Write a Headline
When I was in college, I had to take a media writing class in which I was required to buy a subscription to The New York Times, investigate “newsworthy” stories, and write them in journalistic style. Every class, we started by analyzing ledes—the first sentence in a news article. The goal in that first sentence? Include as much of the who, what, when, where, why, and how as is available to report. For example:
A fire at the Greek Islands Coney Restaurant was contained Thursday morning but not before the fire got past the suppression system and damaged the roof.
After announcing in January that it would no longer field a varsity football team, Hoover High School called a reverse and announced a plan to rebuild the team.
In 2015, an Afghan woman living in New Hampshire launched the first all-female coding school for young women in her native country called Code To Inspire.
In short, don’t bury the lede. Include only what is necessary and true.
A few months ago, I couldn’t quite figure out how to begin my monthly newsletter when I remembered all those ledes I analyzed in college. I opened up my NYT app (look who’s still a subscriber after all these years), and studied the style and cadence of a few articles. The result? This short piece about how my three-year-old refused to cooperate during our most recent family picture session …
Three-Year-Old Refuses to Look at Camera; Mom Wonders Why She Booked Session in the First Place
DES MOINES, Iowa — Local mother of four failed to get all of her kids to look at the camera during a family photography session late last month.
Molly Flinkman, 35, said she began the day hopeful everyone would cooperate. "The sky was perfectly overcast and I promised a special treat when it was over. My three big kids did great. I just didn't take into account the three-year-old is all."
A source from the scene reported hearing a child yell as he passed by in his car. "Yeah, that kid didn't want his picture taken," he said, "Those parents were trying pretty hard, and he just wouldn't even look at the camera."
When asked to comment, the three-year-old turned his face away from reporters and stomped away.
"I shouldn't be surprised," Flinkman said. "He is three, after all. Now I guess we just wait to see if our photographer managed to get any usable family photos."
Turns out, writing in a different form was exactly the spark I needed to put words on the page. So we’re sending that spark your way this month with a writing exercise borrowed from Sonya and Callie'’s Reading Well Writing Well Workshop:
Headlines
A writer was told his headlines stunk. (“No one knows what the story is,” his editor said.) He was told to practice by writing five headlines a day. He wrote 100 instead. As his headlines improved, so did his writing.
Write 10 headlines a day for five days (for a total of 50 headlines).
They can be funny, provocative, simple—whatever you want about whatever you want. Make sure to do this over a few days, not all at once.
Optional: Take one of those headlines and draft out an essay like this one by fellow Exhale member Lorren Lemmons.