tight.
“No. I don’t have the money,” I answered, as my face warmed with embarrassment.
“You have to be in it, Anne,” Jenny insisted. “I’d be glad to pay your fee.”
And so I agreed. Mike and I worked long hours, matting the pieces, putting them in sleeves and even framing some of them. A woven basket held our matted pieces. A friend made me tablecloths that went to the floor making my display look great.
Another good friend offered us a display unit to use, as well as their van for transporting.
I was tired after the two-day show. I sold $350.00 worth of poetry. And heard such words of encouragement. Had I found my niche?
[bctt tweet=”When you follow your passion, people will show up to be part of the journey.” username=”https://twitter.com/CoriWriterBWP”]
You never know
A couple of days later, in the mail, I received a card with a handwritten note in it.
“You don’t know me, my name is John Larson. My mother-in-law recently saw your work at a craft show in Sycamore. She told me, ‘You gotta see this woman’s work.’ And I was wondering if you’d be kind enough to meet me.
A couple of days later I received a call. Scared, but curious, I agreed to meet with John. He owned a large gift company, Dexsa, which produced poetry on plaques. I still remember how I felt when John left our house with my notebook of poetry.
What are you doing? You don’t even know this guy and now he has your work.
Sometimes our thoughts can plague us. And sometimes we listen and we don’t take chances.
My visit with John resulted in another opportunity to earn money with my poetry.
One time, Mike and I were in a Hallmark store when Mike spotted one of my pieces. He picked it up and walked to the cashier, smiling big. “My wife wrote this.”
I just melted inside.
More movement
Sometimes when good things happen, they bring other good things along with them.
John introduced me to a sister company. The James Lawrence Company. A company I also wrote for, in fact, still write for.
I remember doing a paper when I was in college. I called it, To Publish or not to Publish; a Poet’s Dilemma.
My research was discouraging. It said a poet cannot expect to make money writing poetry.
In my stubbornness, I thought, just watch me.
Creatives often find others who are less than encouraging with their decision to follow their passion.
You’ll need a side job.
You’ll never make it.
Comments such as these echo in your ears, sometimes making it hard to continue on.
But I knew going in, I might not make it big with writing poetry. I had another reason I was doing it. I wanted my words to make a difference for others.
And I was fortunate enough to see this happen over and over again. But that will be another post.
One poem
My telephone rang. I didn’t recognize the voice, “Is this Anne Peterson? I was told you might know where I could get a copy of the poem, I Have These Holes.”
“I wrote that poem in 1994,” I started.
“Wait,” he interrupted, I’m talking to the author?”
“May I ask you, where you saw my poem?” I asked.
“In a funeral home.”
I had one more question. “May I ask, who did you lose?”
“My son.” He responded quietly.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. When did you lose him?”
His response made me catch my breath.“Just a few days ago and then I saw your poem and I cannot get it out of my mind.”
Our words can touch others. They can slip into those places where nothing else can go.
That’s why it’s important to share our work, even it if comes from our own broken hearts.
Call to Action
What is your passion?
What obstacles are keeping you from pursuing it?
I’d love to hear from you.
Note: This post has been previously published on medium.com and has been used with the permission of its author Anne Peterson.
