7 Places To Find Daily Interesting Car Topics

Armen is very right about this. Writing a good headline is more than just slapping a title on a story. Which is the better head here: Dog Bites Man Changing Tire or Dog Learns Never To Bite Man Changing Tire or Dog Bites Man Changing Tire; Man Bits Back. Number 3 is the most interesting and would likely pull in readers.Number 2 might pull in a few readers, while Number 1 is blahh. Too many newbie heads are blahh. I know it sounds a bit harsh, especially if you have spent a couple of hours trying to headline your story. But that is the way it is. (I am sorry if I upset anyone and you might be asking "What right does he have saying this? He's a reporter just us. And, you are right I am just the Ford F-150 truck reporter here, but, here's a secret -- I spent a good dozen years on a daily newspaper -- when the world still read them -- headlining articles and I had my run-ins with my boss over heads that I thought were great. I also heard from the managing editor when the headlines on my auto articles weren't up to snuff. All I am trying to do is help (I hope you don't mind Armen).

Good headlines are simple. They encapsulate the story you have written in as few words as possible. The words should be positive, informative, demonstrative, or challenging. The form of the headline is simple: as a sentence, it is subject, predicate, object. Simple head: Dog Bites Man, Man Bites Back. It is an informative head that is a bit humorous and challenges the reader. More complicated heads on this theme could be like those I have described. Dog Bites Man Changing Tire; Tire-Changer Gets Revenge; Pooch Paws Poor Guy Changing Tire; Tire-Changer Paws Back. These heads are simple, declarative and humorous. They are also the beginnings of some good SEO work, see below for more.

Now, let's look at cars -- I hope this can help you if you are having problems.

Let's say you are writing about generic topic. like drifting into a corner in a Ford Mustang GT500 (I wouldn't, but who knows, you might). If you are new to head writing, but not cars, you might say something like Drifting Through a Corner in a Ford GT500. As far as it goes, it is a pretty good beginning headline, but, where is the action in it; what are you teaching your readers? A better headline would be -- and I am just suggesting: Learning To Drift Ford Mustang GT-500 Requires Brake, Gas Balance.

As Armen points out, you are teaching your reader something and you are trying to pull them to read your entire content. Or, you might try a more declarative style: Driver Discovers Formula For Great Mustang GT-500 Drifts. The head is simple, declarative, and yet a tool that encourages further reading because it uses the right balance of words.

Now that you have had the benefit of a few words of my ancient wisdom go forth and write better car heads.

Let me tell you something about me. Although I have been an automotive writer since the middle of the last century (50-years-plus), I was also a headline writer on a newspaper for a dozen years when I wasn't flogging cars, trucks, tractors, and whathaveyou around (I had to have a reason to work at my old paper besides cars as we had a small staff of editors). That's why it took me no time at all to write the suggested headlines following Armen's rules. I suspect that if you are new to car writing (not cars, themselves, but writing about them), you will find it nearly impossible to write a headline quickly.

Don't let it worry you! Unless you are trying to set a world record for the greatest number of car stories published in a 24-hour period, take your time. If you are having trouble, reach out to Armen or Patrick for help. That's it, have fun.