This is a blog post about titles and first sentences

The overly descriptive title of this post is equal parts joke and truth. It could have perhaps taken a more creative turn with something like, “Walking the title tightrope.” Or maybe it could have been curiosity piquing but less clear, as in “First words: How to make your online story all grown up.”

We’ve written here before about story structure—both the shape that information takes on the page, as well as the critical ingredients that make for a compelling story. But what about the nuts and bolts of storytelling, things like titles and first sentences?

It’s no surprise to anyone at this point that readers of online content are in a hurry. We skim, we scroll, we might click and we might not, and then we move on to the next shiny thing. Social media as a medium is basically designed around this idea.

Consider a 2016 Columbia University study finding: 60 percent of all links shared on what was then Twitter were not clicked before being shared. That is, a majority of people were (and probably still are) sharing articles without ever reading past the headline and perhaps a summary/framing/first sentence. Most of us probably recognize ourselves in this study, though we may not be proud of it.

You can find fun anecdotal support, too, as when in 2014 NPR published the article, “Why Doesn’t America Read Anymore?” on social media. Except that it wasn’t an article at all, but a prank to prove the headline’s point. Readers who clicked were instructed to like the post only—not comment. What happened? “Readers” commented about their outrage about people not reading. Related research suggests that, even if they do start to read a story, 80 percent of readers won’t finish it.

Are these facts incredibly depressing and possibly a leading indicator of the inevitable decline of civilization? Probably. Is it a reality that we, as communicators, must not only deal with, but contour our content in ways that benefit the University of Minnesota through these trends and mediums? Absolutely.

Titles and first sentences: Balancing creativity and clarity

In an online world, titles should generally give the reader a very good, if not exact, idea of what the story is going to be about. They should be concise, engaging, reflective of the story's theme, and incorporate SEO keywords when possible. And while it’s okay to be creative—it’s part of why many of us got into the profession—we should do our best not to try to be clever or creative at the expense of the information/story.

You might take a similar approach with first sentences. The inverted-pyramid style tells us to put our important news or message at the top of the article. So the best first sentences (with title and image support) will manage the miraculous task of both conveying critical information and convincing the reader to read the second sentence.

So what’s the takeaway here? It’s relatively simple: Take the extra time to craft titles and first sentences that do some seriously heavy lifting, and consider whether, together or alone, they leave the reader with the impression you want. And don’t feel bad if you spend 20 minutes on a title, because the truth is that those minutes potentially have more payoff than the entire time it took you to write the rest of the story. You might even consider testing titles, or changing up your titling game (punny vs just the facts) and comparing the results.

If you have questions or differing perspectives, we'd love to hear from you. Email Adam Overland.