When does a story need a title?
A small story doesn’t always need a title. It depends on when and where the story is used:
- If you share a small story via email you use your title as the subject line to entice people to open their email and read your story.
- If your small story is part of a longer training session, then you do not need a title because the story is part of a bigger whole that already has a title.
- If you share a small story, as a teaser, on social media, a title is optional. If your opening line is strong enough you don’t need a title. However, sometimes a title can increase the reader’s curiosity and make them read on.
What’s a good title?
The main purpose of a title is to entice learners to start reading your story. So good titles arouse curiosity.
And you can arouse curiosity in two ways:
- The first type of curiosity is our hunger for knowledge and learning. Any title starting with how to or promising a tip or guide will tap into this form of curiosity.
- The second type of curiosity is when we give people some information, but we hold back the details. This is when we open up a gap in their knowledge. We raise questions in their mind and they want to get these questions answered.
Here’s a good example:
“How to write an irresistible first sentence.”
The title above is a how-to, promising learners how they’ll learn how to write a first sentence. Note how specific this is. It’s not about writing anything that’s irresistible. It’s about writing an irresistible first sentence. Specificity makes a promise more interesting and more believable.
How to evaluate titles:
- Does the title indicate what this story is about?
- Does it arouse curiosity?
If in doubt, try to how-to title and promise learners specifically what they’ll learn from your story.