5
How to write a headline and first paragraph
Six headline models, four types of lead and five weak examples rewritten. A simple test shows whether the opening works without the rest of the article.
A good headline does not decorate an article. It makes a promise to the reader: this is the subject, and the text will deliver on it. The first paragraph, or lead, adds the meaning that could not fit into one line. Together they should let someone understand the point before scrolling to the second screen.
Six headline models that work
Fact: “City to extend library opening hours in the evening.” Best for news.
Practical outcome: “How to prepare your flat for a month away.” Best for guides.
Cause and effect: “Why short meetings create long email threads.” Useful for columns and explainers.
Comparison: “Rent or buy equipment: what changes after the first year.” Works only if the article genuinely compares the options.
Specific list: “Five contract mistakes people notice too late.” Use only when the article contains exactly the promised five points.
Strong assertion: “The public-transport problem does not start with buses.” Suitable for opinion when the article can prove the thesis.
A question headline is not forbidden, but it is often weaker than a statement. “Does the city need night buses?” hands the work to the reader. “The city needs night buses on three routes, not everywhere” already promises a position and an argument.
Four types of lead
News lead gives the most important fact immediately. It belongs in news and any article where the fact matters more than atmosphere.
Scene-setting lead places the reader in an observable situation: one person, one place, one action, one detail. It works in reporting and columns, but it must reach the subject quickly instead of becoming a literary warm-up.
Quote lead begins with someone else's words. It is risky: the quotation must be strong enough that the piece would genuinely lose something without it.
Question lead states the problem the article begins answering at once. Do not stack three rhetorical questions. One precise question is stronger than a row of vague ones.
Five weak headlines and how to rewrite them
“Current problems in education” → “Why even attentive parents miss school notices.” The second version names a concrete problem.
“Everything you need to know about renovation” → “How to check a renovation estimate before the first payment.” An impossible promise becomes a practical one.
“Shocking changes in the labour market” → “Companies are taking longer to fill vacancies: what changed in hiring.” The emotional label disappears and a fact takes its place.
“What is happening to our city?” → “Three neighbourhoods are growing faster than public transport.” A vague question becomes a testable claim.
“Expert opinion” → “Why cheap insurance becomes expensive in the first dispute.” The reader does not need the author's status before seeing a useful idea.
How to connect the headline and the lead
Do not repeat the same sentence twice. If the headline gives a fact, the lead should explain scale or consequence. If the headline asks a practical question, the lead should promise the route to the answer: which steps, documents or criteria will be covered.
Example. Headline: “Why short meetings create long email threads.” Lead: “The problem is rarely the fifteen minutes of the meeting. It begins when people leave without a recorded decision, owner and deadline. Three lines after a call save more time than cutting another five minutes from the meeting.”
The headline and lead already state the position. The rest of the article now has to prove it.
The closed-text test
Hide everything except the headline and first paragraph. Ask three questions: What is this article about? What new thing will I learn? Why should I give the writer another five minutes? If one answer is missing, do not repair the whole article. Rewrite the opening first.
On a direct-author publishing platform, the headline still appears on an ordinary publication page and in a feed beside editorial material. Clickbait therefore gives an outside writer no special advantage, while an advertising-style formulation can cause a submission to be rejected.
Checklist
- the headline promises only what the article delivers;
- it contains no empty labels such as “amazing”, “shocking” or “best” without evidence;
- the lead adds information instead of repeating the headline;
- the first 60 words identify the subject;
- names and abbreviations make sense outside your professional circle;
- use a question headline only when the question is more precise than a statement.
When a question headline really works
A question is weak when the article already knows the answer and hides it merely to create suspense. “Why are buses late?” is worse than “The new timetable increased gaps on three routes” if the cause is known and is the actual news.
But a question is justified when the article genuinely investigates several explanations and does not reduce to one answer. “Why are young doctors leaving district clinics?” can examine workload, pay, housing and training opportunities. The promise is honest because the article is exploring a question rather than withholding a known fact until the end.
Three pairs where the lead saves or ruins the headline
Headline: School to shorten Friday lessons. Good lead: From November, senior classes will finish an hour earlier on Fridays, with the freed time used for consultations. The lead explains who is affected and what replaces the hour.
Headline: New park to open in spring. Weak lead: Residents have long waited for green space in the area. It adds no fact. Better to name a date, size, stage of completion or what will remain closed after opening.
Headline: City changes venue-rental rules. Good lead: Community organisations will be able to reserve municipal halls six months ahead but must confirm the event two weeks before it takes place. The practical change is visible immediately.
Where to publish it
A strong opening helps everywhere: in a pitch to an editor, a guest article or your own column. But headline conventions depend on genre. A news outlet values factual clarity, an opinion column can carry a thesis and tension, and popular science should promise explanation without sensationalism.
What Columnist provides
After approval, the author enters the headline, chooses a publication and section, and therefore owns the promise made in the first line. The column appears in the feed beside other material and receives a date and author page. There is no stylistic editor rewriting a weak opening for you; you can edit the published column yourself, but the responsibility remains yours.
Check the headline together with the lead and publish the finished column in Columnist, address columnist.mib.news.
FAQ
How long should a headline be?
Do not worship a magic number; aim for readability in a feed and a complete idea. For a search page, keeping the H1 around 65 characters is useful, but an editorial headline may differ.
Can an article start with a story?
Yes, if the story reaches the thesis quickly. A scene-setting lead that takes 300 words before the subject appears makes the reader wonder why they are there.
Do I need the exact key phrase in the headline?
Not if it damages natural language. Search wording should appear organically; the headline's first job is to make sense to a person.
Who will fix my headline after publication?
In direct author publishing, no editor automatically rewrites it. The author can reopen the editor and correct a published column.
Reading is half of it. The other half is a column with your name on it, in a real publication.
Start writing